IS MY MUSHROOM CORAL DYING?

[plazalisa]

PLEASE CAN YOU HELP ME? IVE GOT A MUSHROOM CORAL IN MY TANK AN JUST LATELY ITS BEEN LEAKING A WHITE SLIME SO I DECIDED TO PULL IT OFF AND THIS RED SLIME CAME OUT AFTER IT. DO YOU NO WHATS WRONG WITH IT?

 

[macpegg]

Mines was leaking white stuff, i think its just the tenticles catching food etc.. but mine does`nt leak red stuff, cud be dying..

 

[Navarre]

It could be expelling its Zooanthid algea. What type of lighting is it under and have you changed the lighting recently?

 

[plazalisa]

We have recently changed the lighting to one ultra violet light an one normal this was recommended by the marine shop. Im pretty new to this as i've only had the tank for 4 months. My husband made the mistake of pouring salt directly into the tank, could this of caused the problem? It seems to look ok today and is not leaking white slime anymore so hopefully its cleared up. thanks.

 

[impur]

Is it coming from the shrooms mouth? These corals typically expell their "guts" then retract them. I don't know why they do this, buy mine do it probably once a month. It is very bad to add the salt directly to the tank. My guess is that some of the salt got on the shroom and began to burn it. They excrete a slime to try and shed off whatever is bothering it. Next time, mix the salt in a bucket, aerate it for a few hours, test it, then add to the tank. How can you be sure he put in enough or if he put in too much salt? You are lucky you didn't lose all your corals.

 

[plazalisa]

Thanks this is all a big help. I have just one more question though, some of the shrooms have gone a differant colour to the rest like a blacky colour is this normal an will it come back to its normal self. thankfully it has stopped giving off the slime, so hopefully its getting better i just dont want it to cause any damage to the other living things in the tank. Thanks again

 

[bgraber]

What kind of UV light is it? Is it Actinic and Blue or like a blacklight and purple? Mushrooms are pretty much indestructable so.. Is there any aiptasia or some other coarl or anemone that could be close enough to touch it? Although the shrooms usually come out on the winning end as they are quite potent..

 

[impur]

Also, with that new UV light, you need something over your tank to block the UV. It is damaging to corals being so close to the water and at high wattages. There are various types of glass you can use. Why did you buy the UV lighting? What did you have before? Kind of sucks that you bought a new UV light and the UV light could be what is killing your shroom.

 

[Navarre]

I wold recomend actinics over a UV light for many reasons. Mainy safety for the inverts as they can get badly damaged with UV light.

 

[bgraber]

Thing is most "UV" light bulbs you can purchase do not produce the most harmful UV rays(A I think) and they are very low wattage.. So I doubt they could actually harm anything, but just not a good option compared to actinic or any other daylight bulb. The neat "glowing" effect can be achieved with the actinic.. And the inhabitants will actually Benefit from it

 

[impur]

A lot of the metal halide bulbs give off UV light. They go pretty bright, 400 watts or more. But they also can come made with UV blocking glass that protects the filament. Some don't though, so you gotta be careful.

 

[Navarre]

I have 400w 10K hallides over my tank, thankfully its protected with a UV glass screen. If it wasnt then i would hate to think of the damage they would cause!

 

[bgraber]

U wear your sunblock during water changes??

 

[Navarre]

Lets just say i have a nice tan and iwork outdoors at night!