Is my finger leather dieing?

Burchoid · 07-12-2005, 08:41 PM

I bought a neon yellow coral labeled as a "finger leather" from Har Mar, but it doesn't appear to be doing so well. Since I bought it a little algae has grown on it and it shows no new growth (while my monti and birds nest show signs of new growth daily). I have it under 14K halides with VHO supplements high in the water column. I don't have algae growing on any other corals except a little on my yellow gorg which gets cleaned up by a venturous crab every now n then.

Anyways, is it safe to take a tooth brush to my finger leather? Should I put it near the bottom of the tank? Top?

I believe it to be this species:
http://www.windowtothesea.com/displa...at=5&subcat=69
just neon yellow instead of pink. Its smooth and has no polyps. I have seen some corals labeled as finger leather that have polyps and some that do not.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Frogbone · 07-12-2005, 09:23 PM

I have my Finger Leather unter PC lighting and it does well. Maybe the MH's are too much for it. Move it to the bottom of the tank and see if it improves.

Burchoid · 07-12-2005, 10:20 PM

Ya I just lightly took a tooth brush to it to remove some of the algae and I think it peeled off a laying of tissue with the algae

Its now white on the areas that the brown algae came off of. I hope this bugger recoops, its was a really nice looking peice.

Neuahda · 07-12-2005, 10:23 PM

You might want to put it in an area of increased flow to blow the algea off of it. It might also help keep new algea from growing

JnS · 07-12-2005, 10:36 PM

if the flesh is coming off if is going to die, try to frag off the arms and hope they live.

Ben · 07-13-2005, 12:42 AM

Leathers are funny... My two "die" surprisingly frequently for anywhere from hours to weeks. One does it half the time when I use cleaners on the stovetop about five yards away from the tank. None of the other corals show any reaction to this.

Many species of leathers fairly regularly shed a mucus mantle / outer layer of skin in response to stress and to clean garbage off their surface. Bright colors in leathers can mean that they come from lower light environs, so you may have shocked it by putting it into an SPS MH tank. So, if the mucus mantle is shedding, it will look like it is absolutely dying for a few days to few weeks, then recover completely once it is in a happier place. If it is actually losing real tissue, not the mantle, then it will be dead pretty soon unless you frag any pieces that still look OK and get them to a happier light + chemistry.

Also, a smooth leather coral can often be an unhappy leather coral. If there are tiny dimples on the surface, then the polyps are retracted into the main body to hide them from whatever is stressing the coral. I can't find any pictures of a genuine leather coral without polyps in Borneman or Fenner's references. Most are happy with high light and water flow, but soft corals and stonies do have different needs and regular go into chemical warfare mode versus each other. They also tend to be perfectly happy with fragging.

EDIT:
Checked in Borneman's work... There is a leather coral disease / condition that looks similar to the perfectly normal shedding behavior. After a state of being unexpanded for potentially several weeks, the tissue becomes cheesy and starts to degenerate. Holes or rotting tissue starts to show up. The best treatment is to do freshwater or Lugol's dip and possibly cut out any affected areas, then let the coral heal itself. Excepting this cropping up in some totally healthy Sarcophytons, the condition is considered to be associated with poor tank conditions and/or stagnant water flow.

If algae was growing on it, you may have had insufficient flow, plus the previously mentioned potential of too-bright lights.

David Grigor · 07-13-2005, 11:16 AM

If you can rub the area and it basically disentigrates then it's in serious trouble. You want to feel and around the base my be hard but the rest should feel rubbery. If it flakes off when you rub it then you need to frag it, determine where it is still rubbery feeling and frag it about 1/2"-1" higher than that point rubbery. That's the best shot you have as it is for sure in trouble and left alone it isn't going to make it, even fragging it above the area, you still may not be able to save it but that's your best shot......