green polyped leather help

Skateboarder

New member
I reacently purchased a green polyped sacropyton and have had it for 4 days and it hasnt opened. Im worried.He opened up half way the first day I got him.He is on the bottom with low/medium flow. Ive got a tall 150 with 2 400 wat pendents and he sits on the bottom.Please help:(
 
Typically after shipping they would be opened by now but occasionally these guys (frags or colonies) will close up for a week or two. The first time it happened to my first coral it scared the you know what out of me. We had had it for about six months when it decided to closed up for 5 weeks. It even started getting algae growing on the cap. I asked everyone I could about it and no one had an answer so I just left it alone and it finally decided to open back up.

My suggestion would be to leave it where it is, moving it might just add to its irritation, and just let it run its course. Watch out for other corals that are close to it that might be stinging it or other inhabitants that might be bothering it. Another thing is what lighting did it come from? 800 watts of MH (I am assuming you have halides) can be a shock if it came from a tank with PCs. The only other thing to watch for is make sure that the cap or stalk are still in good condition. If they start to become brittle or mushy then you would need to frag any pieces that still look good before the entire coral is lost. This however should be a last resort.

Just to let you know how hardy these guys are, over the years I have sold 115 frags (of which 97 were shipped) and I have only had one person say their frag died after shipping (after putting it in their tank). I have only had one frag die while I was waiting for it to attach to a rock. So needless to say, these guys are tough.
 
From the sounds of it I am not surprised or worried. What was the lighting like on the tank you got it from? It may need time to acclimate to the new/different light.

Some people have GPL toadstools with polyps that don't show for weeks.

Is it shedding any tissue?

Is there any debris on the top? You may need to take a turkey baster or something to clean the top off.

Ah- Joe beat me to it... He certainly knows a thing or two about these guys ;)
 
Thanks for the help so fast.:) I wasnt shipped I got it in Boulder at aquaimports I think they had it under 250 wats mh up really high. And yes it is 800 wats mh:) It kind of looks like it is shedding so I guess I will have to wait to find out.
 
I got one in town and it looked great for about 10 days, then it didn't open for about three. I got glossy and basically shed a layer of skin of the top. It looks great now.
 
I know what your feeling i freaked out when mine did the same thing. I will second everyones comments, No need to worry. When mine closes i just look for the glossy appearance and then I know its just shedding. Also when i switched from 150's to 400's(mh) mine went through the shedding process more frequently for about two months.
 
i just got one from vikebron and mine has been closed for 3 days now...cam out a lil at night but when light come on well it is gone.....i figure ill just wait....i also knew a buddy who dropped his on his sand and it closed up for days
 
Skateboarder,

Is what you are describing a sarco or a leather?

Any pics?

If you got it from Aquaimports, they could be frags of mine. My sarcos close up for days at a time with a glassy coating. They come out fine eventually.

Stu
 
Give it some time and medium flow. It will come out soon enough. If I recall correctly, Steve Chang's was closed up for over a month. Came out one morning and continued growing. If you see it getting some white, or dark patches than post the info and we can go to the next step.

Cris
 
Back
Top