Mushrooms dying

[Dmac]

I'm a little confused. Everything in my tank was looking good up until about a week ago when my mushrooms and trumpet coral all started shrinking. I checked parameters and they're all as stable as they've been since I set my tank up.
Salinity- 1.023
Nitrates-0- 2ppm
Phosphates-.02
Calcium- 470ppm
Magnesium-1600
Alkalinity-10
My lps and zoas look good and there has been no change in my lighting. I've been seeing some critters in my tank that I didn't intentionally put there but they don't seem to bother the shrooms although I do see them on the trumpet (pic below). I realize something's changed but can't figure out what for the life of me. Appreciate any suggestions.

 

[bhodges82]

I think that your mag and alk are a little high, especially in relation to your low nitrate level. Keeping alk at 10 is great for sps, but softies and LPS don't really tolerate it for long periods. You may want to do a water change to bring your levels down. What salt are you using? Are you dosing anything to your tank? Get your salinity up to 1.026, it's too low.

 

[Dmac]

I'm using instant ocean reef salt but not dosing anything.

 

[Shawn]

I found when my trumpets and discos aren't doing well it's because of low nutrients. Running a mixed reef is hard but I have one side of my tank with barely any flow that i feed in - my acans, gonis, trumpets, and shrooms are all on that side. As well as anemones and anything else that eats. They did much better once I set it up like that.

 

[Dmac]

I've been trying to get my nutrients up but I have some chaeto in my refugium that refuses to do anything but grow like a weed even if I don't turn the light on for it. I may just get rid of it and start some more later.

 

[ichthyoid]

I've been trying to get my nutrients up but I have some chaeto in my refugium that refuses to do anything but grow like a weed even if I don't turn the light on for it. I may just get rid of it and start some more later.

There are nutrient additive products that you can use. I have some from Brightwell Neonitro in particular. What are your nitrate & phospahte levels?

Brightwell - Additives - Bulk Reef Supply

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[lmm1967]

mine disappeared for 3 months. Literally nothing more than an off color spot on a rock. Then - they came back and are now doing wonderful.

 

[bhodges82]

I've been trying to get my nutrients up but I have some chaeto in my refugium that refuses to do anything but grow like a weed even if I don't turn the light on for it. I may just get rid of it and start some more later.

You can trim it back to 1/2 or less to help. The more chaeto there is, the more nutrients it consumes so if you keep it small it will consume less.

 

[ActiveAngel]

The two parameters that contribute the largest amount of stress to our livestock is Salinity and Temperature.

I agree with Bobby, that salinity is too low. However, I’d recommend aiming for 1.025. In my experience, 1.026 is bordering the upper edge of acceptable. You wouldn’t want to overshoot.

(1.026 is great for LFS‘s, as every time they take out coral and their ATOs activate, it dumps in freshwater and lowers the salinity. By the end of the day, this adds up considerably. At home, we have a different prevalent challenge, if our ATOs run dry or fail, our water gets saltier. So it’s often best to aim for the middle of the range, or even slightly low.)

The other factor is temperature, what is your temp? And are you using a glass thermometer? I’d highly recommend it.

...That Alk is pretty high too, IMO. But with your high nutrients, it should be somewhat acceptable. It is unlikely to be causing your current mushroom issues. Still, when you increase your salinity, it may also bump up your Alk a little higher. I’d recommend taking your Alk down to 8.4-9.0, until you’ve been doing this for another year or two and have a good handhold on all your livestock. No need to get ahead of ourselves.

 

[ActiveAngel]

And your mushrooms don’t look terrible. Keep your changes small, and do them incrementally. Don’t change everything at once.

Bring up your salinity slightly, and wait a couple days. See if that solves it, before changing anything else. Then if the 2nd change makes it worse again, you know that you can backtrack.

 

[Dmac]

The two parameters that contribute the largest amount of stress to our livestock is Salinity and Temperature.

I agree with Bobby, that salinity is too low. However, I’d recommend aiming for 1.025. In my experience, 1.026 is bordering the upper edge of acceptable. You wouldn’t want to overshoot.

(1.026 is great for LFS‘s, as every time they take out coral and their ATOs activate, it dumps in freshwater and lowers the salinity. By the end of the day, this adds up considerably. At home, we have a different prevalent challenge, if our ATOs run dry or fail, our water gets saltier. So it’s often best to aim for the middle of the range, or even slightly low.)

The other factor is temperature, what is your temp? And are you using a glass thermometer? I’d highly recommend it.

...That Alk is pretty high too, IMO. But with your high nutrients, it should be somewhat acceptable. It is unlikely to be causing your current mushroom issues. Still, when you increase your salinity, it may also bump up your Alk a little higher. I’d recommend taking your Alk down to 8.4-9.0, until you’ve been doing this for another year or two and have a good handhold on all your livestock. No need to get ahead of ourselves.

My temperature is 78°. I've tried getting my salinity up to 1.025 by adding saltwater and not changing my ato level. I guess it just takes more than I realize. Is the only way to lower all through water changes?

 

[bhodges82]

My temperature is 78°. I've tried getting my salinity up to 1.025 by adding saltwater and not changing my ato level. I guess it just takes more than I realize. Is the only way to lower all through water changes?

You can add saltwater to your ato reservoir to raise salinity over time, keep an eye on it and when it gets where you want it switch back to RODI water.

 

[Dmac]

I'll try that, thanks.

 

[Dmac]

Another question. Won't I raise my alkalinity and magnesium even more while raising the salinity?

 

[bhodges82]

Another question. Won't I raise my alkalinity and magnesium even more while raising the salinity?

It may, but the salinity needs to be corrected first.

 

[Dmac]

Gotcha

 

[ActiveAngel]

Exactly. Yes, raising salinity will raise the concentrations of other ions in your tank. But as I previously mentioned, salinity and temperature are the most important parameters. So as Bobby just mentioned, fix salinity first.

78* is a good temperature.

Don’t go too crazy increasing the salinity. Slow and steady with repeated testing, is better than trying to do several different things and accidentally overshooting.

 

[ActiveAngel]

There are many ways to increase salinity. My preferred method is to:

1) Disable the ATO
2) remove 1-3 gallons from the tank into a bucket
3) add salt to this bucket up to a desired salinity. (This can be calculated as a weighted average)
4) Let sit until it’s clear, and then wait a little longer
5) Add it back into the system, preferably into the sump so it can mix a bit before going into the display.
6) Enable the ATO

 

[Dmac]

I like that option too.

 

[Adam]

This is a great calculator for changing salinity, up or down. (Lot of other awesome calculators & tools there as well)

Target Salinity Calculator

Aquarium calculator; Create a water-change schedule that can be used to reach a target salinity.

www.hamzasreef.com