Why aren't my shrooms big?

[corbett_n]

I see shrooms in other peoples tank that are large and beautiful. I have had mine under 4X24w T5ho for about a year and they are reproducing, but none of tem have any real size. the biggest one is a about the size of a half dollar. they don't have direct light from all 4 bulbs, any thoughts?

 

[VacavilleFC3S]

depends on what type of mushroom they are,

 

[JMCAquarium]

Params are off shrooms will split or spawn new young after being annoyed or params are off.
In good health ...then it depends on the shroom weather it grows large then drops young or gets silver dollar sized then does it.

But if they stay small and reproduce rapidly there is somthing bugging them.

 

[corbett_n]

I have the blues and red and green striped. My parameters are fine and all my soft and monti coral is doing great. Who knows I guess.

 

[Reefer07]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13189804#post13189804 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JMCAquarium
Params are off shrooms will split or spawn new young after being annoyed or params are off.
In good health ...then it depends on the shroom weather it grows large then drops young or gets silver dollar sized then does it.

But if they stay small and reproduce rapidly there is somthing bugging them.

How small are we talking?

 

[corbett_n]

8 out of 10 are smaller than a quarter, and they have been there for a while now, probably close to a year.

 

[avaneaton2000]

I think they are small because they are getting strong lighting from the T5's, I think they expand to get more light. I have a green striped in mine and I have a 4 bulb tek fixture, until it was at the complete edge of the tank it always stayed small. They are also in a lower flow area now so I would say lower flow and lower light they should expand.

 

[Reefer07]

avaneaton nailed it. 100% agree.

 

[JMCAquarium]

depends on the shroom some dislike light others love it. I have blue with red/purple stripes and they refused to grow until they found the proper spot not in lower light or higher light but simple 4 inches to the left of the hot spot under my 150 watt 10k MH.

 

[corbett_n]

when I got most of the shrooms they were big under a metal halide, so I tried them in high light and they didn't like it at all. Maybe I just haven't found the sweet spot yet.

 

[emissary43]

the age of the metal halide will make a big difference, if you got them from someone who hasn't changed them or especially you LFS they they will be used to far dimmer light than a bulb in its normal life span