Please help with leather

I got this leather a month ago. It was doing fantastic. The first pic shows how happy it was. About 2 weeks ago the leather shriveled up and grew a waxy coating, normal I found out. But now its getting these tiny black dots on it. The wax has appeared to shed off but it's still shriveled up and these dots are appearing. Can anyone give me some advice, I can't find it in a search. The base looks fine as well. I just realized that first pic is when it started acting funny, I added another of it fully extended.

Params:

SG: 1.026
Temp: 79.5
Nitrate: o
Phos: undetectable
KH: 9-10
Ca: 450
Mg: 1400

90 watts of LED
40 breeder
The leather is about 2 feet away, in direct flow from koralia 3

I have no fish

 

Ugh, had to re-size

 

So I took the coral out and gently removed the black dots. Seems to be detritus of some sort and not necrosis. I dipped the coral in iodine for 15 mins. When I put it back in the tank, a lot of skin began to peel of. I guess it didn't peel its wax coat after all. I just hope I didn't f things up. I just can't be patient

 

Are your LEDs dimmable? If so, how high are you running them and for how long?

I once had a tree coral (leather) that done the very same thing when I first upgraded my lighting from PC to T5; I had to reduce my photoperiod to 4 hours per day for a couple of weeks, then increase by one hour each week to acclimate it to the new light intensity.

 

Non dimmable. The reaction was not instant. The coral is in a shaded area, in a corner. I don't know what is with these corals that I get from my LFS. Some do very well some do not. I am never going back because they sold me an elegance coral (impulse buy, my fault I guess) and it died 4 days later. I called them and informed them that the success rate was 2% and asked what they were going to do about it and they said once I buy a coral its no longer their responsibility. And they knew about elegance coral survival rates and still sell them. They have flatworms and don't tell you; and are the only local place that carry flatworm exit and charge 30.99 for it. Complete scumbags. Never again will I buy a coral from them.

 

Moved to soft corals.


Leathers can stay closed for awhile when moved or dipped. You really can not go wrong with decent flow. The branches should sway a little when the coral is fully open.

 

This happens to leathers. I dont see any tissue decay from the pic. what kind of water flow area is it in?

 

Yeah, it wasn't instant with mine, either... It seemed fine for several days, then started closing a little earlier each day until it just didn't open at all with lights on. I suspect each individual will react differently, though.

Another thing too- looking back, I see you listed zero Nitrates and undetectable Phosphates; soft corals don't seem to fair well in a sterile tank, as they absorb DOCs and nutrients from the water. You might want to try feeding with Marine Snow or a liquid coral supplement.