Leather Problem

[Creetin]

My leather coral is not opening as usual and i saw that it has a few batches of yellow on it... happening for a few days already......issit sick/dying?

[X_Japan]

It could have been stung.

another reason is that your water conditions are not good enough, causing it to close up and show yellow patches.

[Creetin]

i did keep it a distance from the bubble, dun tink the bubble can sting wif artillery right? i tried shifting the position again... hope its better...

maybe my water not good enough...come to think of it, this leather has been with me for less than a month.....

[Dinosaur]

My leather coral is not opening as usual and i saw that it has a few batches of yellow on it... happening for a few days already......issit sick/dying?

It could be due a very thin layer of membrane kinda blanket that covers the surface (This is what happen to mine previously). When this membrane appears, under the light if you observe, the surface of the leather will look shining.

What you have to do is to gently rub off this layer using you your fingers.

[Tanzy]

Dinosaur might be right. It's called a mucous tunic which the leather sheds regularly. You don't have to manually remove it cause it will come off by itself, but don't let it drift around in your tank. Remove and discard it quickly once it's off cause it contains toxins. A picture would help.

[Creetin]

Hi all, tks for ur advice. I certainly hope its natural thingy...it looks slightly better today but the powdery yellow stuff is still on it.... abit look like sulphur...hehe

wish i got pic leh... no $$$ for digicam...

[mv3i]

bro ,

i had my leather for about 4 months liao and it had done that twice already in that short period ..... looks like sh*& when it does that but after a couple of days ... seems to be better than before ....

[boxfish]

Hi,

I also have the same problem with one of my leathers. It hardly opens up from the day I bought it (which looks ok in the LFS tank!!) but the others are doing fine... maybe must see "heng" / "sway"

What does leather require in term of water flow, light and supplement??

[hongqixian]

Hi,

I also have the same problem with one of my leathers. It hardly opens up from the day I bought it (which looks ok in the LFS tank!!) but the others are doing fine... maybe must see "heng" / "sway"

What does leather require in term of water flow, light and supplement??

Good, clean, cool water, and a light current over just strong enought to wash away the mucous membrane bit by bit. Bright lighting too.

[Wei]

Hi creetin,

if part of yr leather then powdery, means that part is dead. U need to check yr water or does any coral sting it.

soft corals produce large amount of chemical in nature to its surrounding to prevent any algae or LPS from growing on or near them. I believe yr one issit doing well.

its definately not shedding mucous tunic.

Wei

[pospeh]

The powdery part is definitely dead. You need to cut that part away with a razor before the infection spreads to the whole leather and kills it.

[ZeRoC00l]

bro ,

i had my leather for about 4 months liao and it had done that twice already in that short period ..... looks like sh*& when it does that but after a couple of days ... seems to be better than before ....

Wow. very nice expansion of the leather polys.

Mine expand very little only... any tips for a beginner like me?

[mv3i]

...... er..... just good quality water and light/moderate flow rate and lots of lights ....

[boxfish]

Hmm.. looks like lotsa lights should be one of the key requirement. The reborn young guy did know his stuff.

[mv3i]

that's a change for reborn .... IMO , any corals ( photosynthetic ) need lots of lights !!!

[ZeRoC00l]

...... er..... just good quality water and light/moderate flow rate and lots of lights ....

I already have 150W MH over my 2.5 feet.

Must be my water..

Could you post your water perimeters?

Thank you

** hope what i'm asking not

[mv3i]

SG 1.024 ph 8.3

Ammonia . Nitrate 0

calcium 400ppm

ALK 10dKH

rest ... never check !!!!

temp 26C

[Creetin]

surprisingly mi leather coral looks better now.... but after looking at ur posts i not sure wassup wif this guy... i am gonna wait n see...

[Wei]

HI Creetin,

leather corals are super hardy. It might just be a signal that there are some problem in yr tank that you overlooked. Monitor yr system closely for now.

Hi mv3i,

From my experiece, the pic show a long polyp sarcophyton. This type need a strong flow & it will be beautiful to see when it waves it tentacles bac & forth. CLownfish will also host it too. Short polyp require moderate flow.

From the pic, the sarcophyton hasn't fully extend yet. its polyp haven't open. It is an easy coral & super easy to propagate them. 100% success rate.

Wei

[mv3i]

From my experiece, the pic show a long polyp sarcophyton. This type need a strong flow & it will be beautiful to see when it waves it tentacles bac & forth. CLownfish will also host it too. Short polyp require moderate flow.

>>thanks for the info ..... think the leather is pretty happy there and it has hosted a clownfish before and i do get the tentacles moving back and forth with moderate flow .... with strong flow , they tend to open lesser for this one ....

From the pic, the sarcophyton hasn't fully extend yet. its polyp haven't open. It is an easy coral & super easy to propagate them. 100% success rate.

>>> Guess you will have to see the actual one and you can tell that it's almost fully extended if not fully !!!!

Do not really know how to propagate it .... can advise ? Have you done it before and SUCCESSFULLY ??

[Wei]

Yup, propagate cladiella, sarcophyton, sinularia, etc a few yrs back. All 100% successful rate except lemnalia, 50%. out of 10 cutting only 4 to5 pieces survive. Very easy one.

Wei

[mv3i]

bro ,

you never say how to do it ... juz how successful you r !!! ..... JUz cut izit ????? <_<

what to do after cutting .... how to attach ?? epoxy , superglue ???

So you must have quite a few "OFFSPRING" then ??

[Creetin]

hmmm tks for the tip wei... mi leather looks better today...hope it doesnt konk out on me... i would be veri sad...it may be a softie, but its mi first coral

n its kinda cute as it looks like a brush! haha!

[boxfish]

Is it common that leather will "open" and "close (to change skin)" periodically?

So far that's what I observed.

[Wei]

Hi mv3i,

for sarcophyton, u can slice it into 2 or 4 parts form the centre of it. I use superglue to glue to rock. Also got use tooth pick. U can sew it to yr rock if u are into sewing.

Sinularia and cladiella, just slice out a branch & attach to the the rock as mention above.

for lemnalia, slice out the sub branch & sew it to a rock. Doesn't seem to like superglue.

Later part, just let the nature do the job. I find that keeping a min of ard 5ppm of NO3, yr soft corals & clams will do better.

Hi Creetin,

all the best man, as i say soft corals are very hardy, so, it should recover in no time if u maintain yr system well.

Hi boxfish,

yup, it changes 'skin'. But not lemnalia.

Wei