Finger Leather coral "disintegrating"

[paulsilver]

It appears that a finger leather soft coral is disintegrating in a friend's tank... the coral shows what look like gouges taken out of it, as well as some tips of the "fingers" looking like they were chewed off.

Some of it just looks like it is rotting away...

Too much of it, and in a position on it, that makes it impossible to cut off the bad parts.

There is no black or slime on the coral... just seems to be rotting...

He added a coral banded shrimp about 5 weeks ago. I cant say it is NOT eating the coral, but I feel that is highly unlikely. But that is really the only change that had been made, other than standard water changes every two weeks, with the same salt he always has used.

Any thoughts on what can be done to "cure" this problem, or at least diagnose it.

 

[paulsilver]

bump

 

[GoingPostal]

Any other leathers in the tank? There are leather eating nudis that blend in quite well. I would take it out and do a dip in a iodine mix and see if anything comes off.

 

[paulsilver]

we will try that... I will let you know if it works..,

 

[alpine]

Just curious if the dip process worked or not?

 

[paulsilver]

working on it Jorge... We dipped 5 days ago... so far no more disintegration... but no healing as such... I will keep you posted...

 

[paulsilver]

nothing "came off" as such... again, I will let you know...

 

[alpine]

Thanks Paul

 

[ADA33]

Last time I had a leather disintegrate like you are describing I had a low alk issue.

 

[Sk8r]

I was about to say---alkalinity. Add that to your routine tests. s/b about 8.3-9.3.

 

[paulsilver]

Hi SK8R

I monitor alkalinity all the time... and it is where it should be, with the help of Kalkwasser and a calcium reactor...

all other parameters are as they should be

Thanks for the tip...

 

[williah]

Hi sk8r, others,

I have similar problem, and I'm losing other corals as well.

My q is about the alk being at 8.3-9.3. I have a standard test and my alk is 3.25 meq/l or ppm. What I've read says this is normal. some others say 4-6.

Is your listing of 8.3-9.3 for meq/l (ppm)? am I misinformed? I put my leather in another tank where it healed. Don't want to bring it back until I understand the problem.

Thanks.

 

[rainmkr07]

i lost a toadstool leather to this "disintegration" - my alk was fine and I dipped too.

I have no clue to this day what caused it.

 

[paulsilver]

well, in my friend's case, the coral has now stopped disintegrating post the Iodine treatment... I was over there today and trimmed away the dead parts of the coral... gave it another iodine dip, and returned it to the main tank... we shall see...

In this instance, the alkalinity and Magnesium levels are good, so that was not the issue... I believe, after some discussions with Jeremy at Coral Reef Aquarium, a lfs, that due to the lower than needed waterflow in the tank, perhaps some detritus may have settled and caused an infection... but then, many things could be contributing to this... new HQI bulbs are needed, as these were too old and the light had diminished... more stable alk control, as recommended here, and improved water flow are all issues in the tank, and my pal is now aware of these issues...

 

[Rick55555]

I would definitely run some carbon in the tank. Disintegrating leathers can have a nasty impact on other corals in my experience.

Rick

 

[paulsilver]

yes Rick, they sure can... softies have some highly potent toxins in them, for the most part, and the decaying organic matter, even without the toxins would be bad enough... Good point...

 

[tmz]

Absolutely run carbon. A sick leather can ruin a tank in my experience.