Leather Coral Dying

T

taillonjohn

Member
I posted the below in the soft coral forumn, but I don't think many people look into that forumn. Appreciate any help for the below

I've had a leather coral frag for about a month now, its been doing fine, extending and seeming to grow. A few days ago I checked my alk, which was high, and was having the start of green hair algei growth, so I started running phosban. The next morning I woke up and the coral had started turning white. I left it like that till I got home from work, and noticed much more white, so took out the phosban, but its still turning white, I'm thinking I'll have to take it out when I get home if it hasen't started regaining its color. any thoughts on why this happened, or what I can do to help it?
 
what type of leather? and any pic?
next to mushrooms, leathers are next to imposs. to kill (IMO)...
I dont think PhosBan would have had any impact (I'm running phosban 24/7 in softie tank)...no issue's with it...
Is it white and shrunk? No polpy extension?
 
yes, its turning white and shrinking. The white color is sort of crusty (not the clear filmy stuff that I've seen it shed before) . I don't see how it can be the phosban either, but thats the only single thing I did differently, and the change occurred in exactly that first night where I started running the phosban. do you know what it is? dont have a pic sorry
 
crusty hard?...
regardless....has it gone back to "normal" now that you are not using PhosBan?...and again....what type of leather?
 
yes the white is crusty hard. I took out the phosban last night, and it was even more white this morning. I'm not expecting good news when I get home later. not sure what kinda leather, but it was ID'd on this forumn before as a toadstool leather.

I just can't beleive it, I was so happy that it was doing well, and was pretty impressed with myself. it was my first coral, along with mushrooms and star polyps, which are both fine. just the leather... overnight. any idea's. thanks for your help
 
see if you can blow or brush off the crust....almost sounds like calcium parcipation...but its difficult too imagine it would only be on your toadstool....
I really dont think the Phosban would do it...hmmm....pic would help alot....
 
yeah, I've been using a powerhead to blow off the crust. under the crust the coral is white. I agree with your phosban comment (although this is the first time I tried it, like I said based on high alk and green algae, so I think I'll just go back to carbon, always had good results with carbon).

I'll see whats up in the tank when I get home after work. Every day when I get home I'm like, 'oh man, I hope everythings ok'. lol

anyway, thanks burntoutreefer, for your help
 
ammonia 0
trite 0
trate 10 ppm
sg 1.026
temp 84 (shot up from 80 on Wednesday, maybe this is a culprit to? )
alk 6meg/l
calcium 380
ph 8.4
 
IMO...temp is way too high for toadstools..max should be 80...
I would do a 10% water change (it will bring temp down and trates also)...
try there first
 
Many toadstools slough off the top layer on a regular basis. I was propagating yellow tongas for a couple years and it was not uncommon to see them shrivel up, dump the outer layer of skin and then come back. This took maybe 2 or 3 days tops...
 
thanks again

yeah, its starting to get warm here in Canada, the igloos are melting, the geese are coming back, polar bear skins are coming off......

I didn't have corals last summer, don't know what to do about this summer.... its freezing up here 9 months out of the year, the idea of buying a chiller seems crazy to me.

have a great weekend
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9825587#post9825587 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by taillonjohn
ammonia 0
trite 0
trate 10 ppm
sg 1.026
temp 84 (shot up from 80 on Wednesday, maybe this is a culprit to? )
alk 6meg/l
calcium 380
ph 8.4
Click to expand...


I agree with Randall, leathers go though a period where they don't look so good and then come back strong again. I do see that your alk is way too high. You should target 7-11dkh or 2.5-4 meq/L for alkalinity. Stop dosing the suppliments and let it come down on its own. You might want to get on a better supplimentation for alkalinity/calcium. Either a 2-part suppliment or Kalk would give you a balanced ratio to help keep your levels within the suggested level range. Please read the following and use the calculator below to help with dosing. ;)

How to Select a Calcium and Alkalinity Supplementation Scheme:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

Suppliments and what to dose:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

:)
 
I though it was sloughing also at first, but if you read the post, the OP said it didnt look like the normal sloughing the toadstool has done before....and description is crusty hard.
so, this lead one to think calcium parciptation, but that would be reflected across the board, or?
Also, I would suggest no additives at all as it seems its a softie tank....
but then thats just me....
you two have a lot of posts...which would lead one to believe you guys knwowhat you are talking about....

anyway....just my 2 cents

Cheers................
 
I've only been dosing calcium since last week, as the calcium floats around 360-380 (and I wanna get a clam), thats all. The phosban was an attempt to reduce the high alk.

the use of phosban, and the increased temp from 80 to 84 (seemingly in one day, we just had a heat spike here), are the ONLY things different in my tank.
 
I had a similar issue with my leather, he looked great when I first added him, but within a few weeks he shrunk up and turned white.. few days later I actually saw a dust of algae forming on him and there is good flow in that area... I was for sure he was a goner, but with in 10 days of his first depressive state he bounced back and looks great with all polyps extended, I think I would attribute it to the lighting... I got him from a tank that had VHO and I have T5HO and MH, which i did run a shorter and diffused cycle or he could have just been depressed.

My temp runs steady between 80 to 81. They usually bounce back though.
 
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