When to admit defeat--leather seems to be dying

[clownmama]

Hi everyone,

I have been writing about a particular coral, and it frustrates me because it has good color (pinkish/brown polyps, white "stems" with a green phosporescent tinge) and polyps open, but it is just droopy and seems to be shrinking.

Should I do a dip or should I remove it and then discard it? Do corals need to be euthanized? Is it possible they feel pain?

Thanks!

 

[mfinn]

pictures?

 

[Nanook]

Picture would help. Information about your tank would help too We can help you better for sure if you give us some background, chemistry parameters, lighting, filtration, etc.

 

[clownmama]

Thank you--sorry not to have given background. I have a young set-up (a little over 2 months old) of a 29G biocube with live rock and sand. 36 Watt blue actinic and 36W 10,000K Daylight. Parameters are good--ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates <5; PH 8.2
I've been doing 10% biweekly water changes and changing the cartridges every two weeks too. 2 clownfish and royal gramma and CUC.

I just got a circulation pump and moved the coral which seems to be helping. Here are pics from a while back (cannot find my camera to take a recent pic) on an earlier post: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2274533

It just looks droopy-polyps open, nice color, just floppy. I've had it for about a month--all was well, upright for a couple of weeks and then it just got unhappy. It doesn't look like it's attached to rock, maybe some scelerites. The other day when I picked it up a piece broke off (it had corraline algae on it too). I don't know if that would have anything to do with it.

Thanks again!

 

[clownmama]

Should also note other corals are doing well. Usual starter ones: Green Hairy Mushroom, Star Polyps, Blue Mushrooms and a Torch Coral. I feed Rod's Original a few times per week but may pull back on that since I think I got a small cyano outbreak from overdoing it.

 

[Nanook]

Hmm, can you wedge it into a rock where it is secure? This will give it some stability. I think moving it to midwater or higher would be appropriate as that species likes a moderate-high amount of light. Other than that, just observe and hope it makes it. The color looks pretty pale in those pictures.

 

[clownmama]

Thank you--will try that today! And found my camera so pics soon.

 

[tom obrecht]

I think a picture of the coral is necessary. Could be the coral in question is a hard to maintain species.

 

[clownmama]

Here are a couple of more recent pictures. They were taken under the moon lights, sp the flash was pretty strong

CLose-up:

Thanks for any insights.

 

[Nanook]

It is not gone yet, but does look a little bleached. Probably needs more light and some nutrition. Might want to feed your tank a little heavier, and/or add some more light.

 

[clownmama]

Thank you. What would be the ideal color? It's about the same color it was when I got it--I think the camera's flash may make it look a little paler. The "stems" are tinged green on white and the polyps are pinkish/brown. Or should it be darker brown all over?

Whatever it's attached to seems to be disintegrating itself--becoming more gray--looks like it could be sclerites. Maybe my coral was attached to a larger section which has died? Anyway, it seems that any black cyano I get seems to begin around the base of the coral.

I tried to move it around, but I just don't have any better spots with the way my rock is arranged. I would need to move the pump for it to go into a depression in the rock, but my fish get SO stressd when I start moving things around in the tank. Plus, one of the Clarkii tends to rest in the spot that would work with the coral.

I might try to move the pump in a few days--give my fish a break--and then place it in another spot a bit higher up. I will also look into getting another light. There's space for one more in this Biocube.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and taking the time to answer and try to help us out!

 

[Nanook]

Normal color is brown to yellow to green, or mixture of them. The coral does look bleached and the sclerites showing is never a good sign. How is the coral doing now?

 

[Michigan Mike]

One of my first corals was a blue leather like that and it slowly just dwindled away, Kenya trees & toadstool leathers do great though.

 

[clownmama]

Thank you for the responses--I think it just it's going to dwindle away. It doesn't change wherever I put it. Just stays flopped over, and it seems to be shrinking even more.

Water parameters are all pretty good--nitrates usually <5. Phosphate is .25 ppm. Everything else is where it's supposed to be I think.

All my other corals seem to be happy.

 

[wireefman]

what type of flow... I have almost all my softies/leathers in med to high flow.

 

[SushiGirl]

Our leathers aren't happy unless we have more nitrates. Maybe it came from a higher nitrate tank (likely if it came from an LFS) and just isn't adjusting.

 

[Nanook]

Every once in a while you get one that is on the decline and just doesn't make it too. When you can see sclerites, it is usually too far gone.

 

[clownmama]

Are those sclerites in the photos above--they almost look like rock embedded in the tissue?

Poor thing--feel terrible about it. Just keep it in there? I keep getting fuzzy cyano, and I am wondering if it's from this coral dying. (Phosphates are .25 and nitrates are <5ppm). I could go longer between water changes and let nitrates go up, but would that affect my hairy mushrooms, star polps, blue mushroom, and torch coral? Those all look great--open and some of them reproducing (even found a baby blue mushroom on a snail's shell).

I really appreciate you all giving me feedback.

I did try it higher up in more flow and light, and it just flopped completely down.

 

[wireefman]

while mine have never looked like that.. last ditch effort would be fragging it and hoping one of the branches rebounds... like I said all of mine softies/leathers are with 10-15 inches of a tunze 6045.. I have great polyp extension and growth. I would keep it in moderate flow.. for a day if there is 0 improvement as a last ditch effort id frag the branches off and hope they grow... ive seen softies come back from the tinest of nubs.. until it is completely gone I hold out hope

 

[clownmama]

Frag it--cut off a branch and then adhere it to a rock? I may give it a try. I've seen instructions about fragging somewhere.
Thanks!