Leather trouble...!?

[vlogic]

Ok, I hope this is nothing BUT....

I have a small frag of Devil's hand attached to piece of live rock in my QT (I’ve had it for about 6 months now â€"œ just never moved it)...

I recently added some colony polyps (which have helped me isolate quite a few undesirable critters), a new torch coral, two color variations of frog spawn, avipora (similar to gonipora), and "cup coral" (not sure what is the formal or common name - any help would be appreciated) into the same tank...

Well out of the blue, my devil's hand has lost its rich pink coloration and has turned a darker purple... its polyps have not been extended for about 3 days now.... and, needless to say, I'm concerned...

I have noticed some stringy substance constantly attached, or excreted from the "cup coral." Not certain if this is the cause for the problem, but just a thought.

Everything in the tank is doing well, except the cup coral (not extending its tentacles), and the new state of the leather (devil's hand)...

any suggestions or help would be appreciated....
tonight - I have added extra carbon to help any expulsion of aggressive substances...

(sorry, no pics - but I will post some asap)

EDIT: it does not have any brown stuff on it, and I've looked a bit, and it does not seem to have any parasites on it...

 

[matttaylor]

The devils hand could just be shedding. They do this from time to time. Give it a couple of days and it should be open again.

 

[vlogic]

Thanks for the response.

I was starting to get worried, but as I returned this evening, it was back to normal and had all of its polyps extended. Do all leathers go through similar shedding behavior?

What a relief...

 

[DetectiveTofu]

I wouldn't worry too much; I have a frag of a devils hand leather as well, and for a short period of time it wasn't opening. After a couple days, it opened up again. They're pretty hardy IME. The do close up when they shed, so be sure you have ample flow to aid the leather in removing the mucus/slime coat.

 

[stevensun]

They shed when stressed. It's quite normal. As long as the branch don't break from the middle or melt, it would be fine.