Rotting Finger Leather?

[brittant]

A week ago, I added several softie, mushroom, and Zoa frags to my tank. The finger leather looked great, but started drooping earlier this week. I gently acclimated the leather to a place midway in the tank. Today, after coming back from a two-day trip, one of the arms appears to have completely rotted. All of my levels are stable and nitrates are at 0, although there was a two-day span (Sunday and Monday) where the salinity was at 1.019 - but everyone else is doing fine. The finger leather was also about three inches away from a large lavender mushroom during my trip. I found a few small black line-like things on it, but they do not appear to be moving.

Any ideas of what might be happening?

 

[little_fish]

Leather go through a shedding period where they look terrible, but give it a few days and it should turn around.

 

[Marines_Wife]

If it were me I would do a few things. I would take a look at the rest of my coral, is it all open healthy and beautiful? If not then you have an issue with something affecting all your coral, if it is then the problem is localized. Take your water to be tested at your LFS. If your LFS says that nothing is wrong with your water, and your other coral is doing fine then it could be one of two things, you have a pest in your tank eating it and hasnt spread to anything else yet or that particular piece of coral just isnt going to make it. Sometimes it just happens without reason, sucks I know but sometimes its just the luck of the draw

 

[Smitty]

+1 lil fish...leather corals go thru that stage where they look terrible, just make sure it's getting medium/moderate flow.

 

[brittant]

@little_fish and Smitty
Thanks guys! :) A few more questions, if you don't mind...?
-But what if one of the arms is disintegrating when the coral is picked up? I understand that it might look horrible, but does that go so far as to include actually decaying?
-It also detached from the shell it was on, so can I directly glue it back on?
-So, below the powerhead (with it pointed upward) should be fine?
=None of my frags are currently glued down, because I'll be taking a hammer to my large rock this weekend, but how does one move them when glued into place, in cases where the location does not satisfy the coral? Or is there some kind of more temporary adhesive I could use...?

@Marines_Wife - My other 9 frags are doing fine and my water tests look good, so I think it's only this one... However, I will be monitoring it. I really hope it makes it... The picture doesn't capture its lovely aqua color.

 

[little_fish]

It doesnt look like its actually decaying, but if a part of it is you should cut that part off to prevent it from spreading. However, I dont think you will need to do this.

Leathers, like all soft corals can let go and float away, so you will need to sew the coral to a small piece of rock, and then it will attach on its own. Glueing these guys doesnt work very well. Zoas usually glue well though, like the other corals that form a mat (like GSP).

If you have to move a coral, you either need to break off where its attached or just work around it.

 

[brittant]

Unfortunately, one of the arms has completely rotted. Another has turned reddish-brown, and the third has red-bruise like marks at the base and red at its tips. I'm also concerned about it releasing toxins into the tank as it decays, so tonight I'll try to cut away (via scalpel) the remaining good bits, and do a small water change... My feather duster has also not been out in 12 hours, and I found a small flatworm on the glass today. I guess I will run the tests again tonight.