something is wrong with my 2 leather corals....

[Mike02]

one had developed these yellow spots a few days ago and now theyre yellow/brown and covering most of it. sorta like a roasted marshmellow thats been over cooked. I have another sarchophyton that has the same symptoms. Everything else in my tank appears as normal. Green star polyps are growing fast...1 cm per week or so. im wondering if its because i crammed alot of corals into this 10g. The new corals ive added in the past week are 2 types of zooanthus (or palythoa) and a clavularia species. the one rock was a fairly decent sized fiji rock. i havent tested the water but i assume its like its always been. good water. i use a cpr skimmer. the odd thing is that both corals affected are the sarcophytons. any ideas, i would appreciate it.

 

[MFisher]

SOunds like they're getting ready to shed the waxy film. If mine get really POed they exude a nasty stinky brown substance which sometimes builds up in "blisters" under the waxy covering.

Don't worry. Leathers will do lots of funny things but you CANNOT kill them. Trust me. They are as indestructable as corals get. I would know-my tank suffers from terminal neglect and mine thrive.

Give it a little time and they'll be OK.

Matt

 

[gazpep]

I'd concur with Matts prognosis, it's about to shed it's mucous cover. Leathers go through funny stages....not opening for days and appearing to shrink then next day they're back to normal. You can't kill them ( don't take this literally ) and most everything else in your tank will perish before they do. If other corals are doing fine I wouldn't be too concerned about the leathers.

Gary

 

[FishHead1]

I lost most of my leathers while running Kent phosphate remover. They are the only ones that were harmed.

 

[Mike02]

Thanks for your responses. I dont use a Phosphate remover except for Kalkwasser. I'll just wait and see what happens to my leathers and hopefully they're just shedding. mine does have the "blistering" symptoms.

 

[danmhippo]

I used to have flat worms covering most of my leather and colt. Some of these "spots" are yellow, brown, and some are green. I hope this is not your case. God bless your leather!

 

[naesco]

I can't comment on the problem but if it is shedding give it a little help by diecting more powerhead flow in its direction.
They will appreciate that.

 

[Clearblue303]

I have an umbrella leather that had 2 worms inside(I've just seen the hole) and dissected it.Both halves are doing fine.One I gave away.The one I have was doing very well and now is covered with a shiny stuff ,for weeks now(probably some mucous).
Still,I'm not worried,stands upright,looks good.
Good luck!FM.

 

[jdeets]

You are right that softies can interact negatively on a chemical level. In addition to the other suggestions, you might also run some activated carbon for a day or two and see if that helps, just to clean up any agents of "chemical warfare" that might be in your tank.

 

[Clearblue303]

Today,mine is all nicely opened.

 

[Mike02]

My 2 leathers were pronounced dead on Monday nite. However, i came home today to see my other corals looking better than they ever have. Green star polyps fully extended and growing fast. This tank is crowded with corals. In a 10g i have the GSPs, 4 types of zooanthus(or palythoas), a sinularia(or lobophytum), 2 types of clavularia. About a 1 1/2 week ago i added a figi rock covered with zooanthus polyps. a few days later, i got what looked like a diatom bloom but this caused the macro algae to grow alot faster. grape caulerpa(i never knew i had), halameda, and other caulerpa. this is when the leathers started to decline (not that there is a connection). My leathers were very small frags.

 

[Mike02]

to the coral list, i forgot to mention the branches covered with briareum (florida species).

 

[Mike02]

forgot to mention the florida recordia. i think that covers it all

 

[jrodrig692]

Smcnulty-How do you know that the phosphate remover was what killed the leathers. I am concerned now, since I am running phosphate remover, and I have multiple leathers. My devil's hand went from a nice yellow to this greyish brown color a couple days ago, and has not returned to its original form. Had it about 3 months, no problems.