Yellow Fiji Leather issues...

[GQJake81]

so i did some homework last night and i don't think I'm in as bad of shape as i FEEL i'm in. This was a semi impulse buy, and kind of an educated buy. I've researched them a long time ago when i first started my tank and kinda forgot how evil they can be if they decide to not get along with your water.

i'm in a bit of a rush to get out the door, so i can't post all my params, but i tested most of them before i went to the LFS and all were good.

now i think i might be over reacting and this might just be "acclimation" but i'm not sure, obviously i've never had one. basically it's kinda just leaning over. but staying open. it closed up a little bit for about an hour or so last night. but it keeps leaning over. no holes or tears in the flesh that i can see. and it's not sloughing off a lot of stuff. BUT my water is a little hazy this morning. but i'm not sure if its from this guy or from the pistol shrimp and goby doing some excavation.

there are some spots around the edge that are coming off a little bit, but not in excess. and it's leaning over and resting on a rock, but no other corals are on that rock. i got him in the tank around 4PM yesterday. everything was still open and happy at lights out. and this leather was only about half down to the rock.

this morning it is on the rock and open. i've taken some pictures.

here is the EARLY EVENING pic...around 7 or 8.

Here is it is this morning....

like i said, i think it's probably ok. but i'm kinda freakin out just a tad cause i don't want this thing nuking my tank. my zoas are all opening as we speak. feather dusters and clam are acting normally.

it's under my new LED fixture from cadlights in about, 14" of water. with an MP10 running on reef crest mode at about 80%. i still have a foam head on my skimmer. i have a TLF phosban reactor, not running on the tank right now, and i'm thinking about getting some seagel/purigen to run in it just in case he starts getting nasty. or should i just run straight carbon?

and if i'm ok, please let me know. and if i'm in a bad spot, please let me know that too. my concerns are the bending and the semi hazy water... i have to go to work all day (who doesn't right?) and i'm just wanting to make sure this thing is ok until i get home. and if i should run something in a reactor, i will need to get it on my way home. thanks!

 

[mcoomer]

It's color is good and I don't see that it's crumbling. Do you have any sort of flow being directed at it? If not, I'd try to get some indirect flow moving around it. Other than that I don't know what else to recommend other than maybe moving it lower in your tank to allow it to adjust to your lights. Pretty standard recommendations I think.

Mike

 

[wbdevers]

I think you are fine. I've got a couple of leathers and one is a yellow. When I got it, it had some bad spots on it and it almost didn't make it, but now it is twice the size of when I bought it.

Leathers can get tempermental especially when stressed. My green leather took almost a week to get happy again when I first got it so just give it some time and as suggested make sure it gets some flow. Also, watch for a "skin" to form over the crown and stalk. It will look like a light film. I use a toothbrush to gently wipe it off. Part of it growing and keeping itself clean. I've read that if there is enough flow the "skin" will sluff off by itself and you may never see it.

 

[cr reef]

At this poist I wouldn't worry at all about this one.

Generally if it's going to go bad it'll take up to a week. Don't move it anymore than you have too, this is one leather that does not do well with moving. If it goes bad carbon should be enough, I lost one that I ordered on line, never hurt anything else in the tank.

HTH

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Leathers can get tempermental especially when stressed. My green leather took almost a week to get happy again when I first got it so just give it some time and as suggested make sure it gets some flow. Also, watch for a "skin" to form over the crown and stalk. It will look like a light film. I use a toothbrush to gently wipe it off. Part of it growing and keeping itself clean. I've read that if there is enough flow the "skin" will sluff off by itself and you may never see it.

Agree with Wes. They can be very tempermental, and do shed periodically. Just give it some time and keep your water params spot on and it should start to perk up.

 

[Sk8r]

Good water params are in my sig line.
And have carbon in house, Prime or its equivalent, Amquel, and enough salt for a 50% water change (over 2 days) when maintaining a large specimen with touchy habits.

 

[GQJake81]

cool. i will get some purigen and what not this evening. thanks for all the words of encouragement.

Sk8r, why the Prime? for saltwater mixing? if so, i use RO and have about 20G SW in reserve at present. have a 30G brute that stays mixed. or would the Prime be used for something else? i know it binds to a lot of crap and didn't know if it would bind to something this beast can put in my water.

my water is wicked clear now, but this guy is kinda closed up now. might be because of the lights. so i dropped my intensity to 50% for the rest of the evening. but it's standing back up some more. not on the rocks. and i've read that they will over "inflate" when they first go in, so maybe that had to do with the leaning/bending onto the rock.

everything is open and happy in the tank. so i'll go run and get that purigen and maybe just get my reactor ready to run it. not really sure that i wanna run it if everything is ok. cause i have mainly softies and LPS and zoas and from what i gather, they don't really want PRISTINE water.

thanks again for all the info.

 

[GQJake81]

now it's laying back down, think that's normal? just getting comfortable?

 

[125G Reefer]

Somebody pickin at him?? I don't see any polyp extensions in this pic. The others were fine, you could see them starting to come out.

 

[GQJake81]

Not that I can see. No hermits on him. Haven't seen any fish mess with it. Kinda disheartening to see him limp again. Maybe he's not used to my photoperiod or my lights. I will just check on him in the morning. Trying to just leave it alone and let it get accustomed. Trying to walk that fine line between over protective and neglect.

I will try to update in the morning.

 

[wbdevers]

I would still give it a couple of days. Like I said, when I added my leather it didn't extend it's polyps for four days. Then it shed, opened, closed again this time for almost a week, shed again, and now hasn't stopped growing. I just removed a "daughter" from it yesterday and that really ****ed it off, but it was already putting it's polyps back out today. I would start getting a little concerned if you don't start seeing something after 3-4 days personally.

Keep us posted.

 

[GQJake81]

still laying down....really far. but open. not "melting" from what i can tell. but there might be a "spot" developing.

see what you guys think.

here's the "hole" or "spot." on the left side of the coral on the edge of the ruffled edge.

and here are some side and front shots.

is the stuff around the base "normal" or should i be worried about it?

i have a bag of purigen and matrix carbon on standby. water is still nice and clear. everything is open and happy. clam and zoas and shrooms. all happy.

should i try and spin it around so it sits vertical? or just leave it alone. i would prefer to leave it alone and not get it aggravated.

just did a scroll from the top pic down to this last pic....and it's actually starting to look kinda melty.......yikes. should i maybe move my MP10 down a little bit to give it more flow?

thanks again for taking the time to give me your input. appreciate it.

 

[GQJake81]

also, i just tested my alk and it's at 8, should i try and raise it? softies shouldn't really be too affected by it, right? and i moved my MP10 down and it's about 3 inches above it, so now i can see it "moving" the coral. it just kinda "wobbles" about 15 times a minute. and i put it on constant speed. but is that too much and will it get chafed from being on the rocks and "wobbling?"

 

[GQJake81]

and just for reference, here's my "toadstool leather" or "umbrella leather" and it seems to be loving life.

 

[GQJake81]

well, it's lights out, and it's closing up some...so maybe all hope is not lost.

and now that the flow is more direct and constant, it's closing up and raised up off the rock. think it's upset about the flow, as in too much? or do you think it was not getting enough? i turned the flow down a couple dots on the MP10 for the night, i usually do, and i guess i will just see how it is in the morning.

am i correct in assuming that the stalk should be vertical if it's happy, correct?

 

[FishinMich]

Yellow fiji leathers do seem to prefer a bit more light an flow than other leathers.

 

[GQJake81]

that's what my LFS said and what my homework said, so now it's really closed up tight and standing up off the rocks. so maybe the flow helped. i'm not really sure if i want it to be reacting like that or not. not sure i want it closed up, but i like the fact that it's standing up off of the rock.

i'll update in the morning. eventho no one is responding. kind of just talking to myself. thanks for the lone reply FishinMich. :beer:

 

[wbdevers]

Okay, here's my take on it, but I am by no means an expert.

1) the hole IMO is fine. To me it just looks like another pore, but remember these guys will twist and contort 10 ways to hell and back.

2) the color at the base of the stalk looks kind of funny to me, but it's not a constant. It looks almost like coralline grew on it (I know it didn't however). I would defo keep an eye on that.

3) what kind of lighting did your LFS have it under and what is yours? It may be suffering light shock especially since you say it opened some after lights out.

4) remember what we said about shedding. I can't tell from the pics, but it may be about to do that. The best way to describe it is that from a low angle across the disk, it will have a look like it is covered in ultra fine silk (at least in my mind).

5) as far as flow, what was the LFS's? That could very well be the part of the problem too, however I would think you would have gotten a little PE even if the flow wasn't enough if it were happy.

Keep us posted and great pics BTW.

 

[125G Reefer]

He still has color. Don't mess with him to much, as these buggers don't like being roughed around much. Saw a couple of polyps trying to pop out there. Maybe just sit tight.:hmm2:

 

[wbdevers]

++1 on 125G