yellow fiji leather coral

[Siiri]

Hey everybody,

I am interested in getting a yellow fiji leather coral. I did some research about this leather coral and I found pages that said it needed intense lighting and other pages said moderate would be ok.
I have a 55 g tank with an obit fixture (2x 65w Dual Daylight and 2x65w Dual Actinic ). Would that be enough light for this kind of coral?
If anybody has some experience with the fiji leather coral, I would really appreciate the info. Not just about light but also on how easy it is to keep.

Thanks, guys.

 

[tinyreef]

i'd say that much light is sufficient. 175W mh's somewhat directly overhead or bigger wattages generally overhead would be better.

there's a couple of different golden/yellow sarcos. while they have similar care imo, the easier of the two or three is s. elegans (ID it in a larger specimen by more uniformly spaced and generally closer packed together polyps). elegans is also more typically the "toadstool" form than the other two.

moderate and intermittent flow is optimal but constant strong direct flow should be avoided. s. serenei is the other species of golden/yellow and is more prone to film algae and more suspectible to rot ime.

elegans prefers the higher light over serenei though but not to a huge difference. s. subviride is the other coral but i could be off on that ID as it's pretty similar to serenei.

i'd recommend running carbon and/or other chemical filtration. but i don't find these types to be the really noxious ones in the sarco genus (s. spongiosum is the skunk of the bunch ).

 

[Siiri]

thanks for the info !

 

[jbittner]

mine loves strong flow and is 3" under t5 lighting. Grows like a weed. Yellow leathers don't ship well. Try to find a frag from a local reefer.

 

[jbittner]

mine is a s. elegans

 

[Cubman777]

I have a yellow fiji. It is one of my favorite corals (and I have a ton). I have had it for about 2 years and it looks great. I have it about 18 inches directly underneath a DE250 HQI. It has actually become more colorful over the years.
I did have it under a similar if not identical light set up to the one that you are describing. It was fine under mine and should definately be fine underneath yours.
One of the funny things about the sarcophyton elegans is that it does seem to be hit or miss. While mine has been fine, I have known others with tanks far better than mine who have had trouble with them.
But, I think that it is worth it as it is one of the few corals that is a true bright yellow.

 

[clord]

I have one to and its really bright yellow . I use it see if my alk is to low because if it is it won't open .

 

[Gluestick]

I love the yellow fiji leather coral. Gorgeous. I am looking for someone who wants to frag theirs in IL!

 

[tacomareefer]

Ya it is defenintly a hit and miss coral and does not ship well. From my lfs working experience they need more sps like conditions ie.. high flow high light ect...

 

[Clarkii3]

i have one in my 24g with 96w of pc, and its doing great, bright yellow, grew a little. had it for about 4 months or so with no problems. ive heard about other people having problems with them never opening. they also seem to like quite a bit of flow. mine is even placed on the very bottom in the sand, and doing great. imo you have more than enough light.

 

[No Worries1979]

I was fortunate enough to get two frags attached to some rock I recently recieved. They seem to be fine although I know it will be a while until they are good sized. I have had trouble with two yellow leathers before due to sickness like what tinyreef had mentioned. I guess sometimes you just get bad corals and sometimes they make it.

I also have PC flourescents (265watt Coralife w/actinics)

 

[Tcook]

Mine did well under 175 watt MH:

 

[edwardbotha]

nice pic tnx

 

[Cubman777]

really cool Tcook. I like the ridges.
Here is what mine looks like.

 

[Cubman777]

I have had it for just over a year. It was sold to me as a "nano" coral and has about tripled in size. It is one of my favorite corals as it is my only yellow one.

 

[nodak]

I have had 1 for two years under 96 watt jbj pc lighting.It seems to be doing great .I placed it under a good current and thought i killed it .The coral seemed to rip apart at the base. To my surprise i now have two new frags . The smallest is now about 3 inches across. One of my favorite corals.

 

[nodak]

My mistake the lighting is a JBJ with 2 65 watt pc bulbs