[vtec si]

I have a bunch of hairy mushrooms coals that look like they are fadding in color? What would be the cause of this? They do open up during the day to full size. I checked all peramiters and all seem to check out!

Cal=426
alk/dk=6
Na=0.00
Ni=0.01
ammonia=0
ph=8.3

I have been feeding 200-300 micron size of golden pearl and invert food by the people tha make F1 & F2. Should I be feeding anything else?

Thanks for any help,






VTEC SI

[karun]

What is your tank temperature? I had mushrooms fade because my tank temperature was too high. 86 F

Karun

[vtec si]

The temp is 80-81 deg.

VTEC SI

[karun]

80-81 is not high. Everyone on this board seems to think mushrooms are indestructible but I managed to kill mine. Sorry I don't have any more suggestions.

Karun

[eses]

How long has it been since you did a water change, and what are your iodine levels?

Also how high do you have them in the tank, and how close to the light? You could have them too hight or too low also. I notice mine start to turn a chalky color when they are low on iodine .. they don't start turning actually white (bleaching) just their outer "skin" has kind of a white chalky look to it. Once I bring the iodine back up they darken up and open back up and thrive again.

If you don't have a iodine test kit, I would just do a water change instead of doing with the iodine..it works better and your chances of overdose are smaller. Over dosing gives you a lovely algae bloom.

[Mobious]

Try upping your DKH to about 12.. I have read and heard that a dkh around 12 to 17 is pretty good.. I keep mine around 12 and my corals seem to be doing well..

Even with red slim cyno..

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What is Ni?
How old is the tank?
Do you dose anything to the tank besides food?
What color change did the mushrooms undergo?

FWIW, I've had mushrooms change color when I dosed iodate:

Blue mushrooms went clear and
green mushrooms turned brown

ALso, mushrooms in very low light sometimes go clear/white. Such as when the fall beneath a ledge.

[vtec si]

I did a 10% water change about aweek ago. I do my water changes evry other week. I was understanding that dk should be around 8 like natural sea water! Mine is about 6 little low.
No I have not used iodine in this tank due to the bad alge bloom I got in my other tank from over doing it! The shrooms are mid to high in the tank all the high shrooms in the tank look milky white and some of the mid rang do too. But the ones on the side of the tank where the light is not as bright are greenish/pinkish brown! Also the tank has been set for over a year and the shrooms have been in there 2 or 3 months now. The tank has 5 VHO URI bulbs on is (140 watts ea.) and no MH at this time!

Thanks,


VTEC SI

[SCETT316]

shrooms do not require much light. I would try lowering them in your tank. I keep mine low in the tank, and they are doing fine.
HTH

[eses]

If you did a water change recently then your iodine is probably fine. Like suggested above, you could bring your alk up a bit. I have 128 watts of light in my tank, and I've noticed my mushrooms do best when closer to the light. Your light is more intense, so it is possible it could be "burning" the mushrooms...but it should have happened sometime ago, and not taken months for it to occur.

If you lower them, in theory they should open up more trying to absorb more light. So it is worth a shot to see their reaction, it is also probably a good idea to just do a water change as well.

I don't know about other people's experience, but mine has been so far that mushrooms react almost immediatly to good/bad changes in the water. I had an ammonia spike that shut mine down, changed water and they were huge again within a couple hours of the water change. Same with iodine dosing and placement to the light... which has made them pretty easy to keep so far.

Good luck.

[vtec si]

Thanks evryone for all the input and advice that you have given me. I will try a couple of things like changing their location and doing another water change. As well as upping the dk to at lest 8. I may try some iodine but I will wait until I get a test kit for iodine first! I have a faint hair alge bloom that is slowly going away. I would hate to make it worse!

But I do have this question. What is the best thing to use to raise the alk/dk! I have been told that kent marine has a product that is good!


Thanks again,

VTEC SI

[eses]

IMO the best is the Kent Marine Superbuffer DK/H. It is simple to use, and it works. It doesn't cause a major Ph change if you dose it slowly, and it is sold almost everywhere.

I mix a 1 tsp to a liter of DI water and add a bit of it to my dosing bottle over the course of a week to bring my alk up. And 1/16th of a tsp to 4 gallons of fresh seawater puts everything into check. It has worked well.