Sarcophyton shedding

[Atari]

Ok, I'm assuming my toadstool is in it's shedding stage since it hasn't extended any polyps for a couple days and is covered with little white blotchy areas. There's also lots of mucus everywhere.

My question is for those that have experienced this, did it cause a significant buildup of surface scum? My protein skimmer has a surface skimming attachment and yet since the sarco closed up the slick at the surface has been getting worse and worse. The skimmer is still working normally, so I guess it's just not able to keep up.

All water parameters are unchanged, and I couldn't find any other possible cause like a dead snail or whatever. The water is still crystal clear except for the surface.

 

[fishfreek]

If its sliming then yes it could cauase a buildup on the surface of the tank. Having a surface skimmer attachment should keep this from collecting unless your having surface flow issues. Do you have areas of the surface that are fairly stagnant?

 

[Atari]

Not really.. I keep the whole surface moving. I guess the Prizm just finally met its match :| It's producing lots of dry skimmate but just can't seem to keep up. I'll try manually removing some of the scum and see if it helps.

EDIT: BTW, how long does the shedding typically last for?

 

[Atari]

Wow, it's done already. I saw the whole thing come off last night like a big spiderweb.. pretty interesting stuff.

Surface is clean again and all polyps fully extended