question about my leather coral

Leesa · 08-01-2003, 09:36 AM

Hey everyone,
I have a leather coral that I've had for about three months. Up until yesterday, when the lights came on, it had always fully extended itself and it's little white filter thingys have come out. Yesterday and today, it has just sort of been there, not extended and with no filter thingys.

My water parameters are as follow:
Ammonia is 0
nitrite is about 0.25 (between 0 and 0.5 with a Red Sea test kit) and
nitrate is 0
pH 8.0 (I realize this is low. I've been adding Reef Complete and Reef Calcium per the instructions on the bottle 2 x weekly each)
alkalinity is 10 dkh
calcium is 400.

I use DT's and feed frozen food on a regular basis.

I have a 75 gallon tank with 2 CAP 1800 powerheads, about 110 pounds of live rock and 2-3 inches of live sand. I do 15% water changes every two weeks (due tomorrow).

All of my other animals look good. I recently pulled a fireworm off of my xenia, but otherwise I see no predators now.

I have heard that leather corals will actually shed their skin but I don't see any evidence of this so far either.

Any ideas?????

Thanks,
Leesa

08-01-2003, 11:53 AM

Leathers will do that. Sometimes they will not expand for a long period of time. I'm sure that it will open again and when it does it will be bigger and better.

Matt Rogers · 08-01-2003, 12:05 PM

They do that. My old leather used to do that before it shed. Give it a little time.

karlas · 08-09-2003, 03:49 AM

mine seem to do that also they sorta close up get a sort of goo on them then when the good dissapears its got a new branch or bump that starts to grow

Gresham · 08-09-2003, 07:53 AM

Are you using any phosphaet removers, like Seachem's or Kent's? They'll cause a closurer sometimes. A chsnge in current, or lack of, can also cause it to close. Is it wilting, and pinching at the base, or simply smoothed over?

markgsiy · 08-10-2003, 08:41 PM

I have a leather myself and about every 4-6 mths it does shrink - don't know why - but it lasts for about a week or so and it comes back.

The last time it did that, a small part of it fell down and it was a baby version of the leather.

Its funny that another one is generating on the side of my leather again.

IMO.. don't worry about it..it should bounce back assuming your water quality stays consistent and you have enough light.

Leesa · 08-11-2003, 06:47 AM

Just wanted to let everyone know that my leather came back. I don't see any evidence of a baby, but it appears very healthy now. All it's little finger thingys are out and it is erect.

Thanks to everyone who posted regarding this topic. I was a little concerned.

In the meantime, I added a purple firefish. She is really pretty. She sits front and center and adds a lot of color to my tank. I was a bit afraid that the blue damsel that I have had alone in my tank since March would bother her, but so far he's not. We named her Hot Lips because she looks like she has on bright pink lipstick. Hence, my chosing of the female gender!

Leesa

Craig Manoukian · 08-11-2003, 11:21 AM

Is she as pretty as you in love?

Glad your Firefish is happy and be aware they can be jumpers.