Mushrooms with vains ??

[psionicdragon]

I have a colony of frilly mushrooms and little swirlly vains are popping out all over the place. Is it dying or irritated? Any solution?

I have a 40 gallon tank with 60 lb LS, 50lb LR, 2 clowns, 2 fire shrimps, 1 camel, 2 bubble corals, 4 colonies of mushrooms, macro algaes, Knop C calcium reactor, and Mombasa Protein Skimmer.

Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
PH 8.2
Alkanity 14
Calcium 400

 

[Desolas]

Pictures would be helpful. Do you mean there is a vein coloration on the oral disc of the mushroom, or is there a seperate veiny-stringly like substance being secreted by the mushroom?

Coloration is normal, anything being expelled is a sign of irritation.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. If it looks like the shroom is puking its guts out, then it has recently been messed with. These guts are loaded with stinging nematocyts, so be advised - they pack a whallop for the neighbors.

 

[psionicdragon]

is there a seperate veiny-stringly like substance being secreted by the mushroom?

Coloration is normal, anything being expelled is a sign of irritation.

Yes, there are stringly like substances being secreted by the mushroom. The only neighbors(sp?) are other mushrooms. Should I seperate them or something? What may cause them to do it?

 

[psionicdragon]

BUMP!

Lighting is a Jbj Deluxe Formosa 96w xs 2

 

[Desolas]

Hmm. Have the mushrooms been in the tank long?

If all of your other corals, and mushrooms look okay, I would check around and see if you have a stuck hermit crab, snail, or something that might be clawing or otherwise mechanically irritating them.

I would also do a water test, mainly Ph and Ammonia and see if you've maybe had a spike of some kind that would also irratate them.

How are they doing it, like are the doing it all day long, randomly during the day, once a week, or have they puked their guts out and haven't retracted? How long is it out for?

The longer they are irritated without obvious mechanical irritation would lead me to believe there is a water quality issue. They are usually very tolerant of water, but if you have a high Ph spike or ammonia, I have seen them do this; as well as bag up and "shut down" for several days during high ammonia cycles.

If they are overcrowding, and there is a mix species, it is possible they are fighting for territory. If they are all the same species, it is unlikely though.

 

[psionicdragon]

They have been puking on and off for awhile. It last all day and all night.
It seems to be looking better.

The only thing that I can think of is my calcium reactor. It has been acting funny and I am not sure if I hooked it right or not. I thought I did and it was working fine, but the Co2 isn't coming out at a steady pace as it was when I first started. I seem to have to turn up the valve a bit higher to release the same rate that it was in the beginning. I don't know how to read the meters on the Co2 gauge. So this may have caused a PH spike.

All my test shows everything to be normal. I really don't know what is going on.

The mushrooms seem to have been in my tank for nearly 3-4 weeks now. The other corals, bubble coral and cat's eye, weren't opening a few days. They are opening up now and looking wonderful.

I have no hermit crabs or anything of that sort, but I do have snails and they do crawl all over. Even before I had the snails, the mushroom puked every now and then randomly. It was never this bad.

 

[psionicdragon]

BUMP!

 

[Anonymous]

From what you wrote I think you caused some pH problems, and the shrooms were reacting.
Do you have a pH monitor? You should get one if you don't have one - seeing as you've got a reactor. They're only 85 bucks or so.