HELP......is my leather coral dying????

[mikey.emmy]

I recently bought my first piece if coral, a leather coral.....over the past few days ive noticed the coral has got fluffy white bits on.... really not sure wheather this is excess food debris of something is wrong with my coral. otherwise it looks healthy, just as it was when i bought it.....

please does anybody know what this could be?

[Generalx5]

give it some days....Those white bits are the digestive guts I think, its flushing the insides....should be okay.

[mikey.emmy]

ok well ill leave it a few days and just see what happens. thankyou

[thincat]

Yes, "waxing over" is a leather corals way of getting rid of it waste. It will come back nice in a day or two.

[mikey.emmy]

Thanx, thats put my mind at rest a bit, ill just see how the next few days go. also ive got live rock and ive noticed tiny holes appearing in it, then last night noticed a black and white worm thing, its really thin and about an inch long, does anybody know what this is?? also a funny little bug thing, its approx 1cm long its grey in colour and got lots of legs, its also got tenticles, i knew live rock was home to many weird and wonderfull species but would love to no what they are...

If anybody has any idea plz let me no,

[joy13]

Might want to check out bristleworms and see if that is what you have. As long as you know you have them just use caution when working in the tank they actually are helpful.

[Generalx5]

I think I know what your talking about.....

Heres a picture of the thing I found in the holes of my live rock, they are afraid of the light, and to me...anything afraid of the light is bad.

This ones a tiny one I caught at night shortly after turning off my lights. Its held prisoner inside a small water bottle lid.



To remove them from inside the rock, inject liquid calcium, this will force any Copodes out of the hole as well..... :p

Also I found a larger one, about 2 inches long, same structure...and you will notice the legs break apart when you try to grab it. The legs break off and they are still alive! :S creepers...

[thincat]

You will see all sorts of hitchhikers:
here is a link:
Live Rock Hitch Hikers

[thincat]

Not all hitchhikers are bad. I would not kill or remove everything I see coming out of the LR. You would defeat the diversity of having LR.

[Generalx5]

Okay I agree, after visiting the link posted by Thincat, I've realized that I have removed a detritus eating Ophiocoma paucigranulata, the Spiny Brittle Star. Tropical West Atlantic. 4-6 inches in diameter. Have pale colored arms in their middles. Found in association with living corals.

It was a scary sight actually when I first saw it. My gut instinct was to remove it...:p

[thincat]

Keep looking, you are going to see lots more scary things in your live rock. Oh well if there is one spiny brittle star there has to be a few more. Have fun. Now you see why my Avatar is Sherlock with a magnifiing glass. It's a whole new world in there.

[Generalx5]

Hahaha, I was doing that earlier today too! Discovered many unknown species in the rocks....Sponge bob, Plankton, and his whole extended family :p

[thincat]

That is soooo funny

[mikey.emmy]

hi guys,
i recently posted a msg saying that i thought my leather coral had died, i did as i was told - to leave it a few days (this is my first time at keeping coral) and unfortunately i think it had died, its kind of split open and gone limp.....such a shame, does anybody know why smight of happened and what do i do with it?? on the live rock that this "dead" leather coral lives on ive also got some nice healthy feather dusters and anemones which ive not had a problem with...do i leave the "dead" leather or try and get it off??... someone please help ....:0(

[Generalx5]

Sorry to hear that mikey.emmy

What are your water parameters and what lighting are you using? ...im only 9 months into the salwater/marine/reef keeping, so I don't know a whole lot.

Splitting open kind of sound like its propagating on its own? Tearing itself apart to make two pieces. I do this manually with mushrooms and every time I make a cut, they seem to go limp and weak and dead looking, but within a day they should be plump and healing already. I dont personally have leather corals so I don't know if that is true.

If any of you have experienced this please step in and enlighten us.... :s

[thincat]

Soory to hear then. How big is your anemone and how close is it to your leather coral. G-5 is correct and you should not remove it yet.

[headsonfire]

One of the worst hitchhikers Ive ever had is a mantis shrimp which has over a period of time eaten countless shrimps, starfish, and mall fish... oh and yes my baby lobster!!
Despite all my traps and efforts (incl removing the rock it was believed to be in) It lives on, ive seen it twice in two years but hear it every night!!
Any ideas?? Oh and as far as the leather is concerned, dont worry they are incredibly hardy and while the shut down quickly (like all soft corals) when touched or disturbed they bounce back!! I had to frag mine up 8months ago and all the bits survived and grew into lovely baby specimens.

[thincat]

Lets stay on topic and see if we can help mikey.emmy with the problems in his? tank.

[thincat]

headonfire has made some really good pointers about leathers. Good post!!!

[headsonfire]

Hi,
In response to the question about your leather and if you should remove it or not, I would leave it a week and see how it goes. It wont release or rot any bad toxins into your tank, it will have done that already. When they get freaked out or get stung by other corals/anenomies they release their toxins into the water almost imediately (quite harmless compared to ther corals - dependant on size and water volume), this is when they feel really slippery/soapy almost to the point of not being able to hold onto it!!
If there is anything within half an inch of it then i would say its chemical warfare, if not it maybe a host of other things:
too much flow
water quality - but not likely if all others are ok
lack of magnesium
clowns trying to host it
attcked by a fish/invert

If the leather has died it will change colour to a paler appearance or white colour, it will also look very very withdrawn and not bounce back ,its polyps wont come out and it will generally look very very sick - permanently. At this point you should cut it from the rock using a stanley knife blade - BE CAREFUL!!! cutting fingers hurts, even more so in salt water!!
Either take it out to do it or cut it on site, it will cut through relatively easily.
This is the same as fragging leathers, i grew one to 14" accross recently and removed it and sliced it into 15 smaller slices which are all now growing as baby leathers and where i removed it from the rock it has begun growing a new base!

I really hope this maybe of use.
Regards...