Toadstool Leather refuses to open / expand...why?

[maitai123]

Well it has been 3 weeks now and my new Toadstool is still refusing to open. This is really weird.

He is not dying (tissue is quite solid), just a little greenish brown. I have him mid way up the tank, as he was not responding on the sand bed, so I thought I would move him a bit higher. He has been midway up the tank for 7 days now.

What is really strange is my other leather, who is 12 inches across, 4 feet away, at the top of the tank is doing great. I have had him now for 4 months.

My water parameters are fine, all my softies, LPS, SPS, inverts are doing just fine.

I even had him under diffused light, (ie. not direct MH light, nor my VHOs).

I am temped to give him non-diffused light and increase flow, from a power head, 12 inches away, to see if he responds.

Any recommendations?

Thank you

 

[tinyreef]

could you post a picture of the entire situation?

is the "problem sarco" under the same flow dynamics of the "ok sarco"?

i assume the lighting is the same for both? (you mention varying the light)

are they the same species?

have you taken a closer examination of the "problem sarco"? maybe there's something physically bothering it, e.g. parasite, coralivore, squeezed by a rock, etc.

 

[lemadl]

Hi Tinyreef,

I cannot seem to compress the photo to 50k which is the limit for photo uploads. The smallest I can do is 60k, but that is no good.

No, nothing is near to it. It is on its own. The flow dynamics, water conditions, lighting conditions are identical to my other one 2 feet away in the same tank. He is a monster, over 1 foot in diameter. The new one just seems to hate my big tank for some reason

 

[tinyreef]

that is pretty big!

how often are you changing water and how much?

are you using any carbon or other chemical filtration (e.g. purigen, poly-filter, chemi-pure, etc.)? if not, i'd try some. some sarcos are more sensitive than others.

are you dosing anything?

is it always clean? make sure there's no detritus that can settle on it.

 

[maitai123]

Normally I change 10% every two weeks. Sometimes less. Why? Because currently there are no fish in the tank, due to a bout with the dreaded ICK. My water parameters are excellent.

I have a calcium reactor, a UV Sterilizer, and an AquaC 240 Protein Skimmer running in a 75g sump. I have been using a turkey baster and blow off anything that settles on him. Normally I do this once a day. He is not dying....at least not yet...man this is weird.

 

[tinyreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8774621#post8774621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maitai123
Normally I change 10% every two weeks. Sometimes less. Why?

because sometimes the corals may react well or not with a fresh influx of changed sw. if it affects the corals it may point to a elemental/vitamin-like deficiency.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8774621#post8774621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maitai123
I have a calcium reactor, a UV Sterilizer, and an AquaC 240 Protein Skimmer running in a 75g sump. I have been using a turkey baster and blow off anything that settles on him. Normally I do this once a day. He is not dying....at least not yet...man this is weird.

if you're running without fish i'd suggest cutting off the UV to promote plankton. the ich should be dead by week #6 or so sans fish as they are obligate parasite iirc (i'm not a fish-guy). that's pers pref though and i don't really think it applies here.

one thing i might suggest is shutting off the protein skimmer for a couple of days to see if there's any effect. this is more something i've accidentally stumbled across relatively recently and i'm still trying to work out the actual reasons/logic behind it. but i found sometimes skimmerless situations benefit the sarcos. just a wild throw from left-field though.

if you don't see any improvement then just switch it back on (after cleaning out the water, of course).

 

[55semireef]

Can we see a picture? That might help a little bit.

 

[Skateboarder]

It might be shedding.

 

[lemadl]

Please go to http://www.dlema.com to see the photo is my old Toadstool and the new addition.

Sorry for the size of the photo. I could not compress it.

 

[tinyreef]

couple of questions on the "new addition" picture.

is that a favites to the right of the problem sarco? if so, could stingers from it be trailing and stinging the sarco?

is that another sarco on the far right? looks like a s. glaucum, which can be a little slimey sometimes and affect other sarcos in the tank ime.

i suggest carbon and pretty aggressive use, weekly changes on the carbon.

 

[maitai123]

Tinyreef: Actually it is not a favites. It is another leather. I have done the following:-

1. Moved the "problem" toadstool to the sand bed
2. inserted carbon in my Ocean Clear Canister with my micron filter.
3. shaded him a bit from direct MH light
4. has is getting indirect flow from a Tunze pump....very gentle current.
5. I turned off my AquaC, model 240 Protein Skimmmer
6. I turned off my UV sterilizer.

Current situation: Yesterday morning he perked up a bit...I got excited, but when I returned home in the evening, he shrunk to the same size as before.

I know he is not dead, and I know my water, lighting, etc are great because everyone other coral is thriving. Man this has me baffled!!

I am simply going to have to be more patient. I read on another post on this forum that someone had to wait a month for his toadstool to open up properly.

 

[tinyreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8794317#post8794317 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maitai123
Tinyreef: Actually it is not a favites. It is another leather.

hmm, that neon green spotted coral immediately to the right of the "problem sarco" (right by the date imprint) is another leather-type coral?

i would agree with the wait and see a bit. give it a chance to settle in. i would limit moving it around though.

 

[maitai123]

ok will do.

 

[michaeldaly]

Sometimes leathers close for now apparent reason if they are disturbed. I had a devils finger close up for over 3 months. He is now back to normal and doing great.

If it is not getting worse I would just leave it be and it will eventually open up.