One problem coral

[SLPReefer]

On my 12g aquapod all of my corals are doing great except my kenya tree leather I got it from fritz and it was a great piece. It was open and ate cyclop-eez like there was no tomorrow. Now the polyps will not open to eat and it looks a little deflated. It is not touching anything but is it possible that it is reacting to another coral in that tank but none of the other corals are reacting to it? The other corals are mushrooms, star polyps, xenia, zoanthids, cup coral, and yellow palys. I really like this coral and don't want to lose it.

Thanks,
Jeff

[stuckey_t]

What are your water parameters??

Temp
Salinity
Calcium
Alkalinity
Nitrates

[mattb]

Are you, by chance, using an aluminum-based phosphate remover? Soft corals supposedly react negatively to this...

Do you run carbon?

[SLPReefer]

Temp is usually close to 79, sg is 1.024, my current maintainence schedule has been keeping calcium around 500 and alk around 9-10 pretty consistantly but I haven't actually in a week or two. I haven't tested nitrates in quite a while because I change water ~20a week (no skimmer on the tank) and I have a lot of macro in the tank. And I haven't used and phos removers in a long time.

Another thing, aren't the leather corals supposed to be hardier? Why would this one be the only one having problems? Would it be a good idea to try moving it to the new 75g or would the move just stress it more?

[David Grigor]

How long has it been this way ? This doesn't sound unusual unless it has been this way for months. They go through periods of not looking so good, retracting and/or shedding. Sometimes for several weeks other times just a day or so.

As long as it is still rubbery to the touch then nothing wrong. If you give it a slight rub and it flakes off then coral is in serious trouble.

[SLPReefer]

Still rubbery. Only been like this for 3-5 days. I guess I'm just an impatient reefer . Thanks for the info though. At least I don't have to worry about it now.
So does this down time correspond with anything and is there anything to make it come out of it sooner? It was really nice looking in the tank when it was open, but now it doesn't even stand out at all.

[David Grigor]

Generally the more flow, the less downtime there is because it can shed it off easier. You can blow it off with a turkey baster. This may speed it up.

Most times it's just for a few days. If happens more often and stays like that for longer periods of time could very well be a flow issue and may want to try to put it in a higher flow area.

[SLPReefer]

Last night I sprayed it with a power head and a bunch of flaky stuff blew off. Then I put it in a higher flow area. This morning the coral was already starting to open up again. Thanks David! I love this forum!