Leather Coral

[x19]

Got my first coral yesterday, a toadstool leather, and it was doing great with about 50-60% of its polyps extended before I had to leave. When I came back about 3 hours later, the coral had bent at the stalk like it could no longer support the weight of the head.

From Googling this seems to be a pretty normal thing for toadstools, but I wanted to ask here to be sure.

 

[yote]

Looks like your tanks lights are out? If so,thats normal.Corals will close up at night.
That leathers will also go through a stage where it'll look like general crap for a few days.They go through a shedding phase every so often to rid themselves of dead skin and waste.
Congratulations BTW.:D Thats a great looking Toadstool.

 

[x19]

Yeah it was rather late, and so the picture was lit by a flash light. The coral looks much worse this morning as it looks like its shedding a whole lot of skin...but I'll just keep an eye on it.

Incidentally, I found my emerald crab dead in the corner of my and when I picked him up he started squirming. Turns out hes molting...so it seems like everyone in my tank is shedding skin at the moment :-)

 

[Bifferwine]

It looks healthy in the picture. It is normal for leathers to wilt and shed. They have their bad days just like we do. :lol:

 

[Melosu58]

When they do that it`s called sloughing. They will do it every few weeks to a month.

 

[the reef kid]

They sometimes pout when you put em in your tank, it should open up after shedding.

 

[dcantucson]

Everything looks and sounds normal. Leathers are just weird like that. They are always doing something. I have just learned to ignore mine when it starts acting all funky.

BTW I love your avatar. So much nicer than my plain ole Apple. :(

 

[x19]

BTW I love your avatar. So much nicer than my plain ole Apple. :(

Thanks, I wanted to whip up something unique :-)

The coral is definitely doing better, I think he actually was stuck under the ledge of the rock because once I moved him this morning he stood straight up. I went ahead and attached him to his permanent home and have spent a good deal of time trying to get the amount of water flow right...moving powerheads and the like. I'm beginning to think that Yote was right about the Koralia nano's not producing enough flow.. I've got 2 Nano 425s, and 1 nano 240 in the tank and no matter where I put the leather there is basically no movement with the polyps.

 

[algy1943]

Got my first coral yesterday, a toadstool leather, and it was doing great with about 50-60% of its polyps extended before I had to leave. When I came back about 3 hours later, the coral had bent at the stalk like it could no longer support the weight of the head.

From Googling this seems to be a pretty normal thing for toadstools, but I wanted to ask here to be sure.

I have a similar looking Toadstool, no matter what way I turn it, it wants to lean towards the acropora which is close, I have had to move it and it stands upright now, I have a Sarcophyton which is quite large and is now close to my H.Crispa, is it possible it could poison my anemone?

 

[dcantucson]

Allen I think it's more likely that the anemone could sting the leather and cause some damage. And I wouldn't let a Leather get near a SPS coral for the same reason. All types of corals should be positioned a safe amount of space except corals of the same type. I.E. mushrooms generally won't sting other mushrooms, zoas and zoas, etc.

 

[algy1943]

Allen I think it's more likely that the anemone could sting the leather and cause some damage. And I wouldn't let a Leather get near a SPS coral for the same reason. All types of corals should be positioned a safe amount of space except corals of the same type. I.E. mushrooms generally won't sting other mushrooms, zoas and zoas, etc.

David, thanks for the reply, I did read that the mucas that the toadstool sheds will kill anemones, is that a fallacy?
Although it is a peaceful coral with a low aggressive nature, it may crowd or dominate nearby reef inhabitants because of its sheer size. In addition, the toadstool leather coral’s natural defense system of chemical warfare can be dangerous to other creatures, as the toxins are produced in times of stress and overcrowding

 

[dcantucson]

No it's true. In fact, some people have complained of their water being toxic because they have a lot of Leathers. They can pack a powerful punch.