Sagging mushroom coral

[AndrewRosenbaum]

I have leathers and anthelia in my tank and they all thrive, but whenever I buy a simple mushroom coral they always sag. When I see them at the store they are standing up on their stalks and their rims are totally off the rock. My mushrooms' rims flop over the rock and the stalk isnt visible. However, they are not dying or anything.
I've mushrooms for a month now.

Also...my new xenias hate me....for a week they were clentched up and deflated, but alive, then they decided to start decintegrating yesterday. I think its the red sea kind.
Does anyone else have this problem?

I want to keep some hammers soon, but if i can't even keep a xenia alive, then how am I suppose to keep a hammer??

 

[AndrewRosenbaum]

Xenias all died, except for one little baby polyp. That mushroom still sags, but it's still growing and the colours are as good as ever. The stalk is coming off the rock though.
I just bought myself a frogspawn, and he's liking his new home.

Is it possible that I burnt my xenias? My tank is fairly shallow and I have quite a lot of actinics. I only have T5s mixed with T8s.

Who else has had probems with their xenia???

 

[zombiesniper308]

whats your parameters

 

[RichardinMa]

Xenias all died, except for one little baby polyp. That mushroom still sags, but it's still growing and the colours are as good as ever. The stalk is coming off the rock though.
I just bought myself a frogspawn, and he's liking his new home.

Is it possible that I burnt my xenias? My tank is fairly shallow and I have quite a lot of actinics. I only have T5s mixed with T8s.

Who else has had probems with their xenia???

Please provide the details of your system size and what your lights consist of. Also, water paramters will help. In general, it sounds like you have very bright light for the corals you are trying to keep. Mushrooms vary tremendously in appearance depending on how much light they are getting. Seeing them stretched out, standing tall only means that they are reaching for light. The only time any of mine do that is if one happens to fall behind a rock, away from the light. Otherwise, mushrooms typically lay flat against the rock they are attached to. If it is detaching from it's rock then it is likely unhappy there and wants to move to someplace else, perhaps lower light. Xenia also does not need bright lighting either. Without knowing any details for your tank it is hard to make educated guesses.

 

[TX..r33f]

What lights are you running and did you start doseing the tank with anything new?

 

[AndrewRosenbaum]

I have a 6500K T5, blue actinic T5, 18000K T5, Purple actinic T8, and 2x6500K T8s. All are around 24 watts. Tank size is small, about 25 gal. The mushrooms are in the middle area of the tank at half a foot below the water surface.
I don't have a calcium measuring kit but basic parameters are:

Sg 0.026
Nitrite 0
Ammonia/ammonium 0
pH 8.3

I know thats not a lot of info, but thats all I can test for at this moment.

The mushroom has gotten even more colour and is quite larger now, but still sagging. I do have some random little purple mushrooms growing on the bottom of the sand in the sand and they are standing up so maybe if I put the red big one down lower?

 

[RichardinMa]

6 25w T5 bulbs is a lot of light for that size tank. It is not necessarily too much, just quite a bit. I think the most important thing to understand is that this "sagging" you are describing is not a problem- it is just what mushrooms normally look like. If they are standing up, stretching up, they are doing so because the light levels are too low and they are trying to get their zooxanthellae closer ot the light. Mushrooms should have a flattened, relaxed look. I have seen many tanks at LFSs that have very poor lighting with the mushrooms stretched out just as you describe and it is not a good thing. A stretched out mushroom is often a stressed one.

 

[AndrewRosenbaum]

Thanks guys. Glad to know there's nothing to worry about =D