Devil's hand and mushroom finger unhappy

[salajander]

Hey all,

Looking for some advice. Back in February I added some leathers to my tank. The toadstool and cauliflower colt did well straight away, and are still looking good. The devil's hand and mushroom finger, though, have been mostly shrunken and closed, more so over the last month or so...

Devil's hand (click to embiggen):


Mushroom finger:


They're both in a slightly lighter flow area.

I know leathers can be like this, but just checking if there's anything obvious I should check or try?

How much light do they generally want?

I'm running GFO and carbon, and have a (possibly slightly underpowered) skimmer going.

Here's the whole display, so you can see some placement. The mushroom finger's on the far left, and the devil's hand just to the right of it.


55g display, small sump, 5g fuge (which is mostly just a place to let cyano grow...)

Parameters:
Temp 78-81
SG 1.026
KH 11 dKH
Ca 445 ppm
Mg 1300 ppm
Nitrates 4-6
Phosphates are at the bottom of measurable range

 

[salajander]

The devil's hand is more pale purple-y than the photos show.

 

[salajander]

Inhabitants, in case that matters:
3 x pj cardinals
1 x tailspot blenny
2 x scarlet skunk shrimp
1 x peppermint shrimp
2 x emerald crab
1 x pom pom crab
2 x feather duster
assorted hermits and snails

 

[cloak]

Your parameters look ok. These corals tend to like a lot of light and a lot of chaotic water movement IME. If you can only change one of these though, try adjusting the flow first and see how the corals respond. If anything, they just look like they're getting ready to shed & adding more circulation will definitely help will help with this. GL.

They both look like a Sinularia coral btw.

 

[salajander]

Ok - I can increase both flow and light.

I have a powerhead I can aim more towards them, which should help increase flow.

Hoping to keep algae and cyano growth down, I've been running my LEDs at 50-60% power. They're 12000K BuildMyLEDs, which are rated for ~150 PAR at 12" depth when running at 100% power. I can definitely ramp it up more.

Thanks for the advice!

They both look like a Sinularia coral btw.

I got all 4 leathers as a pack from Liveaquaria; they're definitely not both Sinularia.

 

[cloak]

I got all 4 leathers as a pack from Liveaquaria; they're definitely not both Sinularia.

You might want to get a few more opinions... I can't remember the last time I've seen a purple/pink Lobophytum before.

 

[salajander]

You might want to get a few more opinions... I can't remember the last time I've seen a purple/pink Lobophytum before.

Here's a photo of them both shortly after I got them, when they were more extended.

Mushroom finger:


Devil's hand:



The devil's hand (if that's what it is) has always been a bit on the pale purple side, but I'm not sure if it's ever really been happy so it's possible the hue is just from my lights+cell phone camera.

 

[Fallling]

Looks like Capnella and Lobophytum to me. My lobo (devil's hand) really likes a lot of flow. It's in a corner that really gets strong flow from a maxspect gyre on the other side of the tank. My capnella is pretty close to the lobo, although I find it doesn't need quite as much flow.

In the first pic, the lobo looks kind of shiny, like it's about to shed. While it usually only takes a few days to a week to shed, it can be longer.

What kind of lighting are you using? The toadstool looks like it's stretching up towards the light quite a bit. I'd try increasing the flow first (or moving them to a stronger flow area). When you make any changes, be sure to give them a few days to adjust - I've found they can be a bit temperamental if you move them around or change flow.

 

[salajander]

Thanks for everyone's advice!

Looks like Capnella and Lobophytum to me. My lobo (devil's hand) really likes a lot of flow. It's in a corner that really gets strong flow from a maxspect gyre on the other side of the tank. My capnella is pretty close to the lobo, although I find it doesn't need quite as much flow.

I've angled a smaller powerhead to be more direct at them; not sure if it's enough. I may need to get a bigger powerhead on that side.

In the first pic, the lobo looks kind of shiny, like it's about to shed. While it usually only takes a few days to a week to shed, it can be longer.

The lobo's been looking this way for probably at least a month - maybe a bit longer?

What kind of lighting are you using? The toadstool looks like it's stretching up towards the light quite a bit. I'd try increasing the flow first (or moving them to a stronger flow area). When you make any changes, be sure to give them a few days to adjust - I've found they can be a bit temperamental if you move them around or change flow.

My lighting is one strip of BuildMyLED 12000K. At 100%, they're rated at around 150 PAR at 12" depth, which is about how deep these leathers are. However, I had been running them at 50-60% power until a few days ago... They're up to 85% or so today, and I'll probably move to 100% tomorrow.

I had been running them lower to avoid algae/cyano back before I had the leathers, and never cranked it up :-/

 

[Sir JRAD]

They're tricky, try messing with the flow

 

[3dees]

whenever my devils hand sheds, it turns a bit purple. I have it on top of the rocks in good flow.

 

[jeemann99]

Sir JRAD what type of Anemone is that in your avatar?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

That's a Sunset Bubble Tip anemone, I've got one and two that are more red kind of like lava tips. Too bad my Perculas won't touch them.