Star shaped moving critter

[bumblebee1976]

Thank you Thincat - I have no nitrates/nitrites or ammonia in the tank and wanted to wait before doing any water changes, to allow things to settle. The biorb filter cartridge contains resins which buffer and stabilise the water for a time but I am now ready for a water/filter change. My pH seems to have risen but I'm not sure over what period of time and why. Either way, it is now at a more suitable level for marines but it's the change which concerns me. Could it be uneaten food etc which has pushed it up? It is quite a hard one to read but I think it is 8.2 roughly, but was originally 8.0. The RO water I have has been standing and the temperature is fairly high at the moment with the hot weather, so do I need to heat it before adding it to the tank? I thought it would be as warm as the tank water but it is cooler, and I've read that the salinity will be different in cooler water. If I mix the salt as per instructions for a given quantity of water then surely it will be correct once it is warmed by the heater in the tank and mixed with the existing water? Or will this be an unacceptable change for my fish/inverts? I do have a heater in my garage but am loathed to use it because it is from my old tropical tank and I had problems with water quality in that tank. Reef One advised to rinse it in tapwater, so the chlorine kills off any harmful organisms. They thought that out of water, anything left on it from the other tank will have been destroyed anyway. I thought secondhand equipment alway's needed thorough cleaning before reuse. Please advise on how to do this water change smoothly. Thanks so much for your help.

[roka64]

Keep in mind, you pH will drop after lights out and rise after lights on, so make sure you are reading it around the same time every day. Plus, if your tank is still new, it will fluctuate as well. Stable pH is good, small swings are not bad and should not effect your tank.

[thincat]

uneaten food would lower your PH. Measure the temp. of your new water and see how close it is to your tank temp. One or two degrees is not much to worry about. anymore then that and a heat would be needed. Just wash the heater with a mild chlorine solution and flush it under water and air dry and it will be good to go. 8-8.2 is good PH. Don't worry to much about it. PWC will take care of it for now....

[bumblebee1976]

Thanks all. I can't say if the change was a swift one because I last tested a week or so before. I did do the test quite late in the evening so maybe that's why. I will check it during the day tomorrow, but all the inhabitants are fine so hopefully it was a slow change. The pH has risen not fallen.
How do I get a mild chlorine solution? Won't the chlorine in the tap water take care of the heater? I'm also guessing that being dried out will mean that any organisms will have died off. It took 24 hours to heat the water in my tank up to 24 degrees, when I set it up. The heater I can use for water changes is bigger though so will it be quicker, being a smaller volume of water? So, I can use the thermometer from the tank to check the temperature of the new RO water? Mind you, the sun is hot enough, maybe I should put it outside for a while to heat up tomorrow!! Would you recommend leaving the mixed salt for a few hours/overnight to allow the salt to be safely (fully) mixed? I don't want to shock the fish - I will use a funnel to add the new water to the tank to save disturbing them too much. Will they like the slightly cooler water, i.e. being that temperatures fluctuate in the sea? Just a few degrees though, I get it.
Thanks for all the help. Sorry to ask so many questions, I just want to get it right, since everything else has gone according to plan.

[Yellow Eye Tang]

The posts were really long here so forgive me if I'm repeating something all ready said. I just wanted to throw out there that any corals AND mushrooms will grow to all the rock in time connecting some of them together. Moving your rock to maintian your filter could over time eventually risk tearing the mushrooms or other coral you put in.

[bumblebee1976]

Thanks yellow eye tang - the mushrooms are on the top of what is actually an artificial 'live' rock, which covers the bubble tube and is only for display. Moving them will not break them because of where they are. What did you mean by connecting them together? The rock? Also, are they likely to reproduce by themselves if attached with resin to the rock? I have no choice but to move the rocks because if I don't I can't maintain my tank! I have noticed one of the mushrooms (a large one) lifting up on one side and exposing a stringy, fleshy base. Is it getting stung by the small anemone which has decided to make its home underneath do you think?

[Yellow Eye Tang]

The mushrooms have a foot like an anemone. Under the right circumstances the foot will split making two mushrooms and continue until you have tons of them. With mushrooms I dont know if Foot is the correct term for what it is but it will sometimes attach between two rocks forming them together. Anemones will move around using there foot. If it is near the mushroom it will not prefer to stay underneath as it needs light and minerals and food to survive. I bought 1 mushroom of each type. Here you can see a red one, purple one, and several ricordea.... they spread like crazy sometimes.

[bumblebee1976]

Thanks - what a fantastic picture! The reason I was asking about the mushroom is not because I am concerned with what the anemone is doing! I am wondering why the mushroom appears to be lifting up rather than remaining flat. I attached some of mine with marine epoxy (from the stalk that the mushroom came attached to). Will they still be able to reproduce with epoxy gluing them down?!

[thincat]

Originally Posted by roka64

sounds like asternia stars and sponges, but without a pic, it is just a guess.

+1...............

[bumblebee1976]

Just wondering what is +1.........?!
Thanks

[melosu58]

They are just saying they agree with what the person ahead of them said.

[bumblebee1976]

Oh okay thanks! Yes, I believe the mushrooms will reproduce as you already explained Mike. My question was about why the mushroom lifts off the rock in places, now and again, and then settles back down again! I saw an anemone underneath and assumed the mushroom was avoiding touching it!! Also, I wondered if the epoxy I had used would affect the reproductive ability of the mushroom.

[melosu58]

I always assume they are reaching for more light. Trying to get closer to it.

[bumblebee1976]

I hadn't thought of that - thank you! I thought they were better off in a low light/low movement position within the tank? Hmmm, confusing. It is quite a large mushroom (1.5 inches diameter) and is now totally flat! Thanks again for your helpful advice - do you know if the epoxy will affect it reproducing?

[thincat]

I think that the water current is lifting your mushroom and when it shifts the mushroom settles down to it's normat flat position. IMO

[bumblebee1976]

So the current is variable? It is a biorb so I thought that because the bubble tube is central, the current would be fairly constant. Obviously not. It is fairly low down in the tank so what you say would make sense. It is completely flat now. Do you think the mushrooms I have attached by stalk with the epoxy will still reproduce? How long is this likely to take? Thanks everybody for all the advice. I've also got another post under 'biorb' regarding a problem with the bubble tube. If you are able to help me with this I would be most grateful as I am unable to carry out necessary maintenance and am worried the bubble tube is permanently stuck. Thanks again for such helpful, friendly advice.

[juice28]

Originally Posted by bumblebee1976

Thanks - what a fantastic picture! The reason I was asking about the mushroom is not because I am concerned with what the anemone is doing! I am wondering why the mushroom appears to be lifting up rather than remaining flat. I attached some of mine with marine epoxy (from the stalk that the mushroom came attached to). Will they still be able to reproduce with epoxy gluing them down?!

Im not sure if this was already answered this post is a book lol but if your mushrooms are basically stretching up, its probably because they are reaching for the light. I had some as hitchhikers before i got my t5 set up and mine would look like little trees, the would spread out completely flat across the top and stand up very tall when I got my T5's they stopped stretching both across and out now they just kind of open up and sit almost flat like they do in my LFS and in all the pictures ive seen of healthy shrooms. I have bee reading like 6 pages of posts and Im new to reef set ups myself but a filter that is under everything does sound like an unneeded headache. not now as everything is new but once things start growing and poping up and spreading, you are going to have to basically rearrange your tank every time you need to do maintenance on it. If i am following along correctly ...If that is the case, your reef is going to struggle over time If its one thing I learned is that my tank after 6 months is nothing like it was at 3 months and you cant even tell it is the same tank form month number one. the fish and coral is the big pretty stuff but everything form your sand to the rocks to the algae that will grow on the equipment in the tank is alive, the fish and coral make up a small percentage of the "world" that is your tank

[thincat]

[quote= It is completely flat now. Do you think the mushrooms I have attached by stalk with the epoxy will still reproduce? How long is this likely to take? Thanks again for such helpful, friendly advice.[/quote]

Which came first...The chicken or the egg? lol, This is a hart question to answer. The epoxy won't hurt the roo, sometimes if they don't like the area they are in they will move and reproduce that way by leaving a piece of their foot behind. If they like the area they are in they will move just slightly and bud off that way. If they get big enough and still have not reproduced you can cut them in pieces and each piece will turn into a new mushroom. Google the name of your roo and see pictures of how this is done.Mushrooms are hard to glue and the best way is to put them in a sm tupperware container with rubble rock, put bridle vail netting over and put in a low flow area until they attach.
Looks like you are at a stage now to just sit back and enjoy the view.
Good job and Happy Reefing,

[bumblebee1976]

Thanks thincat - I have read the article to which you refer regarding 'roo' (hehe) propogation. I have thought of trying it sometime, when they are settled. The larger one has moved slightly but the rest are staying put. I thought things were going well until I visited my lfs and got a whole load of negative comments about my tank and how it will likely crash etc!! It seems to be going well so I am not going to worry unnecessarily!! Thanks again for your help.

[bumblebee1976]

Dear juice - yes I had heard they were stretching up towards the light. I think my shrooms are healthy, they are almost alway's flat or even curved downwards sometimes it's just that they occasionally curl up or in on themselves. Some do this more than others. In terms of the undergravel filtration, this is only part of the system, but I don't take everything out when I do hoovering/filter changes, I just move things aside bit by bit. Even with your tank you surely must have to move things otherwise how do you suck up the grub at the bottom of the tank? I haven't got any sand - but the tank is healthy because it has cycled from day one with the live rock I put in and hasn't spiked. Also, everything is showing signs of health and nothing has died or become ill. My previous tank, a tropical one, was a nightmare compared to this. It has been going really well so why worry about what might happen? Also, the biorb is selling fast with few returns, those folk that have problems usually don't follow the guidelines anyway. The general feedback I am told has been mostly good, but because this simple system is different to most complex marine tanks people think it will not work. Mine has so far - if moving livestock upsets marine systems then how come people transport fish/corals etc from the store to their tank without everything dying?!!! Your tank looks good but I like to have more variety in mine, i.e. plants, shells etc. Each to their own, you have a lot of live rock which is good and the water is very clear; mine is too. Thanks for your views on shrooms.