Help, shrooms disintegrated

[danny zubot]

I have, or I should say had a colony of orange shrooms (forget what they are called, Nate?) that have mysteriously disintegrated over the past few weeks. They shrunk up really small, then seemed to fall apart over time. There are still a few bits and pieces of them left so hopefully they grow back.

Any idea what causes shrooms to do this? I wonder if it could be the same thing that pi$$ed my clam off? It hasn't opened in weeks.

Here's a pic of what they used to look like.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/3214dannyzubot/IMGP0013.jpg

[Beverly]

Have you introduced any new livestock to the tank lately? Changed water flow, lights, added a piece of new equipment or anything else? How's your chemistry?

[danny zubot]

Chemistry is fine. The only new member to the tank since I moved in December is a Gold striped maroon clown.

One suspect was brought up for my clam not opening, and that is the new use of 2 part coral appoxy. Do you think my shrooms could be affected by this as well? I always thought shrooms were pretty harty.

[Beverly]

Hmm. Say it is the two part epoxy bothering your clam and shrooms. Since the problem began, have you added/changed carbon and done a few water changes?

[danny zubot]

I've only done 1 water change, about 20%, but I have added fresh carbon since first posting my Clam issue thread a couple of weeks ago.

No other corals have shown even the slightest stress from the apoxy, assuming that is the culprit. This is wierd, I lost a colony of blue zoos a few months back for an unknown reason, and no other coral was even fazed!

My tank must have a boogy man who likes messing with me.:vamp:

[Beverly]

If this was happening to me, I'd change my carbon every few days and do a couple of 20% water changes a week. Make sure the new saltwater has been aged 24 hours.

I'd also check my powerheads for crud build up that may be hampering their regular flow rates and for the right positioning for optimal flow for the particular animals involved. We lost a bunch of zoo frags shortly after they were introduced in our tank a few months back. As it turned out, water flow to the areas where the zoos had been placed was not high enough for them. Now that I have increased water flow to those areas, the new and remaining zoos are spreading nicely.

[trilinearmipmap]

I've never had any problems with the 2-part green and white epoxy they sell at J & L and I'm pretty sloppy about using it in the tank without paying attention to carbon etc. If that is the kind you used I doubt it is the problem particularly since mushrooms are hardy and don't care much about water quality.

I would consider whether too much light is the culprit particularly if there was any change in the height of your lights off the water, my mushrooms hate light. The other thing I would consider is a contaminant in your RO water and I'd consider testing the RO water for TDS. Not that increased TDS itself would hurt the shrooms but it could indicate that something else such as metals etc could be leaking through.

[EmilyB]

I have a million of those orange yuma's and I can't kill them.

Do the carbon and some good water changes...have you changed salt mix or anything lately?

[danny zubot]

Actually I just used up the last bit of my ocean pure pro. Really, nothing has changed as far as lights etc forever. I've had the same colony of these Yuma's up high, down low, under and over things, they've always thrived until know.

I have a million of those orange yuma's and I can't kill them.

These Yuma's are from the one you gave me a few years back Deb. If I can't rejuvinate whats left of them I might be making a trip up there for some more.

I'll change my carbon more frequently for a while.

[danny zubot]

Tri, I just changed al the media in my RO with the exception of the membrane. I'll change that tonight as well. The apoxy I have is probably the same as your only its green and red, which turns to a coraline color when mixed. Perhaps its the red dye?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Danny, I've used this same epoxy for months, will no ill effects. I would doubt that it's the cause, especially since your more picky corals are doing well.

It's bizarre, though. And unfortunate...those look like nice Yumas!

[trilinearmipmap]

Is it possible that your water conditions are too good.

If your nitrates are very low your shrooms could shrink down like you described and maybe this could eventually kill them.

The same with the clam which feeds on nitrates.

[danny zubot]

I stopped tested for NO3 after a couple years of never having any, I don't even have an NO3 test kit right now.

Well, we'll see if thats true because I found my 6 line dead yesterday (killed and partially eaten) so I'm bound to get some nasties in that water from that. If my clam opens up and my shrooms start to grow back I'll let you know.