sick finger leather

[newbie04]

Help, I just came home from vacation to find my finger leather black, it almost looks like a mildew. My son was keeping an eye on things while we were gone, he said that a few of the branches had polyps, that is until today, I don't see any. Reached in to touch the base and it feels spongy.

It has been in the tank for about six months. I not sure what to do, it ocasionally went into a dormant state, where the polyps did not come out for a day or two then it appeared to shed, but nothing like this.

I will try to get a picture as soon as possible.

I would appreciate any advice, I am new to the page and wanted to post this issue right away, since I don't know if this will affect anything else in the tank. I will add my tank spec's as soon as I can.

Thanks

 

[steve-s]

Sounds like the coral is necrosing for some reason. Be sure you post all water specs when you get the picture posted or sooner if possible. If the black area's are concentrated at or near the base, try looking for any sign of a parasite.

Depending on your pic the coral may not be a loss and could be salvaged via fragging which wouldn't be a bad idea from the get go.

Cheers
Steve

 

[newbie04]

ok checked the water every seems to be ok
PH 7.8
NO2 0 ppm
NH3 0 ppm
NO3 0 ppm

I'm also attempting to attach a picture, I hope it works.

If it is necrosing, I'm not sure that fraging with work, since I don't see any area that is not covered in the black yuck.

Any idea what might have caused it? Is a danger to the rest of the tank, should I remove it?

 

[steve-s]

ok checked the water every seems to be ok
PH 7.8

If that is a test from this evening, the pH is terribley low. That could be one source for sure.

If it is necrosing, I'm not sure that fraging with work, since I don't see any area that is not covered in the black yuck.

Without seeing a proper picture, I can only guess it's a severe necrosis spreading internally or brown jelly disease. I can't really advise on what to do really without a better account of the condition.

Is it like someone drew black marks on the coral or more like a cloud of black goo surrounding it?

Any idea what might have caused it? Is a danger to the rest of the tank, should I remove it?

Usually poor water quality, bad chemistry, tissue lacerations or a combination there of.

The pics you uploaded do not seem to have worked. If you are having trouble try uploading them to your gallery or e-mail them to me at steve-s @ aquariumadvice dot com

Cheers
Steve

 

[newbie04]

Thanks Steve,

Trying the pictures again, it looked like they were there earlier. It does not look like black lines more like a black goo or mildew that pretty much covers the whole thing.

Should I remove it from the tank?

Thanks

 

[steve-s]

To be honest with you I have never seen a finger leather do that. The only thing I can think of is possibley a fungal problem. It doesn't resemble brown jelly disease much but the tissue seems quite necrotic. Does the flesh fall away if you touch it?

Only thing I can suggest to attempt saving it would be to frag all the smaller branch's away and the outer skin of the main stock until you get to healthy tissue. Once done, I would do a coral dip. If possible I would also suggest isolation in a non-coral tank. I am unsure if this will spread to adjacent corals.

Do you have a pic of the coral before this happens? It's hard to fathom this is/was a leather coral.

Cheers
Steve

 

[newbie04]

The black film like substance comes off when you touch it, but the base is not firm to the touch. Sorry no before pictures, I'm just starting to get pictures on file, I could be mistaken on the name, I got it at my LFS and they claimed it was a finger leather.

I can attempt to frag it tonight, my son told me that at least one side of it still had polyps and was a nice pinkish brown color on Monday, so maybe that side can be saved. It sure couldn't hurt, since it there is no sign of improvement in sight. Any advice, instructions or web sites that you can provide to walk me through the frag process? And should it get a Logul dip?

I will also move it to another tank, I have a FO tank that only has a puffer (he did not play well with the others). So far nothing else in the tank has been affected, but I will watch it closely.

 

[steve-s]

Any advice, instructions or web sites that you can provide to walk me through the frag process?

>>Here<< is an example. It's from <<Garf.org>> where you can find a few other examples as well. Fragging is pretty similar when it comes to soft corals so looking at a few different ways could help you a bit better.

And should it get a Logul dip?

I would cover all the bases and give it a dip as the last step. I highly doubt a dip will help the larger mass but would give a frag (or several if you get them) a better chance. Either the Lugol's or a product like Kent's Tech-D which is pretty much the same thing.

I will also move it to another tank, I have a FO tank that only has a puffer (he did not play well with the others). So far nothing else in the tank has been affected, but I will watch it closely.

You will need to make sure there is a barrier of some kind blocking access to the puffer. It will look at the leather like a light snack. Try not to use hanging breeder boxes either. They are normally quite good when fragging but in the case of a sick coral. It needs free flowing water movement.

Cheers
Steve