One Sick Mushroom, One Healthy...?

[mharmon]

I have one mushroom that's seemingly healthy and growing and another that is closed up and decidedly *not* healthy. They were purchased and placed at the same time, about 5 weeks ago, and have had identical treatment. The sick mushroom was initially larger and seemed healthier than the smaller green one, but started going down hill about about two weeks ago. Any ideas why one mushroom seems to like things and the other goes "tango uniform"? What can I do to rescue this sick mushroom?
:(

[MattK]

I don't know if this is what's happening, but some of my mushrooms did the same thing (3 of 6) and about 3 or 4 days later they went
back to looking normal. I checked them everyday and about a week later I saw little mushrooms only under the ones that shrivled up.
They had the same "bubble look" on the under side as yours do.

[NaCl_H2O]

I suspect your water parameters aren't ideal either - the algae growth between pic #2 and #1 indicates Nitrates &/or phosphates??

[mharmon]

I suspect your water parameters aren't ideal either - the algae growth between pic #2 and #1 indicates Nitrates &/or phosphates??

Yes, I was fighting green hair algae and nitrates until recently. A quart of chaeto, 10 astraea snails, and reduced lighting has pretty much taken care of that.

My water parameters are not perfect, but ammonia, phosphate, and nitrites are zero. Nitrates are around 10 heading toward zero. Two weeks ago the reading was closer to 50. Alkalinity is 2.25 and PH is between 8.0 and 8.2. Calcium is high, around 540 but dropping. SG is just over 1.026. Water temperature is around 81 - 83.

Still, the puzzle for me is why one mushroom is such a contrast to the other under identical conditions...