Why aren't mushrooms growing?

[Cindy S]

Other corals, like the torch and bubble have doubled in size in their first month in the tank. Even the sun coral is growing. But I have three types of mushrooms and none of them have grown at all in two months. What could be the problem?

 

[bquicksall]

What type of lighting are you using? Mushrooms prefer low lighting conditions. I have 250W HQI over my 45gallon and have the same problem as you. Just too much direct light for them.

 

[Cindy S]

I have 4X110w VHOs over a 60 gallon. I mentioned the high light at Jeff's Exotic, but they showed me their mushrooms directly under MH doing great. They said I couldn't give mushrooms too much light.

In my tank, the three types of mushrooms are in three different locations, each has a different amount of light (and current). That hasn't mattered, none are growing.

 

[reefhope]

Cindy

I've been trying to grow mushrooms for over one year now under 110watt pc in my 46gal tank. One rock of shrooms has literally shriveled to almost nothing and I've placed it all over the tank. The other rock I've had for about 14 months and it just started coming around in the last couple months.

I don't buy the "too much" light theory. Actually I've read that too much UV rays IN the light can cause the formation of something chemically similar to hydrogen peroxide in the tissues of the shrooms (that's a close description, the text is in vol. 2 of Sprung and Delbreek). The shrooms react poorly, i.e. shrivel up, turn white...

Iodine/iodide supplements might help, I dose lugols which has seemed to help my red shrooms...I don't think there is any help for my brown mushrooms though. Good luck. Oh yeah, all of my other corals do just fine under the same lighting(sarco, sinularia, lobophyton, polyps to name a few).

 

[Styk33]

My shrooms like to be in the shade. All the varieties (4) do not do well in direct light, but grow rapidly under rocks.

 

[gazpep]

In my experience Mushrooms will attempt to migrate to areas of suitable light, even a couple of inches makes a difference to them. The red coloured ones can take a higher light intensity, the brown ones definately seem to gravitate to the lower levels of the tank, and often seem to site themselves at the edge of rocks bordering the sand. The brown ones will shrivel if placed too high in the tank.

Keep this in mind when you initially place them in your tank.

 

[Kelp]

I don't know why their not growing, I doubt its the light, I have 3 -10,000k MH and 2 96w -03s I can't keep them FROM growing AND multiplying.