jdiver Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 I have a small leather coral that I got on Tuesday, which had been at my lfs for at least 2-3 weeks. It is about 1 1/2" tall and 1/2" wide and is shaped like a nose. The first two days I had it, it looked great, standing straight up and had "flowers" open all over it. It looked better than it did at my lfs actually. Yesterday it was leaning over and didn't open all day that I saw. This morning, it looks even worse. It looks shrunken (about 2/3 its full size) and is leaning almost completely over. I have some GSP, pulsing xenia, yellow polyps, and a number of tiny frags (button polyps, hairy mushroom, green mushroom, young's coral) that all look great. My tank params all seem good: pH: 8.2 ammonia: 0 nitrites: 0 nitrates: 5 ppm SG: 1.023 temp: 78 degrees I have read time and time again that leathers are among the hardiest of corals. I have also read somewhere that leather sometimes will "shed their skin" (not sure of the exact treminology for it) and will look bad while doing this. Is there anything I could look for to indicate if this is the case or not? Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appeciated. Thanks. Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 It's a little bit early to tell what exactly it's doing. Some of my leathers have their 'bad days' where they don't open much, but they always go back to normal in 1 or 2 days. Since your tank parameters seem alright, wait and see how it's doing tomorrow. Link to comment
jdiver Posted July 5, 2002 Author Share Posted July 5, 2002 Thanks for the reply Chris. I'll give it another day before I get out the defibrillator paddles. "Clear!" Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 Is it near something that it doesn't like? Mine sometimes does strange things too, but it always comes back. One morning I woke up and it had a big black spot in the middle of it- by the next day it was gone. Let us know how it does (I'm curious because I'm new to corals). Tasha Link to comment
jdiver Posted July 6, 2002 Author Share Posted July 6, 2002 I moved the tiny leather to a new location yesterday, but thus far there is no discernible change. It isn't near anything else that would be bothering it, nor was it in its original location. It's very odd, because everything else in the tank looks great. I'll see what today brings for it. Link to comment
rhinoivory Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 What are your light and tank specs, and what is the position of your leather? Don Link to comment
jdiver Posted July 6, 2002 Author Share Posted July 6, 2002 I have a 7 gallon mini-bow with a 32w SmartLite. I have an AC Mini HOB and a Mini 404 PH for circulation. I had the leather towards the bottom of the tank (getting moderate current) and it looked great for the first 2 days, then started looking bad. I have moved it higher in the tank with stronger current, and thus far no change. Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 I almost wonder if there's some allelopathy (chemical warfare) between it and the polyps (???). The polyps can be fairly toxic. Tasha Link to comment
tinyreef Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 how's your iodine dosing? if you've dosed for the week never mind. if not then dose and wait a day or two. sometimes the light change from one environ to another will speed up algae and the coral has to shut down to prevent oxygen build up (from what i've read and experienced). also what kind of leather do you have exactly. the nose was vague. it could be a sarcophyton ehrenbergi which ain't easy. the others are weeds, i like coral weeds:D they're less complicated than these other prima donna corals. Link to comment
Sahin Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 My leather coral doesnt always open up. I notice that if I move it or any dirt fall on it, it doesnt open up and instead builds a layer of film and then film floats away and then opens up. Give it time, and make sure its near a gentle flow and not near other strong stinging corals. First week I had mine it was like all bent and did open the tiny flowery things. Its alright now. Link to comment
jdiver Posted July 7, 2002 Author Share Posted July 7, 2002 Tasha- The leather was about 4" away from the nearest other coral (GSP) and is now about 2-3" away. tinyreef- I do need to dose with iodine, so maybe that will help. Thanks for the suggestion. Also, I'm not exactly sure of what kind of leather it is, but my best guess would be a finger leather. BTW, I too am a big fan of coral weeds. Sahin- I haven't seen any film build up on it, but I'm waiting to see how it does over the next couple days. For the first two days I had it, it looked better than it did in the store, and now it looks worse. Go figure. Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 How do you know you need to dose Iodine? Toy Link to comment
tinyreef Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 well, there's isn't a test kit that i know of, it's more of an 'old school' train of thought. (grr, i'm beginning to dislike that term) leathers and soft corals are thought to benefit more from it. the most technoplausible theory i've heard is that the iodine helps control the buildup of oxygen radicals (like terrorists i guess) in softies. the buildup is a result from the symbiont algae kicking into overdrive photosynthesizing and the iodine helps control that process and as a side effect helps the coral grow (rather than a direct result). those are paraphrased btw. i'm thinking it was sprung who said all that but i don't want him angry at me if i'm misquoting but i also want to acknowledge a source. careful dosing with iodine, it's a trace element not an abundant element (in the ocean). it seems to work. i don't know how a car runs but i know it needs gas. Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 That's what I mean there is no test kit that is affordable and available to the hobby that is anywhere accurate. My Belief is not to dose anything unless you KNOW you need it in your system. Old school is exactly that Old. The more current belief is that adding trace elements with normal water changes puts your tank at risk of "old tank syndrom" sooner than w/out, as the trace elements build in your substrate and rockwork and cannot be removed through water changes. read this article from Dr. Ron Shimek it explaines it better than I can. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rs/f...ature/index.htm HTH, Toy Link to comment
jdiver Posted July 8, 2002 Author Share Posted July 8, 2002 It turns out I was mistaken about dosing with iodine. I thought the supplement I dose with (Reef Complete) contained iodine, but it does not. The leather coral is looking better, and the flowers on it are starting to come out again. Link to comment
Sahin Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 These leather corals are fast growers! Mine is growing bugger each week. Link to comment
tyoberg Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 You should probably be more worried if your leather coral doesn't close up every few weeks. I'm pretty convinced that it's just normal behavior. Heck, I go limp for 8 hours every day, but nobody sends me to the hospital. My leather has closed for upwards of 2 weeks at a time on occasion. I would start worrying if it is physically disintegrating or if it really starts turning black. Ty Link to comment
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