Mushrooms Shriveling

[Maddie]

Hi Guys,

I'm kind of new at keeping invertebrates so I need a little advice. I have
some run of the mill pink mushrooms (forgot their exact name but they are
pretty common) that have recently began to shrink. They don't appear to be
dying but they're definately not opening fully. My lights are a little old
(96W, Actinic and 10,000K bulbs over a 30-gallon long tank) but water
quality parameters seem within good ranges. I have some of these mushrooms
that have spread to other areas of my tank from the original colony. It's
weird but it appears that the one's that are growing in the "shade"
(e.g.under rocks or at the base of my leather coral) seem to be doing better
and opening more fully. Is this normal? Any ideas? Incidentally, my
Ricordia is doing great and spreading!!!

Thanks!

Maddie

[pfishc]

Yes this is normal, many shrooms like low light.

[kim gross]

Maddie wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> I'm kind of new at keeping invertebrates so I need a little advice. I have
> some run of the mill pink mushrooms (forgot their exact name but they are
> pretty common) that have recently began to shrink. They don't appear to be
> dying but they're definately not opening fully. My lights are a little old
> (96W, Actinic and 10,000K bulbs over a 30-gallon long tank) but water
> quality parameters seem within good ranges. I have some of these mushrooms
> that have spread to other areas of my tank from the original colony. It's
> weird but it appears that the one's that are growing in the "shade"
> (e.g.under rocks or at the base of my leather coral) seem to be doing better
> and opening more fully. Is this normal? Any ideas? Incidentally, my
> Ricordia is doing great and spreading!!!
>
> Thanks!
>
> Maddie
>
>
Depending on the mushroom, this could be very normal. Many not all
mushrooms like lower light levels and so they shrivel up in bright
light. If this is new, it could be that something else has changed in
the tank to cause them to be light sensitive. Have you changed anything
since before they started shrinking, like just started running carbon
(cleaned up water), changed filters, etc

Kim
www.jensalt.com