Mushrooms

reefman_MC · 08-13-2004, 05:11 PM

Ever since I got my halides I can't get mushrooms to live. It's too much light for them and if they do live they will not grow or spread very fast at all. I'm thinking about changing my 20 hex to nothing but a mushroom tank. Do you think a whisper HOT will be good enough filtration? Do you think that a 14 watt T-8 bulb will be too low for mushrooms? I know they don't like alot of light, but I'm not sure what the lowest they can deal with is.

Craig Manoukian · 08-13-2004, 07:13 PM

My mushrooms in my 20 gallon are under 110 watts of 10,000k PC lighting and are smokin". HTH

reefman_MC · 08-14-2004, 03:27 AM

My main tank has two 250 watt DE HQI bulbs and two 54 watt actinic T-5's. MY other reason for wanting to do them in the 20 is because they spread so fast . It doesn't mater anyway because they won't grow under the halides. I've even tried putting them under caves, but they still bleach out. Do you think they would be able to live under 14 watts?

Craig Manoukian · 08-14-2004, 04:03 AM

My mushrooms are doing fine under my 350 watts of MH lighting in my 80 gallon. Is there something in your tank that is atttacking them chemically or nematasystically?

14 watts sounds a little low although I have no expeience with that low of light. under 18 watts of NO to see.[/b]

Matt Rogers · 08-14-2004, 07:15 AM

How close is your halide to the water reefman?

Due to some heat probs, I raised my 150w pendant to 12" over the water on my open top 20 hex and everything from mushrooms to Acros are doing great.

The mushrooms on the top rock are a little stunted but not bleached out. The mushrooms that have fallen to the bottom are stretched out and doing fine.

fletch · 08-14-2004, 10:55 AM

I don't have Halides as of yet but I was wondering if reefman just recently upgraded to halides? If so do you think that he would need to slowly get his tank used to the lights by slowly increasing the time that the halides are on over an extended period of time? maybe it is just to much light to fast?

Or maybe you did do that? Just a thought..................... John

reefman_MC · 08-14-2004, 01:48 PM

I don't have enough corals for anything to be attacking them. The ones that died were hairy mushrooms. I was running 520watts of PC now I'm running 500watts MH and 108 watts T-5 actinics. They were switched fast into the MH. Do you guys have any good ideas on acclimating them? I thought about putting a strip of glass with a few strips of screen wire over the mushrooms and removing one each day. That would slowly get them used to it, but they still wouldn't grow superfast under that MH lighting. Also I'm about to get a stream 6010 if it works out and I didn't think that mushrooms liked alot of water movement. Anybody know an online source that I can pick up some cheap mushrooms.