Unhappy Mushrooms

[Everyones Hero]

When I first setup my tank I bought two loose mushrooms for a few bucks from the LFS.

I siliconed them both to a rock. They have stayed about the size of a nickel & don't seem to open up & "relax." I've tried putting them on the top, in the middle, & on the bottom. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

Now they're about mid-way down the tank & they've reproduced. I've got 5 of them now.

My Green Monti Cap & Purple Digitata seem to be doing just fine.

I've got them under 4x54w T5 lighting
K2, K3, & MJ-600 for flow
1.026SG
About 400ppm Ca
1300 Mg
About 3.5meq/L Alk

 

[JEFFR259]

"Now they're about mid-way down the tank & they've reproduced. I've got 5 of them now"

A little confused...are the mushrooms happy now or are they still unhappy?

Most like no more than medium intensity light and medium to low flow.

 

[VacavilleFC3S]

i don't understand it him either, but siliconing things to the rocks does not sound like a good idea to me

 

[Everyones Hero]

When I got them they were attached to rubble. I didn't have any superglue so I put the rubble in a crevice on a LR & used silicone to hold the rubble in place.

They're midway down the tank & they've reproduced but they still don't look happy.

I don't know if there's something wrong or if it's just the species of mushroom I have. I see a lot of pictures of mushrooms and they're big, open, & waving in the water. Mine are open but they are small & look shriveled.

 

[shadowz40]

You should never use silicon in the tank, that could be a major reason why they are not happy. super glue gel works great.

 

[Everyones Hero]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14185280#post14185280 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shadowz40
You should never use silicon in the tank, that could be a major reason why they are not happy. super glue gel works great.

Not even the silicon meant for aquarium use? I pulled the rock out of the tank, siliconed the mushrooms on, let it dry a bit, & put it back in the tank. That was over 6 months ago. Since then the mushrooms have walked themselves off of the silicon.

I recounted them today & I have 6, not 5. They're multiplying, my other two corals are growing, & my fish are fine. Coraline growth is outrageous & becoming annoying.

I was using well water up until about a month ago. For the last month I've been using RO/DI water doing 10 gallon changes a week.

It seems like they're doing well enough to reproduce but they're not growing out like I thought they would. They're about the size of a nickel & I was expecting them to grow out to something like a silver dollar.

 

[shadowz40]

Silicon when it isn't fully cured can be very harmful to the tank. If you were able to let it fully cure it would work fine, but not when it is still tacky. Definitly use super glue gel when attaching frags. Switching to RO/DI water will help out also. Should noticed better water quality, as well as less algae as time goes on.

 

[JMCAquarium]

Hero a picture of said shrooms would be helpful to figure out your problem a close up of the shrooms themselves and then and tank shot to show the possible flow and light distance. Shrooms will reproduce under two conditions one they are happy and healthy and yes a small shroom can be happy and healthy or they are stressed do to water conditions, poor lighting, to much light, improper balance of chemicals in the tank or being cut (which is how some folks force split their shrooms).