Mushroom disintegrating! Ahh!

[onehawksfan]

I bought this really neat mushroom and after about a week in my tank it started turning white and basically disintegrating into nothing! What's going on? Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 1, pH 8.2, alkalinity 4 (mg/L), salinity 1.024, temperature 80.2 and stable. What else am I not testing for? 22 gallon reef tank with 30 lbs cured live rock, a couple of fish and some polyps and mushrooms. All other mushrooms seem to be fine and not showing similar symptoms, fish haven't been touching them either. I'm clueless - please help!

 

[rudeanduncouth]

Well if it is disintergrating then you best pull it from your tank because it is dead. Any idea on what type of mushroom it is?

 

[jsmkmavity]

it might just be to drastic/quick of a change in lighting!

 

[NaH2O]

I was wondering the same thing as jsmkmavity. What kind of lighting do you have? What other corals are in the vacinity of the disintegrating mushroom?

 

[onehawksfan]

130w PC - tank is only 13" deep. Orbit brand light fixture. No polyps or mushrooms within 3 inches. Maybe just bad luck?

 

[LaloV.]

Did you photo-acclimated it? I´m asking because throwing them in the tank after the acclimatation (the one of water) is not all.
You said it turned white, so I agree it was photoshock.

 

[onehawksfan]

no - never heard of photo-acclimation! I'll look it up! Thanks!

 

[Sk8r]

If you are keeping mushrooms in a tank that small, you may want to invest in some tests, notably alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. If you can keep those in balance, you will tend to have healthy corals.
Little tanks are far more sensitive than big ones.
You should drip-acclimate everything you bring in, never let water from the store into your tank (transfer in net or in your hand) and limit light exposure at first in so shallow a tank: 'read' the coral behavior to tell how much is enough.
You can learn a lot doing this. Remember if you do put in an additive, dissolve it first, and only use ro/di water to make salt water. HTH. Good luck.