Mushroom Help!

Hey gang...I purchased a mushroom about 4 days ago, its been thriving in my tank. I woke up this morning to find it bloomed in all but one bald spot. It is doing fine, all tentacles are out except for the one 1/2 inch spot, do you think something is nipping at it or is it dying? I do have a coral beauty in the tank, but I have not seen it nipping at it at all. Is there anything I can do? I hope it doesn't spread to the rest of it.

Nothing in tank has changed, params , temp, lighting, everything is the same.

Here are a few photos...

 

To clarify, that's a leather coral (sometimes called a toadstool leather), not a mushroom coral. I had one and occasionally one part would not open as much as the rest of it. The good news is that they are pretty hardy. There is a chance that the coral beauty picked at it, and that may be the most logical explanation. I would give it a few days to see if it gets worse or better, if it gets worse and looks like the coral beauty is picking at it, then you may want to consider removing that fish. Besides that, I don't know too many treatments for soft corals. IMO, b/c the rest is out and looking very nice, I think it should be ok in the long run, just keep an eye on it and report back if it gets worse.

 

Yes a Toadstool, not a mushroom. Also, is there another coral next to it? Like a anemone, Torch or Frogsprawn.


luna

 

My toadstool does this from time to time, tho I have not seen anyone picking at it. a section will remain closed, such as your photo and the rest open. Eventually it all ends up closed and then sheds – after this it fully opens and has a further extension than previously. I think it has to do with its growth cycle. I am not certain if your toadstool is doing something similar or not….just keep an eye on him and keep us updated. Generally mine does this for about a week or so.

As noted above, this is a very hardy coral so you have that on your side. Good luck.

 

That's a good point.

 

To go even further with the name, they have also been referred to as a Toadstool Mushroom Coral. Now that we have all the potential names out of the way. Did it lay down at night as they sometimes do? It may be just that and will put out more polyps later. It does however appear to be munched on.

 

Thanks for the quick responses, also for the clarification on the name. As you can see I'm a new at the coral thing, why I have a hardy leather along with GSP to start.

To answer your questions, there is nothing next to it. The closest coral is about 12" away and it is a green star polyp. There are no torches or anenomes in the tank. The toadstool was not lying over at all that I've seen. I will certainly keep an eye on it and keep you all posted. Thanks again so much for the FAST replies...you guys made me feel better.

 

did the gsp ever touch the toadstool? that could be your culprit

 

I don't believe it has, the only chance of them touching would have been when I put the toadstool in the tank, but I'm 99.99% sure they did not touch at all. Inside the tank they are about a foot apart, so they have not touched at all.

 

Since when does GSP sting anything? To me, it looks like something was munching on that toadstool (does that sound dirty to anyone else?). I would get a flashlight and check it out a couple hours after your lights have been off to see if anything is causing it grief. what is your alk at?

~Will.