Yellow Leather is dying? (pic)

[bellorusha]

I bought it 6 days ago on internet and for 6 days it did not open up fully. It is always closed or opened a little. I put it to the bottom thinking this is becuase of too much light but it is not helping. any ideas?

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Sarcophyton elegans needs lots of light. Also, it needs a moderate amount of flow to make sure that it can shed properly. Unfortunately, S. elegans is a rather difficult Toadstool to keep in captivity. Your best bet is to purchase one aquacultured or from a LFS. In either case, you can watch how well it does. Luckily, I don't see any necrosis forming on it yet, but it doesn't look to be in the best health. What are your tank parameters and lighting?

 

[bellorusha]

90g, T5 - 4 lights, 2maxijet 1200, calcium 380

so you telling me that i have to put it back to the top under the light?

thanks

also i have a question about flow. do i have to set the direct flow to this coral or no?

 

[JDrex]

these kind of corals are easily stressed. i moved one one time across town and for about a week and a half it was looking terrible. but if you just let it alone and keep it in one spot it will adapt and should come back.

 

[bitis316]

you need brighter light now....Move it as high as you can...with alot of current........

 

[tinyreef]

normally i would agree to not move the sarco so much but the bottom of a 90g off 4-T5's is probably too low in intensity for the coral. the darkening from #1 pic to #2 pic is often a sign of stress imo.

don't get me wrong, the move back will be a bit of a shock too. maybe somewhere midway up and exposed to moderate current.

it shouldn't be under constant current but a moderate (2"~4" per sec.) intermittent flow is very good.

double check the base of the coral and try to leave it in the new spot at least a week to give it a chance to acclimate.

 

[Enigma13]

This coral definitely needs more light than it can get on the bottom of the tank. With most moves I would say go gradually, but my experience with yellow leathers is that the move is more disturbing to them than the actual lighting change.
I keep two large (8-12") yellow leathers within the top 10" or so of my tank under 2 150W MH, with supplementation from 2 96W PC actinics. I would say with your current lighting get it as high as possible and then do not touch it for at least a month.

 

[bellorusha]

how long are you keeping lights ON per day? i keep mine from 2pm to 11pm. is it enogh?

 

[jbittner]

I would extend my lighting period to 11-12 hrs and leave it alone!! Looks like a toadstool s. elegans (yellow leather) is a brighter shade of yellow. Good Luck! Do you have a pic of it when it looked good??

 

[bellorusha]

no. i got it like this.

if colt coral touching yellow leather coral is that ok? not all the time, just a few times

 

[Enigma13]

I run my actinics for 14 hours a day (10a-11p) and my MHs for 8 hours (1p-9p).
It looks like a s. elegans to me, just faded. Health and polyp extension will eventually tell the story on exact identification.
I would keep soft corals so they do not contact each other and have about 6" of space around them from other corals. This should help prevent the chemical warfare that these corals will engage in to the detriment of all. If they have been too close and been engaging in a little aleopathy I would try to run some carbon or chemi-pure to clean things up.

 

[bitis316]

You better do something now.....Yellows do not come back....Once the get to point......There different than any othe color......Take you chances...Move it now or its over....Sorry to be so blunt.....This particular species is my fav.....I have lots....Proped from only one original years ago from my father....Trust me..Move it now....This is one of eight of my babies..You can still see the rubber band holding it on....I keep it about 9-10'' from my 20000k halids..in high current....

 

[bellorusha]

i did move it 2 days ago.

 

[jbittner]

My s. elegans is half way down in a shade area of my t5 system. What is the depth of a 90?? T5 intensity is good up to 24". Does it extend it's polyps at night?? I wonder if something else is stressing it. Leathers can go through an extended shedding period. Is there a shinny coat (looks like wax) on the top?? does the system have good flow (20x turnover)?? I still don't think you should stress it more by moving it. Polyp extension is a feeding response. Most of the light absorption comes from the top of the leather, not the polyps.

 

[bitis316]

again.....very high light.....very high current...Treat it as if it was a stony....trust me....

 

[pad]

6 days is also nothing for this coral to acclimate. You did not post your Alk reading. Mine does not like it if the alk droops too low, it gets the same brown coloring overnight. Even after boosting with supplements it takes several days to recover.

Mine will also look like that when I use some filter floss. Withing minutes it will close up and look brown. Takes a while to recover from this too.