shrinking leathers

Doc

Doc

I don't work for anybody
ok, so I have 2 leathers I am not going to argue whether they r sinulrias or nepthias.... but anyway i have noticed that over the past three weeks or so they have been getting smaller, noticeably smaller. the finger leather still has polyps but the sinularia does not. they both seem to be bleaching out, in that their fleshy color is all but gone and it is going albino. any ideas? I can post pics tomorrow. i moved them from mid-height in the tank to the sand bed and the temp is consistent at 80.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
i have the same with my leather toadstool sometimes.but it just closes in.so i put mine up higher about mid-high and seems to be good for one hr then closes in the next.mine is also splitting so that may cause it?
 
Maybe I shouldn't be asking this,has any fish been picking at it?I'm afraid I can't help much,mine died awhile ago,she was a beauty too.
 
I thought about that. the finger leather still shows polyps, which means it is not getting picked at. When that has happened in the past, the polyps hide - so it has to be something else. I checked all my levels and they are fine. I just changed out my phosguard and carbon, which seemed to get rid of my cyano. I may have to change it more often. Keep the ideas coming, I will post pics later today.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
How old are your light bulbs,Doc?
Just a stab in the dark,but as the lights age the spectrum changes.Maybe there not getting the light they need?
 
I just changed the lights last month, all of them. The rest of the corals are doing great. I will post a pic of the goni just to brag. It is about the size of a football.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
If they are losing color and turning white, then they are bleaching. You say your temps are stable and you moved them to the bottom of the tank. Any chance there was some sort of a temperature spike that you didn't know about?
 
it is possible, but what seems weird to me is that the rest of the tank shows no ill effects. Aren't leathers supposed to be super hardy?

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
They are... But since it is ONLY affecting your leathers, it could also be something specific to that type of coral. I'm doing some research right now. I'll be back with my results.
 
doc, what about iodine?

also when you changed your bulbs out how long had it been before that? It may be that they were burned or bleached out from the new bulbs. and they will slowly pull back out of the shock and be okay again. Sinularia is very hardy nepthia is a bit mor sensitive to changes.
 
it could be that. I noticed that it did happen near the time I changed bulbs. I suppose they could be adjusting to the brighter lights. They are placed alone and nothing else is touching them.

-Dr Marco :sfish::sfish:
 
yeah, she is cute like that...and smart. maybe even as smart as.....little-miss-too-big-for-her-britches....

-Dr Marco
 
OK, here are some pics.

this is the finger leather:

P9300005.jpg


P9300001.jpg


I don't know if you can see the polyps extended a bit.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
here is the sinularia (if that is what you call it)

P9300004.jpg


P9300003.jpg


P9300002.jpg


Let me know what you think? new lights bleaching them? If so, how long before they perk up?

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
Yeah Bud,
I'm gonna say the new bulbs bleached them.As for how long till they color back up,Thats anybodys guess.Any where from a month to 6 months if I was to guess.Which is what I'm doing.
 

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