Another case of bleaching mushrooms

[CJ]

I have had 3 bright red mushrooms (color is just like gregrocks79's in a previous post) since February 2007. They were doing great until a couple months ago when one started bleaching around the mouth. The bleaching progressed outward and now the mushroom is white and pink. The other two started doing the same thing about a week ago, just in the very center so far.

They are in a 20 gallon tank which shares its water with my main display so the parameters are stable. The lights are PCs in a Current satellite fixture an inch from the top of the water. The mushrooms are midtank. They are under 2 65 watts PC bulbs, one actinic half 420 and half 460 and one white half 10000K and half 6700K. The bulbs are 6 and 4 months old respectyively. Nothing has changed since February so I have a hard time believing that the lights are the problem.

Does anyone have any idea? Thanks

[bigScott]

move them down a lil bit ..an see if they get a lil color back..

scott

[CJ]

Thanks for the reply but they can not be moved. They are attached to a large rock and have been there for 10months under the same lighting condition other than for slowly aging bulbs. The bulbs have another 3 and 5 months of life left. You would think if they have too much light that they would have started bleaching 6 and 4 months ago when I changed the lights. Grr.....

[All Delight]

I had the same problem as well. I have no idea why. Others say to move it down. But like your case, mine have been there for over a year. So I don't think too much was a problem.

One thing I thought was funny, someone once told me. "Dude sometimes they just die, like old age".

[CJ]

Thanks for the input All Delight. And you're saying yours bleached the same way, very slowly and from the mouth outward. It's been a couple months since it started. We'll see if the other two follow the same pattern.

[CJ]

And, mine were just babies when I got them 1/4-1/2" in size. I stuck them in holes and they attached by morning and lived happily there after. They can't be that old as mushrooms go. Another thing is that they never divided in that whole time. And some people have trouble containing them, go figure.

I wonder, do ricordeas bother mushrooms? There are a couple not too far from them which I added a few months back. The other corals in the tank that I wonder about are my GSPs and the Capnella?? GSPs don't seem to bother other people's shrooms though.