Mushroom coral questions

ajax969

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Have a few questions about the mushrooms in my tank.

What am I doing wrong with the ricordea mushrooms?
I've purchased a few ricordea mushrooms. They always start off healthy and good sized, had a few split but as soon as they split they stay small or shrink. Others have just shrunk down and basically disappeared. (I have heard that mushrooms never go away just move around, not sure I believe that).
I have discos and rhodactis growing and seeming to be healthy.

Is there a way to boost mushroom coral growth?
I currently target feed a mix of AB+ and phyto to all corals and they seem to be doing ok. I have heard that to really get mushrooms to grow you need a "dirty" tank with high nitrates. Never seen what I would consider even slightly raised nitrates in my tank. Most tests are around 2.5-5ppm when I have checked it. I hear about people running double that or more.

I'm not trying to spend a bunch of money on dosing elements or anything and with what I budget for this tank I would rather buy smaller frags and let them grow over time, just not sure if there is something I can do to trend in the direction for more growth, faster.

I have heard all the preaching of patience in this hobby and I understand. I also get that when people talk about stuff "taking over" it's not like you wake up the next morning and the whole tank is covered.
 

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal

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Rics can be harder to keep than discos or rhodactis. But I think a major problem is your low nutrients... as you noted, soft corals especially like dirtier water and with nitrates at or below 5, they may be starving.

Curious to know how long your tank has been running. Sometimes corals don't grow quickly in newer tanks; and yes, mushrooms can definitely die.
 
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ajax969

ajax969

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Tank has been up about a year. I feed frozen food twice a day to my fish, nothing too excessive on that end. I go back and forth between target and broadcast feeding a mix of AB+ and Phyto probably 3-4 times a week.
I have chaeto in my refugium that is doing great so I am not sure if that is eating up the extra nurtrients or what.

I haven't tested the water in a week or so but I have never seen nitrates above 5ppm with any of the testing I have done in the life of the tank.
 

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