A few wierd looking corals....

[Reefguide]

Two things, my finger leather has a wierd black stuff on it and if you notice it looks like if it were torn open there exposing the inards... Could it be just recovering from an injury? I do remember it not doing to hot after my LR collapsed on it... but was placed diferently till just recently so hadnt noticed the blackening...


Also the Elegance as you can tell looked very nice about a year ago, and now looks like hell... Look like its seperating... Should I frag it in hopes of having 2 that will grow back into the original looking piece, or will it never look like that again?


Thanks... Images below...

 

[Anonymous]

I don't see an elegance coral.

 

[Reefguide]

Excuse me... Elegance leather, Yellow Leather Coral or (Sacophyton elegans) Thanks for your input though...

People like you make this such an enjoyable hobby...

 

[Anonymous]

People like you make this such an enjoyable hobby...[/quote]

Amen.

 

[gr_reefer]

[People like you make this such an enjoyable hobby...[/quote]

yea what a dick, er i mean richard

 

[Anonymous]

Excuse me... Elegance leather, Yellow Leather Coral or (Sacophyton elegans) Thanks for your input though...

People like you make this such an enjoyable hobby...

hmmm...do i detect a bit of sarcasm? :?

 

[Reefguide]

Thats correct.... It just bothered me...

 

[Anonymous]

try not to let it. there are plenty of helpful people on this board. :wink: sorry i can't offer any advice about the corals but i don't have any experience with your situation.

 

[Anonymous]

Holy mackeral, Reefguide.
My Tonga leather (yet another common name for Sarcophyton elegans) looks just like yours in the "bad" picture. Heheh I assumed it was doing fine. Man, I gotta investigate the problem.
Anyone keep one nice and yellow under (only) 440 watts of VHO? TRA vol 2 says intense lighting is required to maintain the bright yellow. I'm wondering if I have enough light.

 

[Reefguide]

The yellow I can do without.... It's the shape I'd like to get back.... I just dont know if fraging the wierd pieces off would help !

 

[dizzy]

CG

It looks like you yellow may be fragging itself. You can cut if off or let it drop on its own. Congratualtions your having a baby. BTW I didn't think Glen was very sarcastic.

 

[danmhippo]

I used to have colt that also showed the blackness near the base. The first time I noticed it was when I relocated it from the sand to the top of rocks. The blackened spot was previously buried in sand. Not sure what it was, if it's bacterial infection or not. The spot never went away on it's own and the colt died when my tank water temp surged up near 95 in one summer.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Reefguide]

Sweet I'm going to be a daddy ... Do you think it will return to its original shape eventually? Prob not huh?

The finger Leather, Yeah I think it's a bacterial infection maybe... The Blackening seems to be around the opening in the stem...

 

[danmhippo]

Monitor the blackening spot carefully, and if necessary, be prepared to frag it. Looking at the picture, you could make 5-6 frags out of it easy.

 

[Mouse]

BTW, i would get that sand sifting star fish out of there before it comepletely clears your sand bed of benthic fauna and infauna. Besides that, the poor animal is destined to starve to death anyhow. I suggest taking it back to your LFS and asking them to decline form stoking them in future, as they only ever waste away, and are not beneficial in anyway to an enclosed reef eco system. May i sugget some Nasarus snails and possibly a cuke, but if your worried about the cuke then go for a queen conch instead. I hope everyone would unamously agree with my suggestion as the sand sifting starfish has been discussed on this forum to great length.

Happy reefin.

 

[dizzy]

I agree with Mouse. The star should go.

 

[Dewman]

Reefguide,

Congratts on the Leather . Mine was growing a second one at the base and I fragged it off the rock so it could get more light. It has been doing well ever since.

 

[Len]

You can also "sculpt" the leather by cutting off the drooping section and trading it with other hobbyists. If the asexual reproduction is not an environmental response, it should regrow into the undulated umbrella shape you like.

However, I've also had soft corals (Sarcophyton included) that kept budding off once it started. Try as I might, nothing I did could get them to stop. Some people report that large water changes helped their situation, but it did nothing for me. Interesting note is when I moved the colonies to a new tank, they returned to their original form. Apparently, there was something about the chemical or physical parameters of the old tank that induced buddings in these softies (never found out what, but keep in mind, this was about 10 years ago, before I adopted more scientific methodologies).

As for the black growth at the base of soft corals, I see this quite often, even in freshy imported colonies. It can be one of many things, ranging from sponge to algae to bacterial growth. Most often then not, it's harmless, but it doesn't hurt for your to remove it. What I recommend is you tie down a tooth brush (clean) to the end of a vinyl tubing, and brush off the black growth while siphoning out water through the vinyl tubing. This is done just in case the growth is virulent and contagious (which, based on past experiences, I don't think it is).

I'll further agree with mouse: the star should go.

BTW, I'm sure Glenn/Rover meant no harm by his statement. Elegance is used predominatly to describe Catalaphyllia sp., and using it describe S.elegans (aka Yellow or Tonga Leather) does throw people for a loop.

 

[Reefguide]

Great guys thats a huge help !!! Thanks again!

 

[Reefguide]

Len, I meant to comment on this earlier I just ran short on time. Maybe your right about Glenn, I just think it was obvious by the pictures what I was talking about. It just sucks when your trying to learn something or you just need help and you get this kind of obiously rude response. A simple correction would have suficied. I don't want to be petty but this isn't the first time this happens to me and others on this forum. Maybe I'm over reacting.

Anyways, I'll take your advice on the leathers... Thanks again.