Shrinking Toadstool

[Snow_Phoenix]

I have a slight problem with one of my toadstools. It's an orange, long-polyped toadstool which I purchased around 2 to 3 months ago. It doubled in size during the first month and was doing very well, until the frag plug it was on kept getting uprooted by my tuxedo urchin or hermits. I have re-glued the frag plug down to my LR several times and it always, always detaches after several weeks. This week, I caught my urchin towing the toadstool away. I ran out of coral glue, so I quickly put the toadstool (still on the frag plug) in the front left corner of my tank, next to my green goni....and I've noticed that it has shrunk tremendously. In fact, it's smaller than the first time I purchased it, and its polyps are short and stubby.

 

I love softies, and I don't want this one to die on me. Help? Is there a way I can get it back to being it's usual 'fluffy'-self, and preferably larger?

 

I have two other leathers - a green weeping willow and a brown cabbage leather that are doing very well in this tank and have no issues whatsoever. I'm a bit baffled. I didn't know leathers could shrink, and I attribute it to stress of being lugged around by various inverts multiple times.

 

Shall I just scrape the toadstool off the frag plug it's on, and glue it down somewhere else (where the urchin and hermits are least likely to run into it)? And how do I get my softies to increase in size quicker? I see people on NR commenting about how fast their leathers grow, and how it needs fragging, but mine grow so slowly. 😞 

[Rob22]

Goniopora corals actually have a pretty potent sting towards other corals. It could be stinging the toadstool. Toadstools will also shrivel sometimes for a few weeks and shed and then come back out. Either way you need to move the leather. If the Goni is stinging it the leather will likely start chemical warfare. If it sheds the skin could land on the Goni and harm it. I would also run carbon in any system with leathers because it will absorb the chemicals put off by the leathers. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I am and always have been running carbon. I also run RowaPhos (phosphate remover). I'll move the leather to a better place. Thank you. 

[Clown79]

56 minutes ago, Rob22 said:

Goniopora corals actually have a pretty potent sting towards other corals. It could be stinging the toadstool. Toadstools will also shrivel sometimes for a few weeks and shed and then come back out. Either way you need to move the leather. If the Goni is stinging it the leather will likely start chemical warfare. If it sheds the skin could land on the Goni and harm it. I would also run carbon in any system with leathers because it will absorb the chemicals put off by the leathers. 

^this.

 

The goni can be stinging it which would cause the coral to shrink.

 

Also moving the leather yourself as well as the urchin moving will cause the leather to be ticked off and shrink up.

 

Leathers can stay closed for quite a while, especially when unhappy.

 

 

Unfortunately, you can't glue the leather down itself. Glue doesn't work well with softies.

 

You need to get epoxy to hold the plug down to the rock, its stronger than coral glue

[Snow_Phoenix]

11 hours ago, Clown79 said:

^this.

 

The goni can be stinging it which would cause the coral to shrink.

 

Also moving the leather yourself as well as the urchin moving will cause the leather to be ticked off and shrink up.

 

Leathers can stay closed for quite a while, especially when unhappy.

 

 

Unfortunately, you can't glue the leather down itself. Glue doesn't work well with softies.

 

You need to get epoxy to hold the plug down to the rock, its stronger than coral glue

I wish I had seen your message earlier. Just this morning, I scraped the leather off the frag plug and glued only the base down to one of my LR pieces. It's quite firmly settled, and I don't think I should uproot it again to cause it more stress. I actually hate frag plugs. I've always preferred gluing down coral to pieces of LR rubble or the LR piece itself rather than a frag plug. I just don't like the look of white plugs sticking all over my rock. I find it unnatural-looking and weird. It's worse when the coral unexpectedly dies and the frag plug is still left behind on the LR = ugly in my eyes. 

 

I'll chime in again if I run into any further trouble with the leather. I'd have slotted it into a crevice or hole within my LR, but I know my hermits/urchin would just uproot it and lug it around again. 😞 

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

I wish I had seen your message earlier. Just this morning, I scraped the leather off the frag plug and glued only the base down to one of my LR pieces. It's quite firmly settled, and I don't think I should uproot it again to cause it more stress. I actually hate frag plugs. I've always preferred gluing down coral to pieces of LR rubble or the LR piece itself rather than a frag plug. I just don't like the look of white plugs sticking all over my rock. I find it unnatural-looking and weird. It's worse when the coral unexpectedly dies and the frag plug is still left behind on the LR = ugly in my eyes. 

 

I'll chime in again if I run into any further trouble with the leather. I'd have slotted it into a crevice or hole within my LR, but I know my hermits/urchin would just uproot it and lug it around again. 😞 

Soft corals produce slime and leathers wax over often dislodging coral glue.

 

Leathers are tied down for them to attach themselves to rocks and plugs

[Snow_Phoenix]

12 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Soft corals produce slime and leathers wax over often dislodging coral glue.

 

Leathers are tied down for them to attach themselves to rocks and plugs

Noted. My bad on this one. I'll try to tie it down if it dislodges. Simple rubber band would do, or is a plastic toothpick better?

[Clown79]

4 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Noted. My bad on this one. I'll try to tie it down if it dislodges. Simple rubber band would do, or is a plastic toothpick better?

I've never used the toothpick method.

 

I've used rubber bands, cut fabric from media bags , some use fishing line.

 

The trick is not making the tie to tight because you want to leave room for the leather when it expands and you don't want it splitting.

 

Maybe you'll luck out with the glue working.

[Snow_Phoenix]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

I've never used the toothpick method.

 

I've used rubber bands, cut fabric from media bags , some use fishing line.

 

The trick is not making the tie to tight because you want to leave room for the leather when it expands and you don't want it splitting.

 

Maybe you'll luck out with the glue working.

I just peeked. Half the polyps on the toadstool have extended and are open. It's still shrunken, but at least it's alive.