Is This Leather A Gonner?

[Stipe]

Hey guys,

This leather has been with me for over a year and a half. I loved the guy. If you think he looks small, you should of seen him when i got him, a little wee baby. Recently i changed my halides to abyss RS7 150w 20000k (but they DONT LOOK BLUE, WHY?) bulbs. The algae grew out of control (until i started vodka and got my nutrients down and topped my clean up crew with 40 trochus snails). Even thought he was in a hight flow area of the tank, he would constantly get covered in green algae. As you can see in the photo now he is covered abit. Doesnt matter hoe much times a would shake the stuff off it would come back. Then he stopped opening up. He had not opened nwo for over 1-2 months. I thought it was a hpase of recovery, but it seems liek its a phase of death. He has seen started to fall apart. I have moved him to a low flow, low light side of the tank and he is slowly falling apart. Luckly now he has stopped falling apart and is stable. He used to be all floped to one side, but has recently straigtened up. He also does nto smell bad. Could he be recoverying.

Please help, thanks in advance, Stipe.

 

[Stipe]

Anyone?

 

[Stipe]

Since you guys are a great help, i will post a pic of it while it was doing good,

 

[tinyreef]

that's definitely not in good shape. not sure if it can recover but i think you need to do some drastic procedures. it may recover though, sarcos (most softies in general) have a lot of "fat" reserves. they'll sometimes waste away versus just up and dying, getting smaller and smaller versus reaching a quick critical juncture and not be able to sustain themselves any further.

first, i'd do all the procedures in a separate bin filled with tank water. this lessens the shock to the coral while giving you ample time to examine and conduct the procedures.

second, first procedure i'd do is cutting away all the necrotic areas. specifically the rotted or pitted areas along the cap/crown.

next, i'd lightly scrape away or peel away the film algae growing on it. this should be done lightly.

next, examine the coral base and skin for any deformities or hitchhikers. remove hitchhikers and investigate holes and deformities. an exacto knife is very helpful here.

rinse it off (with tank water) before placing back into an area of moderate to high-intermittent flow, i.e. 2"~4"/sec. flow.

finally, i'd be very aggressive with my chemical filtration (at least for the next couple of weeks). by aggressive, i mean switching your carbon every couple of days.

then just wait and see. hth

 

[Stipe]

thanks you for your help, So i should cut of the parts that are wasting away? Should this be a cuped cut (cuttign jsut about 1mm behind the cut) or jsut cut pieces of the crown off?

 

[tinyreef]

yes, you can cut it either way. i would just suggest cutting slightly more than necessary to ensure you get all the affected tissue.

you still need to clean it and i would examine it closely to make sure there's nothing else bothering it.

not sure if the coral will make even if you do all that though but it should give it a chance to recover. hth

 

[Stipe]

ok i will be posting pics of the procedure and what i have done after the procedure so you can commont if i did it seccefully.

One more question, wouldnt the new cuts start decomposing jsut liek the holes are now?, or will he over crust. And should i clean his trunk?, i mean scrap the coralien of his trunk etc as you can see in the pics.

 

[Stipe]

Ok after abit of research i have coem to thinking, if this fails, what would the chances of cuttting the crown of, fraggign to crown to see if that will grow to new leathers, and elt the stalk regrow a new crown?

 

[tinyreef]

don't bother with the coralline but i would scrape (lightly) the film algae off even on the stalk.

the cut areas might be re-affected (infected?) but the concept is to cut away the truly affected areas to limit the spread of the decay, kinda like how you would treat gangrene on human flesh.

you could also do an entire cut of the cap if you think it is too rotted and ill to survive as a whole (gangrene comment). but i'm not sure if it has a better chance or not, it all depends on how far/invasive the affected areas got into the stalk.

you should be able to tell once you've cut the cap off though, by examining the stalk stump. the stalk should be relatively uniform in appearance (inner cells). if you see a discoloration or voids, chances are the affliction/infection has already spread into the stalk and imo it's truly a goner.

 

[Stipe]

Im sorry to say, but when i cut of the inected areas i was swamped with a foul smell of death and decay. He was so badly damaged when i took him out that his stump was barley attached to the rock, he was oozing this white stuff out and his stump was hollowed out to the skin. So i tossed him. Let that be alesson to those who have algae infested tanks and put this guy in a low flow area, .

Thanks so much for the help though Tinyreef, i really appriciate it.

 

[tmplge]

Hey bro, I had the same problem with my toad. What ended up happening is parts of it would fall off when i would touch it, kinda like chalk. if it is above the stalk you can cut the parts off to prevent spreading. if it has affected the stalk, sorry to say but it is a gonner. the sooner you throw it out the better becuase it will spread to other corals.

 

[Stipe]

Yes i had your problem. Has yours died? or is yours doign good?

Yeh i tossed mine, see no reason for it to be in my tank anymore.

 

[tinyreef]

sorry to hear it didn't make it. honestly, i wasn't really too optimistic from the initial pictures but you never know. sometimes catastrophic injuries and illness can still be recoverable.

i'd wait a while before getting another toadie though (unless there's others already in the tank). just because if it was an illness, it's most likely an obligate organism ( <- disclaimer: my own scurrilous unscientific guestimate with no research backing whatsoever ).

but i can't see giving your tank a "wait period" would be detrimental. but instead i think it'll likely lessen the chance the new toadie can be infected or affected by whatever it was that weakened and killed the first (if it was a pathogen at all).

 

[Stipe]

Thanks for the help. lol research is a must, everyone needs to admit that . No i dont have any more, he was a frag, my first. Im sorry to see him gone : (. And i couldnt get any pictues anyway. My olympus is always blurry when i take pics.

No i wont be getting one anytime soon, i got other things to worry aobut, like why i have to top of my tank by 20L or so every other day and the ich on my marron clowns etc.

Oh yeh a great news, my anemone came out of hiding , im so happy.

Heres a picture of him, He doesnt look that nice because i took it with flash on my ****ty olymous ( i odtn get it its a branD new, 7.1megapixel, m700 all-weather olympus). He is actyaly lime green with pink tips.

 

[tmplge]

good luck bro, things will work out, they always do.

 

[tinyreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7762800#post7762800 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stipe
Heres a picture of him, He doesnt look that nice because i took it with flash on my ****ty olymous ( i odtn get it its a branD new, 7.1megapixel, m700 all-weather olympus). He is actyaly lime green with pink tips.

some great tips i got from a professional photographer:

tripod, always use a tripod. the pulse in your hand shakes the camera too much. so unless you're willing to stop your pulse for a minute to get the picture, use a tripod.

never use flash on glass or try to use it sparingly. you'll have to adjust settings so that the picture is sufficiently lit without though.

shoot perpendicular to the glass, never at an angle (to avoid distortion and limit reflection).

use the macro setting and underexpose, if possible.

 

[PRESTO2345]

Looks like it was in search of some better location with a view....

 

[Stipe]

tinyreef - Yes i need a tripod, the thing is now to get of my lazy *** and go get one, lol nah im not that lazy, i jsut got other work to do.

I have a setting called, 'underwater macro', but for some reason the 'documents' setting is the greateds quality (not blurry) and i pu on that flower mode (the little flower icon i nthe corner of your screen).


PRESTO2345 - where i first put him he moved to the complete back of the tank and emurged a week later here. I fed him when i saw him and i hope he stays their, thats a great spot. There is also a spot for my clowns to spawn under it .

 

[tinyreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7769967#post7769967 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stipe I have a setting called, 'underwater macro', but for some reason the 'documents' setting is the greateds quality (not blurry) and i pu on that flower mode (the little flower icon i nthe corner of your screen).[/B]

i know nothing about photography. nuthing!

but that sounds right because i use the flower-thingy too.

another good one is using the timer to snap the shot versus depressing the button yourself (lessens the shakes as well).

radio shack for the tripod, i got a cheapie there ($20).