Is My coral sick? (pic of it)

[reefmaster]

Hey, i was wondering if my coral was sick. It has this like, dead skin stuff growing on the stem. On my leather coral, it has alittle bit of it also.

Ammonia 0 (did water change today)
PH 8.2
Nitrates (should be 0-2)
Nitrites (0)

Backpack skimmer
29 gallon aquarium

(im going to get a maxijet 1200 skimmer tomarrow)

 

[steve-s]

Can't really tell by the pic but from what you describe, "dead skin stuff growing on the stem", it sounds like it's sloughing. It's a normal condition many leather type corals go through when newly added to a tank or when they need to remove imprities. It can also be a response to something irritating it so be watchful of possible problem snails or worms and it's not too close to other corals.

Once it's starts to shed the outer layer and you see the skin falling away in thin brownish sheets, it's nearing the end of the dormancey stage and should come around soon enough. Be sure it's getting plenty of water flow and if needed use a turkey baster or the like to gentley help remove some of the dead skin layer that still remains.

Cheers
Steve