Please help ASAP!

RocketBunny · Jun 28, 2018

I started a small reef tank 3 months ago. Everyone is thriving in it except for my green hairy mushroom. He was good for first 2.5 months then shriveled, so hes been shriveled for the past 2 weeks. His normal size was around 4-5 inches diameter and now he is about 0.5 inches. Whats wrong?

10 gallon tank + 8 gallon sump and fuge
am - 0
nit - 0
nat - 0
salinity - 1.027
Alkalinity - dKH - 10 or 11
GH - ppm - 180
temp - 81 fahrenheit
ph - 8.2
magnesium/calcium - ? But I hope to get test kits soon

Quick notes - I have done virtually EVERYTHING to help out :: searching the web, lowered alk a bit, decreased flow, decreased light (put him in a shade), decreased salinity, tampered with temperature... but none has helped out. I really love this mushroom because he was my first softy and hes beautiful. He also didn't lose any of his color so there is no bleaching involved.

Another thing... he has shot out his mesenterial filaments before this started happening (the shriveling) - my sisters shroom did the same thing but recovered very quickly (please take note that the mushroom was a split off of mine, so hes identical) but mine is either taking so long, or there is something else involved. There are also no corals or creatures that would harm him in my tank, or make a chemical war with him.

thats him today, the yellow light is from my camera flash

that was him two weeks ago, the camera angle doesn't let to see his full size.
please help out!

Reefing Madness · Jun 28, 2018

Phosphate reading? Lighting?

Dennis McGrath · Jun 28, 2018

Has the flow changed any at all?

RocketBunny · Jun 30, 2018

Reefing Madness said:
Phosphate reading? Lighting?

I don't know about the phosphates... I use LEDs (coralife and a custom mount)... and he stayes at the bottom, under a powerhead's shade... I did move him around to see if he needs more light, but that didn't change anything

RocketBunny · Jun 30, 2018

Dennis McGrath said:
Has the flow changed any at all?

No... he stayed in a low flow area for the whole time

RocketBunny · Jun 30, 2018

Also Dennis :: I did shut down my powerhead for today to see if flow will change anything... he isn't any better today...

Dennis McGrath · Jun 30, 2018

Sometimes changes take days to take effect. I had a GSP that was completely withdrawn after I did a water change, and stayed withdrawn for 3 days. It finally came out yesterday afternoon, and looks great today.

RocketBunny · Jun 30, 2018

Dennis McGrath said:
Sometimes changes take days to take effect. I had a GSP that was completely withdrawn after I did a water change, and stayed withdrawn for 3 days. It finally came out yesterday afternoon, and looks great today.

ok. Ill give it more time. maybe ill move my powerhead around to make less flow

RocketBunny · Jun 30, 2018

Dennis McGrath said:
Sometimes changes take days to take effect. I had a GSP that was completely withdrawn after I did a water change, and stayed withdrawn for 3 days. It finally came out yesterday afternoon, and looks great today.

also... have you ever had green hairy mushrooms? if so what parameters did your like the most/thrive in... i searched and found lots of different reaults. some claim that high light is better. others say no. some say low alkalinity while other talk about calcium

Flippers4pups · Jun 30, 2018

RocketBunny said:
also... have you ever had green hairy mushrooms? if so what parameters did your like the most/thrive in... i searched and found lots of different reaults. some claim that high light is better. others say no. some say low alkalinity while other talk about calcium

Most soft corals do best with some N03 and trace P04. Mushrooms in general like low flow and low light. If the light is too low, they tend to become translucent. If so, increase the light.

RocketBunny · Jul 1, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
Most soft corals do best with some N03 and trace P04. Mushrooms in general like low flow and low light. If the light is too low, they tend to become translucent. If so, increase the light.

My mushroom has all of his color... no problems with that... and i generally keep the lightlower than max... he is also in a low flow area... could he be spliting? do mushrooms shrink when they get ready to split?... i dont see a second mouth however...

Flippers4pups · Jul 1, 2018

RocketBunny said:
My mushroom has all of his color... no problems with that... and i generally keep the lightlower than max... he is also in a low flow area... could he be spliting? do mushrooms shrink when they get ready to split?... i dont see a second mouth however...

Chances are you need more N03. Withdrawn is a sign of getting use to your water pramameters or it's irritated.

N03 between 5-10ppm is best.

RocketBunny · Jul 2, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
Chances are you need more N03. Withdrawn is a sign of getting use to your water pramameters or it's irritated.

N03 between 5-10ppm is best.

Alright thanks. I did start feeding heavier and dosed in some nitrifying bacteria to make some nitrate...

RocketBunny · Jul 2, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
Chances are you need more N03. Withdrawn is a sign of getting use to your water pramameters or it's irritated.

N03 between 5-10ppm is best.

Update :: He spewed out his mesenterial filaments today and detached from his rock... He is really folded up and the tissue is limp. Could he be dead?

However no color loss... ??? dang these mushrooms are hard to understand...

Incase of No3, I do have some in my system... I see that because I have a big xenia coral and they are known to LOVE nitrates... she's blooming and pulsing vigorously...

Flippers4pups · Jul 2, 2018

The beginning of your thread, you stated your water pramameters and said you had 0 N03.

If you tested your water and it came out 0, then you have 0.

Coming unattached is a sign that it's unhappy and is irritated. Reattach using a rubber band to the rock.

RocketBunny · Jul 2, 2018

Flippers4pups said:
The beginning of your thread, you stated your water pramameters and said you had 0 N03.

If you tested your water and it came out 0, then you have 0.

Coming unattached is a sign that it's unhappy and is irritated. Reattach using a rubber band to the rock.

I mean that I have a LITTLE tiny bit of it still running around in my system... the test kit (API) can't detect it... since I have a couple other soft corals who solely depend on No3 and light (well. flow too)... I am overfeeding however to try to bring the nitrates up a bit...

heres the picture of the shroom currently... he doesnt want to attach, so I netted him and put him in a low flow, shaded place behind skimmer.