Devil's hand leather.

hamiltonguy

New member
Ok exactly what are the requirements for the devil's hand leather because I read on a few sites that it requires moderate to high light and flow. In my 20g I have 130w PC total (65w 10k daylight, 65w actinic) and two koralia 1's (400gph each) and my leather that I just got a couple days ago doesn't seem too healthy.

I put it at the top about 4-5" from the light and the part facing the light bleached so I then put it on the sand bed (the tank is 18" high I believe I'll make sure in a little while).

Now it's sort of just flopped over, no polyps extending or anything. Is it still acclimating or is something wrong? I got it on Saturday and acclimated it for 30mins using drip.

I can't post my parameters because my tank is at home and I go away fro university but everything else in my tank is happy and prospering.
 
ive got 1 HG, hes a happy fellow, basically mine gets moderate flow and lighting, hes a good year old now and on the odd occasion does sulk and flop, but i think they just do this generally and unless he starts to turn black and shrivells right up hes probably just adjusting to your tank
 
Thanks Mike, 'preciate the info.

Just a one more question, the devil's hand is maybe an inch away from my elegance coral. I think I remember reading somewhere that elegance might sting other corals, could that be a factor in anyway?
 
the elegance is actually pretty aggressive, and I think this will hurt your devil's hand. If it's not bothering it now, I feel it will only be a matter of time. Typically the sweeper tentacles come out at night, so you should take a look and watch them.

Typically LPS sweepers extend 6-8 inches from their base, so make sure other corals are far enough away.
 
I usually do examine the tank at night with my moonlights on and I have yet to see any sweeper tentacles coming out of my elegance. I've had it for a couple months now.

As of now the devil's hand is still completely flopped over on the sand bed. No signs of rotting or black or anything.

I'll move it away from the elegance anyway though.

Also, is it possible that it's not getting enough light on the sand bed? (~20 - 22" away from the light: 130w PC lighting).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14786624#post14786624 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hamiltonguy
I usually do examine the tank at night with my moonlights on and I have yet to see any sweeper tentacles coming out of my elegance. I've had it for a couple months now.

As of now the devil's hand is still completely flopped over on the sand bed. No signs of rotting or black or anything.

I'll move it away from the elegance anyway though.

Also, is it possible that it's not getting enough light on the sand bed? (~20 - 22" away from the light: 130w PC lighting).

its not going to react the way it has because of too little light
IMO what has happened here is the leather was introduced to too much light too fast
Normally you introduce all corals from the substrate up. Slowly moving them up every 3-5 days or so until they are happy.
Leathers do retract for days and even a week sometimes---I would just let it acclimate where it is right now.

Also some leathers will tolerate high flow but they do not like it directed right at them.
 
I recently got a Devils hand and mine is flopped over still after 5 days. I also got a long polyp toadstool and no polyps are coming out yet. It just takes time for them to open up. I don't think you can kill Sarcophytons.
 
Thanks for the reassurance guys, I appreciate it.

Worse case scenario, are there and particular signs to look for in a dieing leather?
 
Tissue loss, discoloration of tissue. Blackish areas. But even these can heal. Maybe a total tank crash can kill one.
 
OK so i'm getting to the point where I think I killed it. It's still shriveled and flopped over but I don't see any black areas. There has been some good tissue loss. I still see polyps sticking out but there not those flower polyps that you see in a healthy expanded devil's hand.

Anyone know what may have caused this? All my other livestock is very healthy (see sig). Even the twinspot goby is doing real well, I've had it for a month and a bit.
 
hey hg, not sure what to say, my devils fingers has shriveled before a few times, into about a quarter of the size he usually is, but its usually for a day or 2, it may have sulked for 5-6 once, so im concerned about him, id move him down onto the sand at the mo to see if there is any reaction at all, that low down usually gets a reaction as he will stretch to get to the light, dont have too much water flow directly at him either and just give him a couple more days, if no reaction at all then he may be in trouble, its not unusual for them to do this but often do recover quickly, im just concerned as its been a while now
 
Without your parameters, it s hard to speculate on the cause.

If the coral has mushy spots , your best bet is to frag it up and discard the necrotic tissue.

I have mine right on top in good flow under 175k mh 20 k lighting. I've never seen one of these "bleach". I have seen them flop and rot when water quality, especially salinity is off. Shipping damage could also be an issue. Examine the coral for decay, black or mushy areas are the indicator in addition to what you are observing now. If you find these spots cut them out going a half inch or more into good tissue. Healthy pieces can be attached to new pieces of rubble.

The Devils hand is not a Sacrophyton; it is a Lobophytum which like most Sacrophyton( Sacrophyton elegans being less hardy and more difficult to keep) is very hardy and tolerates a range of lighting conditions. Mine will survive in lower light but do better in higher light.
Lobophytum as many other leathers do shed the outer tissue layer from time to time and may stay closed and appear ill during this process. You can help them shed faster with good flow. Try not to let the shed blow around the tank and settle on other corals. Lobophytum are among the most noxious of leather corals and quite capable of doing damage with allopathic compounds they release particularly if they are stressed or dying so if it is rotty take it out of the tank. It may hurt your Cataphlyia(elegance)
 
I'll get my parameters posted up as soon as I can. The reason I didn't check right is because of health of all the other livestock in my tank. I assume if my parameters are off enough to affect one coral, they may affect the others too.

I even have a montipora capricornis that'd doing very well even under PC lighting. My elegance coral is as big as ever, my torch actually grew a third head since I've gotten it (~2-3 months). But I will get the params posted up as soon as I can.
 
Ok I'm pretty sure it's completely done now. Very little tissue left, I don't think I can save any of it. It was a small frag to begin with though. The only thing is I don't understand why or what happened :S

Parameters as of tonight:
Ammonia: 0 --
Nitrite: 0 |
Nitrate: 0 |
SG: 1.026 > API
Temp: 80F |
Cal: 420 |
Alk: 11 --
Mag: 1500+ (salifert)
 
itl be fine they dont like keep it on bottom of tank moderate flow at most itl come around in a few days you cant kill it!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14808158#post14808158 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jjk1963
itl be fine they dont like keep it on bottom of tank moderate flow at most itl come around in a few days you cant kill it!

I really hope you're right. As of now I'm thinking there's no hope for it. It's a cool little frag too, brown body with green polyps.
 
It's been on the sand as of last night. There's no direct flow at it either. I know have sufficient flow though: two koralia 1's (400gph each) in a 20g tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14808645#post14808645 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hamiltonguy
It's been on the sand as of last night. There's no direct flow at it either. I know have sufficient flow though: two koralia 1's (400gph each) in a 20g tank.

koralia 1s are just pants imo, i know they apparently push 400 gals each but mine was so pathetic i replaced them,still i suppose as the tanks 20 gallon they should do the job,try sending a pm to chris121277 who is active on here, he had exactly the same problem with a toadie, and it took him weeks to get his to recover, but it did finally, he may be able to help:)
 
Back
Top