The Puffer Forum

Not fish, this time, but a coral. Toadstools don't want to live in my tank, and I really don't know why. And I really want to know why.
Some info about the tank. It's a 32 G tank, with a 17 G sump. It's been running since June, and contains two fishes, some small SPS and a colony of zoas.
Water parameters are:
Nitrate: 0-2
Strontium: 10
phosphate: 0
Calcium: 330
Nitrite: 0
Magnesium: 1200
KH/alkalinity: 8/2,85
SG 1.026
Lights: 4 X 39 W T5

The story of my toadstools are like this. When I started the tank, I got a toadstool with the LR. It was thriving in my tank, and it was beautiful to watch. Then I went on vacation. While I was away, my friend who was supposed to refill water, forgot what she was doing, and overfilled the tank, and flooded my floor. This meant that the SG dropped pretty much, pretty quickly, and it stayed that way for about 5 days, until I came home again. The toadstool was still alive then, but not very satisfied with the situation. Unfortunately I came home with new fish too, and because ot them, I had to raise the SG quickly to be able to put the new fish (and some shrimps) into the tank. This killed the toadstool off. The LR and the other corals survived though. A few weeks later, I bought a new toadstool to replace the first one. That one survived one day! I had no idea what happened. It barely put out its "tentacles" after it came here, and it retreated them pretty quickly, and then died off. I didn't know if it was the moving that killed it, so I thought I would make one more try. On Saturday I bought one mor, a bigger one. After acclimatizing it, I put it into the tank, and it seemed so satisfied with its new life. It put out all its "tentacles" pretty quickly, and looked very good. I went to bed. When I got up next day, it wasn't in such a good mood anymore. All the "tentacles" were in, and it seemed to get more and more angry with me during the day. In the evening I moved it to a bucked of clean SW, but it didn't make it. It has died off too, and I am really upset about it. It was a beautiful one! So what is killing them off, and so quickly? Could it be the zoas poisoning it? Please help me, as I want to keep one. I am so in love with that kind of coral!

Pic please? Leathers are "moody" corals. They look dead one day (flopped over & withered) & then a week or 2 later, they shed their skin, perk up, extend their tentacles & look bigger & more beautiful than ever.

You can always try vitamin C.

Also, no need to test or dose Strontium. Get your Ca up to 400-450. Are you running carbon on there?

I have a Toadstool that I thought was dead after about 2 months. He was usually big, pink & spotty but he turned small, blue & withered looking. Turned out he was ?shedding. After about 5 days he came "alive" again, bigger & better than before. Each time he sheds now, I just wait a few days & he looks great again & keeps growing.

Pufferpunk wrote:Get your Ca up to 400-450. Are you running carbon on there?

I wasn't, but I put up something on Sunday. Unfortunately too late to save the toadstool.

I'm having the same issue and oddly enough I was going to take pictures and ask the same question! Mine is a Fijian Green Toadstool and he starts his day all shriveled up and through out the day he expands and turns cup like, with the outer edges pointing up towards the light. Funny, I've tested everything but calcium lately but my last test was only 340. I did not realize that Toadstools were that dependent on calcium levels being photosynthetic softies. My shrooms and my Haddons Carpet are thriving at that level.

Oh, BTW, never, and I mean never touch a Haddons Carpet. I accidentally got too close and got stung on the hand, it was like I boiled my whole hand up to mid forearm for a few hours.