Corals not opening up?

[charlie7073]

Please help I got this mushroom yesterday and I swear it was bigger at the lfs but I might be mistaken. Does this look like a fully opened mushroom coral? Also could get I get help id’ing it?

 

[andrewey]

Hey there, welcome to reef2reef!

Is this your first tank or first coral? Your mushroom is likely acclimating- that's pretty normal. I would just make sure all your water parameters are in line- assuming they are and your lighting/flow is ideal for the mushroom, it should expand in time

 

[charlie7073]

Hey there, welcome to reef2reef!

Is this your first tank or first coral? Your mushroom is likely acclimating- that's pretty normal. I would just make sure all your water parameters are in line- assuming they are and your lighting/flow is ideal for the mushroom, it should expand in time

Hi this is my first saltwater tank I have a freshwater I’ve been running for a while but I had this tank crash one time and restated completely I’ve had corals before but only green start polyps and zoanthids this is my first mushroom (I plan on getting a lot more) I have it in my sand bed under a cave where it gets pretty little light and will slowly bring it out into the sand bed on a frag rock my water params are all zero (ammonia, nitrite,nitrate) and hopefully it does expand thank you

 

[El_Guapo13]

What can you tell if us about the tank?
How big is it/what type of tank (cube, peninsula, bowfront, etc.)
How long has it been running?
What lights are you using?

Also you said the coral is under a cave? It still needs light so maybe move thw frag out so it is getting light. Still leave it at the level of the sand bed so it can acclimate to the light. Also make sure the flow is not too strong on it.

 

[charlie7073]

What can you tell if us about the tank?
How big is it/what type of tank (cube, peninsula, bowfront, etc.)
How long has it been running?
What lights are you using?

Also you said the coral is under a cave? It still needs light so maybe move thw frag out so it is getting light. Still leave it at the level of the sand bed so it can acclimate to the light. Also make sure the flow is not too strong on it.

The tank has been running with 3 blue chromis for about 3 months it’s a 40 gallon rectangular tank with a current USA orbit marine LED I read somewhere on here that it could be a good idea to have it in a very low light area such as a cave where it receives little light until it opens fully, the area I had it before received pretty little flow on the sand bed on a small rock but just enough that I could say it isn’t a dead zone and full exposure to light, it came without a frag plug and loose and found a piece of rock to put it on but at the moment I have no coral glue so in trying to get it to attach naturally which isn’t working well because it comes off some how even though the flow isn’t strong enough to knock it off I got it yesterday afternoon

 

[El_Guapo13]

The tank has been running with 3 blue chromis for about 3 months it’s a 40 gallon rectangular tank with a current USA orbit marine LED I read somewhere on here that it could be a good idea to have it in a very low light area such as a cave where it receives little light until it opens fully, the area I had it before received pretty little flow on the sand bed on a small rock but just enough that I could say it isn’t a dead zone and full exposure to light, it came without a frag plug and loose and found a piece of rock to put it on but at the moment I have no coral glue so in trying to get it to attach naturally which isn’t working well because it comes off some how even though the flow isn’t strong enough to knock it off I got it yesterday afternoon

With that light, basically anywhere would be low light. You will in all honesty probably want to replace that light with something stronger in the future, especially if you want to keep LPS and SPS corals. Just food for thought.

As for the mushroom not being attached to anything, you could always place it in like a small acclimation box filled with rubble, and it will attach itself to something. Otherwise, even if yo ubglue it down, mushrooms are likely to come unglued.

 

[charlie7073]

With that light, basically anywhere would be low light. You will in all honesty probably want to replace that light with something stronger in the future, especially if you want to keep LPS and SPS corals. Just food for thought.

As for the mushroom not being attached to anything, you could always place it in like a small acclimation box filled with rubble, and it will attach itself to something. Otherwise, even if yo ubglue it down, mushrooms are likely to come unglued.

Really? I was told by a friend and guy at the LFS that that light was pretty good and could support sps pretty well. Would you suggest me having the mushroom mid level? My tank is 18 Inches tall

 

[El_Guapo13]

Really? I was told by a friend and guy at the LFS that that light was pretty good and could support sps pretty well. Would you suggest me having the mushroom mid level? My tank is 18 Inches tall

It might work for some lower light loving lps and for softies, but there are not very many lowlight sps. Especially if you want something branching like Acropora corals. Definitely need stronger lights. But you are in no rush though. Start off slow with softies until the tank is for sure mor stable and established. And when you do decide to upgrade your lights, just start a thread on it so the community can help you find something that suits your needs and budget.

The mushroom would probably be fine at the lower half to the bottom of the tank, once it eventually plops down somewhere. But if you try to place it somewhere now while it is loose, it will probably get blown off by even the lowest flow and land back on the sand anyway.

 

[charlie7073]

It might work for some lower light loving lps and for softies, but there are not very many lowlight sps. Especially if you want something branching like Acropora corals. Definitely need stronger lights. But you are in no rush though. Start off slow with softies until the tank is for sure mor stable and established. And when you do decide to upgrade your lights, just start a thread on it so the community can help you find something that suits your needs and budget.

The mushroom would probably be fine at the lower half to the bottom of the tank, once it eventually plops down somewhere. But if you try to place it somewhere now while it is loose, it will probably get blown off by even the lowest flow and land back on the sand anyway.

Ok thanks also it’s a 30 not a 40 and I was thinking about switching it over to a 20 gallon long since it is the same just a little shorter which will help my lights be stronger, is this a good idea? I know parameter swings might be more common if at all and I won’t be able to stock as heavily but I could do it.

 

[El_Guapo13]

Ok thanks also it’s a 30 not a 40 and I was thinking about switching it over to a 20 gallon long since it is the same just a little shorter which will help my lights be stronger, is this a good idea? I know parameter swings might be more common if at all and I won’t be able to stock as heavily but I could do it.

Knowing the community here, I can almost guarantee that most would say to stick with your 30 gallon and just upgrade lights later when you can. That said, we all generally support each others decisions, so it is up to you.

I myself have a 29 gallon which is also the same length as a 20 long. I have 2 Kessil A360X lights on it. Works fine. Probably could have gone with only one, but because of the aquascape I have in the tank, I needed a second just because I couldn't place the light centered because otherwise half my corals would have received no light due to the shadows cast by the rocks.

And there are some more affordable lights out there that grow corals just as well as Kessil or AI lights.

 

[charlie7073]

Knowing the community here, I can almost guarantee that most would say to stick with your 30 gallon and just upgrade lights later when you can. That said, we all generally support each others decisions, so it is up to you.

I myself have a 29 gallon which is also the same length as a 20 long. I have 2 Kessil A360X lights on it. Works fine. Probably could have gone with only one, but because of the aquascape I have in the tank, I needed a second just because I couldn't place the light centered because otherwise half my corals would have received no light due to the shadows cast by the rocks.

And there are some more affordable lights out there that grow corals just as well as Kessil or AI lights.

Thanks so much for your help he is a picture of how my tank is set up the pic was taken about two weeks ago

 

[charlie7073]

Thanks so much for your help he is a picture of how my tank is set up the pic was taken about two weeks ago

Im looking to change my Aquascape and maybe getting some more rocks so feel free to leave me suggestions (drawings if your feeling creative) or send me pics of your tanks with similar size to a 30 gal

 

[charlie7073]

Knowing the community here, I can almost guarantee that most would say to stick with your 30 gallon and just upgrade lights later when you can. That said, we all generally support each others decisions, so it is up to you.

I myself have a 29 gallon which is also the same length as a 20 long. I have 2 Kessil A360X lights on it. Works fine. Probably could have gone with only one, but because of the aquascape I have in the tank, I needed a second just because I couldn't place the light centered because otherwise half my corals would have received no light due to the shadows cast by the rocks.

And there are some more affordable lights out there that grow corals just as well as Kessil or AI lights.

just to follow up I moved him to the rock on the left about mid level and he is still not opening up and seems worse it could be all hehas gone through I also found a very small head on the bottom of an old frag I had left in the tank