Ricordea and purple mushroom acclimation and quarantine

[lightcs4]

Daugherty,

That's a lot of light! I guess you didn't have any problem keeping anything that was light intensive.

 

[lightcs4]

I really like them. I may have to order some of them when they get them in. I'll have to check the LFS also.

Let me know how they work out if you get them. My LFS didn't have anything like these. I inquired about ordering them but they never responded.

 

[Piggy]

Will do. I'm going to a bigger fish store this weekend I'll be sure to look for them.

 

[lightcs4]

New Koralia #3 arrived today :bounce::^: Perfect timing as I am raising the salt and need to keep the oxygen level up. Makes an incredible difference. I don't think I will ever order anything but Koralia for power heads, unless it's to get water from the sump.

 

[yote]

Congrats.Those Koralias make all the difference in the world.

 

[lightcs4]

Congrats.Those Koralias make all the difference in the world.

Thanks. I'm totally sold on them. I usually try to find ways to save money, but it wouldn't be worth saving money after seeing how well these work.

 

[Piggy]

How's the mushrooms doing today?

 

[lightcs4]

How's the mushrooms doing today?

The Ricordea mushroom is doing great. It has got to be the hardiest and easiest coral to care for as it doesn't seem phased by anything. The Blue Mushrooms seem to be doing better. I shaded two thirds of the QT and the blue mushrooms opened up nicely. I also turned the tank a bit and found two more on the back part of the rock :D. The DT salinity is up to 1.017. I'm trying not to move it up too quickly. Hopefully by Thursday I'll be moving the shrooms to the DT.

I also found a small worm or something coming out of a hole in the rock. I haven't ID'd it yet. I'm thinking it may be a feather duster. My biggest fear is aptasia. I don't think it's aptasia, it looks like a worm with a couple antenea or something on top. Unfortunately I broke my wife's camera, that I bought her for a Christmas present a few years ago, so I can't get a picture unless it's with the phone (I dropped it :grumble:). Now I owe her another phone. Fortunately I got the pics of the shrooms before I broke it. I'm going to hit meeves or meeles or whatever it the ID site is to try to ID it (I know the site is listed on quite a few posts so I should be able to find it fairly quickly).

Probably a lot more than you wanted to know, but thanks for asking!!!

 

[yote]

You mean melvesreef?

 

[lightcs4]

Yeah, that's it! :oops:

I guess I can stop looking through the other posts. Thanks!

 

[lightcs4]

Well, the hitchhiker looks most like the paguritta hermit crab, but I don't see any claws. It comes out less than a 1/4 inch and darts in and out of the hole. I'll just keep an eye on it for a couple days. It definitely isn't aptasia, so I'm not too worried.

 

[lightcs4]

OK, I took another look. It looks like it could be a nudibranch of some kind, but really tiny (about a 1/16 inch around) with a forked top that look like antenea. I'll leave it for now.

I did find a tiny feather duster when the lights went out. Don't know if it will survive the move to the DT, but it would be cool.

 

[Bifferwine]

If you think it's a nudibranch, best get rid of it. Most nudis are very specialized eaters, and most of them are bad and eat stuff like corals. Unless you can positively ID it as a known reef safe nudi, you should get it out while you can. They can be devastating to corals.

 

[lightcs4]

I guess it will go then. I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks.

 

[yote]

I was thinking mantis.But the nudi would be a safer bet.

 

[lightcs4]

Short update and lessons learned ...

The Blue Ricordea mushroom didn't make it. I think it was too much light in the QT. I'll get another, but will not use a QT again for corals, at least not until I have a lot more experience with them.

All but one, maybe two, Blue discus mushrooms died. There were three left when I moved the rock into the DT. One may have been picked off by my Singapore Angel, don't know. It was there, looking healthy, in the evening then gone in the morning. The last one is doing really well. It has opened up and the base looks like a deeper blue rather than brown. It definitely likes the DT better than the QT.

Unfortunately my favorite fish didn't make the salinity transition. I knew I was moving the salinity up a bit faster than I originally planned, but was hoping the fish would be OK. My Ruby-headed Wrasse stopped eating and kept hiding in the rocks. I was finally able to catch him and put him in quarantine but it was too late. I'll definitely get another one down the road and maybe even a second reef safe wrasse if I can find one that is small enough.

Lessons learned ...

1. QT works in theory, but I need to have a better way to adjust lighting in the QT if used for corals.

2. Although I researched the needs of the mushrooms for months before I purchased them, I didn't research how to use a QT with them nor did I actually understand what was meant by low or medium light. Low light to me meant anything under a 60 watt bulb.

3. I should have waited to get the corals until after the DT was back to normal so I didn't have to rush the salinity when things didn't go as well with them.

4. Stupid hermit crabs can survive hyposalinity better than I thought :grumble:. I only plan on adding snails but originally put in some red-legged hermits. I knew they could kill snails but didn't think they would kill all of them.

Thank you to all who helped with advice. I have definitely learned a lot through this experience. I'll continue to learn and eventually build a healthy environment for both the fish and corals.


OK, I guess that wasn't so short ...

 

[yote]

Sorry you lost your corals.That stinks.
How fast did you raise the salinity?I wouldnt have thought that raising it over a week or so would bother anything.

 

[lightcs4]

Thanks, Yote. I still have one mushroom that is doing well. I have to learn somehow. I may have a second mushroom. There was one I couldn't see once I put it in the tank because it was only about 1/16" and pointed more toward the back of the tank.

I raised the salinity over four and a half days. I was originally looking to raise it over a week or more.

The important thing is for me to not give up (my wife would suddenly learn how to use the shotgun after all the money we put into it :shock:), learn through my mistakes, and continue to go slow. I also need to continue to research each coral I want so I don't needlessly kill them.

 

[yote]

HEHE,My wife started wanting to learn how to use the shotgun,when I told I was upgrading tanks within the next 6 months.
Just keep on keeping on.

 

[Bifferwine]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. The good news is that mushrooms usually spread very quickly, so even if you only have one or two left, if you give it a few months you should have little mushroom babies popping up all over the place.