new toadstool frag not opening

[jennwest]

I got a toadstool frag on Monday and it still hasn't opened up. It looked a little bleached when I got it (white areas). I've moved it a few times hoping it just needed a better spot. There looks to be some white mucus looking stuff coming off. I have it placed at a medium-ish light area with pretty good flow right now. Should I just leave it alone? How long do they normally take to open up their polyps?
My water is good with normal levels and 1.025 salinity, pH 8.2.

Here is a picture, I couldn't really get one that really shows the white areas well.

 

[Peppie]

Give it some time. My toadstools sometimes will go for 4-6 days without extending. It will come out soon. mod to low light is fine. and med flow is what I have found works best

 

[sedrostyle]

Yeah, they are kinda finiky sometimes, Mine even closes up randomly for a few days.
Mine is in the bottom of my rock work, with moderate flow. seems to be happy

 

[user 26995]

Agreed, let it be. My big one closes up every once on a while for days at a time. It takes time to get used to the new location. They will sluff off its outer layer periodically. I will use a turkey baster to blow it off.
The white areas are probably where something has been lying on oe touching it. It should recover in those areas.

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[jennwest]

Thanks everyone! I will leave it alone and see how it does.

 

[pandora32]

Everything said is what i was going to say. Guess im still on floridas time...lol. Congrats on the new addition. I found something nobody else said...yay for me.

 

[senji]

my first toadstool turned all white looked like it was dead white then shed then went back to normal. what are the nitrates in the tank. here is a pic of mine when it went through a shedding from nitrate stress from new tank syndrome.

everyday i just picked it up and helt it in front of the power head to blow off all mucous and shedding flesh. took about a week to complete shedding and 2 weeks to open after that. they are very hardy and almost hard to kill so don't worry. i have seen them flourish in the worst of conditions.

and this is it today 7 month later its not open atm but just not feeding

 

[jennwest]

Thanks for the pics! It really grew a lot in the 7 months, thats awesome! No nitrates in the tank right now. Its looking a little better, it now has bumps all over it so hopefully its getting ready to come out!

 

[senji]

that's a very good sign its will be open soon check when the lights go off. wouldn't hurt to spot feed it when u see it open. i use coral frenzy and homemade blender mush i use the mush to feed my fish 2wice a week and flake/veggies rest of the days. blender mush is simple cheap and the best thing u can feed your tank. just go to the grocery store and to the seafood department and get a handful of everything.tiger prawns,scallops, oyster, clam, mussel, and so on some even use salmon. take it home shell it then add a table spoon of freshly pressed garlic juice/oil(not the actual garlic pieces fish don't care too much for a chunk of garlic). put in the blender and puree it but not to fine. be sure to leave some small chunks for the fish. then freeze it in a freezer bag or i use old mysis trays and mini ice cube trays. thaw quick(i put in a glass of hot water) rinse with r/o (not too much remember the garlic juice)then in the tank it goes. the amount of food ull get compared to store bought. lets just say ull have to do this maybe 2 times a year and i have 3 reef tanks. plus its super fresh u know whats in it and has garlic for healthy fish. some even swears it wards off ich.

 

[user 26995]

I do the same thing for food, only I feed meaty foods everyday. I also instead of putting the garlic extract in it before you freeze it, I thaw the food out and soak it in the garlic and vitamins for 5-10 minutes before I feed.

When I got my first toadstool, it was probably 3" in diameter. It was just like yours. It didnt polyp out for weeks. I had just started my tank and it was a freebie on the live rock I got. Had no idea what it was. A few weeks went by and all of a sudden it started polyping. Just a little at a time. soon it was polyped all the time. When ever its disturbed it will retract its polyps for a while. Its wierd how it knows. My clown fish host it. They swim in and out of it all day and night. Yet if I run the glass cleaner across the front and barely touch it, it closes up completetly.

I feed the tank phytoplankton and coral frenzy and frozen cyclopeze a couple times a month. It is now 16+" in diameter at the top and 5+" in diameter at the base. I have cut it back a couple times too. I got it 4 years ago this coming april.

You will enjoy watching it grow. I love mine. Its a beautiful coral.

 

[senji]

i add vitamins before it goes in tank as well just didn't want to get into that. don't know how long he has been in the hobby and tank/needs.