Red Mushroom Meltdown

[ecomdesign]

I just got my first tank set up last thursday. It is a used setp that came with live rock, red and blue mushrooms and 2 green star polyps. It also came with 1 banded shrimp and 1 brittle star fish.

The night before last had a brown algae on the bottom of the tank. I used a turkey baster to spray it off as I read online. Last night I got home and the glass had a reddish tint on it, so I got the magnet out and cleaned it off. The mushrooms on one side on the tank, which were doing really great melted away. Only half the rock is now covered. Were the mushrooms used to be, there is this mucus like film on the rock. It kind of looks like white cotton candy. Got any suggestions? I was thinking about taking the rock out and scrubbing it off. I tried to take a picture but could get a clear shot of it.

I checked my water levels and everything seems good:

kh=8
ph=8
no2= <0.3ml
nh3 nh+4= 0
no3=5
sg=1.022

I did have a temperature problem over the weekend but the temp has stabilized to 77-82.

 

[Ziggy953]

Mushrooms are one of the tougher corals to kill. Something isn't right with your water parameters. I've had them out of water for nearly a day and they didn't die. The white "stuff" is the left overs of the dead mushrooms. If you take that rock out of the tank it will smell pretty bad. I suggest mixing up some SW and doing a PWC ASAP. Test your water again before you do the change and see what your numbers are. I'm guessing you have some ammonia and your nitrates are higher then 5 (nitrates shouldn't cause the issue though) The temp issue could be the cause but I'm thinking there is something else going on. If you just set this tank up after it had been taken down and reused the rock and sand you could easily have a mini-cycle due to the stirring of the sand bed and releasing lots of nasty stuff. As I said get some new SW mixed up and ready to do a PWC. I would sugges at least 20% total volume. Make sure to let the SW mix really well (24hours or more is best) match the temp of the tank and the ph.