mushroom corals

Question
QUESTION: I've had some zooanthid polyps for about 2 months now(not sure WHICH color variety they are, some are bright orange, the others are a sky blue). I was having some flow issues in the middle of my tank... I have an ODD shaped tank. Its only about 35-40gal, but it is 5 feet long and only about 6 inches wide. It hangs on my wall. I have 2 internal filters on either side of the tank, but was not getting enough flow towards the middle. I purchased a powerhead over the last weekend and installed it sunday night. At first the polyps didn't seem to like the current -> but it's not very strong! At first they closed up, but they seem to have adjusted and reopened this morning. However, when I checked in the tank I noticed some long, almost poo looking strings coming from the "mouth" area in each polyp's center (just on the orange polyps, the blue did not have this). I'm just not sure what that "poo" looking stuff is... Is it poo? Does it have something to do with sexual maturity? I thought they reproduced by fisson? (splitting themselves or budding off). I'm just concerned, I don't want anything bad to happen to my corals!

ANSWER: Hi Alisha. If it is brown and stringy most likely it is poo!(at least a corals version of it) Zoanthid polyps have to eliminate the build up of food particles and old algae(zooxanthellae) from their tissues and since they only have one opening it comes out of that one. Why only the orange ones are doing it I could not tell you. Usually this occurs after a period of transition(change in water flow) and is completely normal!

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QUESTION: Hey its me again. My polyps are looking fantastic! It looks like they're starting t bud off. But my mushrooms aren't looking too good. They aren't fully opening anymore. They do open, but not as fully as when I first put them in the tank.I'm not sure of the exact variety of mushroom, they're not a fuzzy or a ricodia, just a run of the mill "green mushroom".  Do you think they're getting too much light? I don't have a really deep tank so I can't move them down any (they are at the same level as the polyps), but I could move them sideways away from the light fixture. I'm using a current satellite with duo 10,000k/actinic and night-time lunar lights.I also have a koralia powerhead providing a small current, but the 'shrooms are fairly far away from it.
when I first got them and they were fully opened the rock was totally covered and they almost overlaped each other. But now they do not. The later in the day the smaller they seem to shrink.

Answer
Hello again. Most mushroom corals are best located in mid-range of light intensity in your tank. They do not respond well to intense light or strong currents. When keeping these corals in a brightly lit tank it is best to keep them down as low as possible maybe even under an overhang or in the rockwork. Although commonly thought of as easy corals to maintain the mushrooms can be a little finicky by nature in some aquariums. Tanks with lower light levels and low currants seem to make them expand, grow and eventually multiply. As long as all your water tests are in check you may want to try moving them as far away from the light as possible!