Crown leather coral is sick :(

[Shirtlessbill]

Hey all,


Hoping for some insight on my crown leather . It looks real "droopy" without polyp extension for almost 2 weeks! And now I'm starting to see a reddish color coloring its skin rather that the usual hue of purple. Any ideas?

Also, a backstory could help. This guy has gone through a lot. He was moved from my lfs to my tank and then 3 days later my tank sprung a leak so I had to move him. I had a goby crop dust him routinely and even tunnel under him once knocking him over. The latest event I noticed was my new dwarf fuzzy lion likes to perch on him at night. All in all I have had him for about two and a half months or so and he has not been open for more than 4 days in a row.

I recently moved him thinking the light must be to intense but I'm worried I've lost this magnificent piece.

My tank has been up for about half a year.
SG: 1.026
Ph : 8.2
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0

 

[Leonardo7689]

IMO they tend to do that to shed off debris and their old skin as well. I had a toad stool before that hasn't open for nearly a month and did fine. Also I they start growing once they open up after being inactive. Thats just my experience though.

 

[Shirtlessbill]

Alright. I hope so. Thanks for the insight. It's my favorite piece in my tank and it would suck to loose it.

 

[mr_X]

If for the first month it was in the lighting shown in the picture with it's polyps extended, it wasn't too much light. What are your current parameters?

 

[Shirtlessbill]

If for the first month it was in the lighting shown in the picture with it's polyps extended, it wasn't too much light. What are your current parameters?

I've slowly been lowering my specific gravity so here are the parameters as of this morning.

PH: 8.2
SG: 1.024
Nitrate: 0
Temp 76-78

I've been taking a turkey baster to it every morning and night dusting off the debris. My lfs agrees that they think its "shedding" a wax layer (I think that's what they called it)

Regardless, I don't think it's dead b/c it still looks adhered to its rock and isn't falling apart

 

[melosu58]

The shedding is called sloughing. Almost all leathers do this. They do like moderate to high lighting. Most leathers appreciate an iodine dip when they are sick. Putting a little bit of iodine in a bowl of SW and dipping the coral in it for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day. Here is a little info on them.

Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Yellow Fiji Leather Coral

 

[mr_X]

I've slowly been lowering my specific gravity so here are the parameters as of this morning.

PH: 8.2
SG: 1.024
Nitrate: 0
Temp 76-78

I've been taking a turkey baster to it every morning and night dusting off the debris. My lfs agrees that they think its "shedding" a wax layer (I think that's what they called it)

Regardless, I don't think it's dead b/c it still looks adhered to its rock and isn't falling apart

Don't lower it any lower than that. You should be raising it to .026 actually.

 

[Shirtlessbill]

Don't lower it any lower than that. You should be raising it to .026 actually.

I understand that. However, I found that when I kept it at 1.026 it kept up to 1.028 pretty fast. It seems like I loose about a gallon a day due to evaporation. So yes, thanks for keeping me in check. I just work all day and am trying to buy myself some wiggle room for while I'm away

 

[mr_X]

Oh. I would be looking into an auto top off device then. Fluctuations like that are going to make it hard for you to keep a successful reef.

 

[Shirtlessbill]

Oh. I would be looking into an auto top off device then. Fluctuations like that are going to make it hard for you to keep a successful reef.

Agreed, any suggestions? I have been looking around a little but what I don't want is a 5 gallon bucket in my living room. I'm trying to find a discrete way of doing it

 

[mr_X]

Do you have a stand with a cabinet underneath? Take a pic of your setup.

 

[PurplePolyp]

Does your tank have a glass too? Most LFS will sell glass lids for all sizes of tanks that have a plastic backing to cut for pumps, etc. I was losing about 1-2 gallons a day evaporation in my 90 gallon. I got a glass lid for it and have only had to top it off with maybe 2 gallons over the last 4 months.

 

[Shirtlessbill]

Do you have a stand with a cabinet underneath? Take a pic of your setup.

It's a 75 gallon on top of a cabinet with a sump. I have a sock, uv sterilizer, skimmer and return pump already in there and the whole setup looks fairly clean. If I can't hide the auto top off system then I guess that's ok. It would just be ideal.

Thanks for any/all ideas

 

[mr_X]

You could probably squeeze a few gallon container where you have those cups and things, next to the return area. I wouldn't try to limit the evaporation with lids due to the fact that gas exchange is an important part of what keeps these delicate systems strong.
I would much rather deal with evaporation issues than parameter issues.

Bill, check out the JBJ ATO. There are cheaper ways to do it, but I do like that they come with redundant float switches and are plug and play units. All you need is a small pump to move water from your top off reservoir to the sump. A Maxijet would be perfect for this. I use a MJ1200 for return to my system.

 

[Shirtlessbill]

Thanks, looks like that's the one for me. Funny how quickly my paychecks disappear


Also, I've herd of skinny water containers, "space savers" if you will, any idea of where I could find me some?

 

[Shirtlessbill]

You guys were right. After it shed its outer layer it appears to be fine thanks