new toadstool is limp

[Dudester]

Three days ago I got a small sarcophyton for my 30g mixed reef. In the LFS it had nice green polyps perched upon an upright stalk. It was under fluorescent lighting in the store. I did a 20 minute Lugol's dip before placing it into my tank. I located it on the substrate as far away from my 250W MH light as possible, under moderate flow. The coral stalk has been limp and bent over ever since it went into my tank, and there's been no polyp extension. Should I move it into a shaded area? Should I be concerned? There's no tissue sloughing, and I can't see a "skin."

 

[crzy4reefs]

well i would give it a few days but if you want you can move it to a partial shaded area.......some leathers can take a bit to get used to a new tank.

 

[tinyreef]

Re: new toadstool is limp

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7802879#post7802879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dudester
I did a 20 minute Lugol's dip before placing it into my tank.

what do you mean, exactly, by a 20-minute lugol's dip?

i agree with leaving it as is for a few days. if it hasn't responded by then, i would consider moving it.

how is the flow-rate in the area you have it in now?

can you post a picture?

 

[Dudester]

20 minute Lugol's dip = place the coral in tank water + Kent Lugol's solution at the directed dose on the bottle for 20 minutes. This is a "dip" that's intended to kill off parasites and other unwanted hitchhikers without harming the coral. This is known to be harmful to some corals, like green star polyps, but I know that this is not harmful to leathers. Eric Borneman wrote in his book that he inadvertently left one of his leathers in this same dip for more than 4 hours, and the coral actually looked better afterward than before.

That area of the tank has moderate flow compared to the rest of the tank. The circulation in the tank as a whole is quite high (~1300 gph or >40x turnover) since I am also keeping SPS. The leather sways just a little where it's located, but it's not being whipped around like some of the other corals.

I have a photography session scheduled for tomorrow night (my wife's the photographer). The toadstool looked the same this morning, no worse and no better. I hope that by tomorrow night it will have improved; either way I'll get a pic and post it later this week.

Thanks for your interest and your help, everybody!

 

[tinyreef]

ok, i was just checking on the lugol dip being 'normal' (which it is ).

i would just leave it alone for a while to let it acclimate. if you feel the need to do something though, i would add carbon/replace carbon. but other than that, i would sit tight and give it a couple of days.

 

[Dudester]

Thanks, tinyreef, the carbon in the sump is just over 3 weeks old. I routinely change the carbon every month, so I'll just go ahead and change it a little early.

 

[tinyreef]

hmm, yeah, a month is a bit long in-between carbon changes.

i "try" to keep it 2-weeks and i think that's pushing the upper limits already. imalazy

 

[SoSa 110]

maybe more light and a little less flow.. more indirect flow they dont like to be whipped around.. good luck

 

[Dudester]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7814383#post7814383 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SoSa 110
maybe more light and a little less flow.. more indirect flow they dont like to be whipped around.. good luck

I didn't want to give it too much light too fast. Afterall, it came from the LFS under fluorescent lighting and went into my 30g tank with 250W of MH lighting.

At any rate, the toadstool is looking decidedly better. Last night I saw that it was shedding a skin, and the stalk was no longer limp but standing up instead. About 1/2 of the polyps (where the skin had been shed) were partially extended, and the remainder of the capitulum had a glassy appearance (representing the "skin," no doubt). I hope to go home tonight to a fully extended leather!