Mushrooms has weird purple in middle

techrach · 06-30-2006, 03:00 PM

Today when I got home from work I noticed that my mushrooms had a purple bloom looging thing in the very center of them. This was happening to about 25 mushrooms. I went to get my camera when I got back to the tank they had went down. IS this something I should be concerned about?

rickzter · 06-30-2006, 06:09 PM

Did it look brownish to purple? Might have been expelling zoxanthellae. Did it look like they were spitting dark colored mucus out? Are these new mushrooms? Nothing to worry about.

techrach · 06-30-2006, 08:10 PM

It looked more like little strings or worms than mucus. But it disappeared with me looking at them.

coral reefer · 06-30-2006, 08:15 PM

It sounds to me as if they were expelling zooxanthellae and/or waste. Sometimes corals will expell zooxanthellae for a different strain-other times it is a last ditch effort at survival before they die.
Keep a watch on them though they should be fine. Check water parameters and do a water change if in doubt.

techrach · 07-01-2006, 05:49 AM

Thanks I did a water change. All seems to be well now.

rickzter · 07-01-2006, 11:36 AM

Excreting zooxanthellae can also mean "re-supplying" the zooxanthellae colony. They are getting rid of old cells and building new for increased coloration, I see it as a good thing. I have halides and mine do it every couple of months, especially the corals that I have introduced that were previously underlighted.