yellow leather

[graveyardworm]

I just picked up a yellow leather at LFS, it was sold as fiji leather. It didnt have very good polyp extension at the time. I'm placing it in QT for now, and would like to gather more info. First I'm curious about ID (pics to come later), are there many diiferent types of yellow leather, or is it most likely S. Elegans? I've heard that S. Elegans can be a little difficult, so anyone with info on care please respond.

BTW I love this new forum. Softies are my favorite.

 

[Cody Ray]

From what I know they prefer high light and high flow.

 

[tinyreef]

there's probably about a dozen sarcophyton species that can be yellow either normally or thru stress color change. pictures of the coral from a couple of different views would be helpful. expanded and contracted, closeups showing auto & siphonzoids are helpful too!

the age of the coral/frag will also influence the shape and designation. most young sarcos will take the ubiquitous "toadstool/mushroom" shape.

i agree with the high intensity light that chin suggested but while i agree high flow is also good i only say that in an intermittent (wave/surge) fashion. otherwise a medium flow (2"~4"/sec.) and manual cleansing (via turkey baster or surge fashion) would be optimal imo.

i'd watch out for parasites and coral rot/fungus/whatever. usually manifests as crumbling or "dust" at the base but sometimes also found on the cap or lobes/knurls. i find when it's on the cap it's indicative of insufficient flow or maintenance by the reefer.

sometimes you might see "scabs" on the cap. looks like peeling skin (not the shedding many discuss) but a discoloration that is not in the skin but rather on it. this should be removed (lightly scraped away and siphoned out if possible).

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

error

 

[graveyardworm]

Here's a couple photos.

No extended polyps yet.

Closeup of siphonozooids

 

[tinyreef]

i'd say that's elegans. again, shape of the stalk and cap may change over time and show a different (true) form later on. but thsat looks elegansy to me.

some of the pitting (bottom pinching and the slight depression) and texture (center and upper right) look like issues to me though.

but the center may just be a curl shape and optically fooling me. is the coral a "c" shape base-wise? i.e. like a chunk is missing on one side and the coral grew around it.

if so, that might be what i'm seeing in the center versus a soft point or rot. elegans (and others) often are afflicted with a center rot that literally eats the middle out of the coral. often fatal but not always ime. no issues if it's just its "c" shape.

the upper right's flesh seems 'flaky'. have you blown this area to see any looseness? i'd keep a moderate flow on it, too high a flow continuously will prompt it to stay closed up. is any part of it crumbling?

i'd do a thorough cleaning (not too hard pressure) and then use aggressive carbon filtration (weekly switch/change). if you don't see polyp extension in a day or so, i'd do a closer examination (soft spots or tiny hitchhikers, squish 'em and remove 'em imo, better safe than sorry).

peek in on it at night too. it may extend polyps then or a coral muncher may visit then too. parasites/coralivores don't always travel on the coral itself, sometimes on the rock it came on. hth

 

[Fat Surgeon]

Wow Grave...That is one Beauuuuutiful speciman! Awesome yellow!

 

[graveyardworm]

The corals tissue I would say is about 95% healthy in appearance. It does have a really strange growth pattern. None of the issue is disintegrating, there is a pock mark you can see in the first pic very low on the center lobe, not sure what it is , but I'll be watching it. Also on the back which you cant seethere are a couple areas which kinda appear like mucas tunic is attached from a recent shed. I'll be watching those areas closely as well. With the lights out it appears to have shrunken a little. Hopefully we'll see some polyp extension tomorrow. I gave it a little taste of DT's oyster eggs before lights out in the hopes that it would trigger a feeding response.

 

[graveyardworm]

I just gave the leather a closer more thorough examination, and the area which at first appeared to be leftover mucas tunic was actually deteriorating tissue. The coral is actually three individuals connected at the base. Any suggestion for treatment? Sould I frag away the infected one, also I have iodine supplement, would alittle dosing help? I can also move it to a higher flow area in the QT.

 

[tinyreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7363686#post7363686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
I just gave the leather a closer more thorough examination, and the area which at first appeared to be leftover mucas tunic was actually deteriorating tissue. The coral is actually three individuals connected at the base. Any suggestion for treatment? Sould I frag away the infected one,

<from the standpoint of three coral heads>
if the whole head of the infected one is affected (mushy, showing infection, significant discoloration) then i would frag that off and toss it. but really only if it was mushy, infection's internal and little/no chance of survival. i'd also frag it in a separate container to limit 'juicing' of its own stuff and affected tissues. take a closer look at that time as well.

cut more than less when you do cut though. safer to cut into healthy tissue than to leave a slight bit of infected tissue behind imo.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7363686#post7363686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
also I have iodine supplement, would alittle dosing help? I can also move it to a higher flow area in the QT.

i'm not one to do a dip but some prefer that after a cutting procedure, like an antiseptic dip.

i prefer to dose lugols either in a recommended dosage (e.g. 1-drop per 20g per week) or above that for one week as a 'medicated period'. i really wouldn't suggest that (although i've done it) though. i don't really think KI helps much in such instances though but that (and the above) are just per prefs from me.

higher flow would be helpful but not so much as it's really tugging on the stalk/stem. a billowing (intermittent) breeze is more what i prefer.

QT as in its own tank? preferred. if you're placing it with other corals (especially other sarcos) just make sure it's not upstream to those healthy ones otherwise you run a higher risk infection. i've made similar errors in the past but saved other frags that were not in the direct path of flow.

i'd step up your waterchanges too. nothing crazy but maybe another one in a day or so to limit any 'bleed off' in the water. carbon would be good too imo. hth

 

[graveyardworm]

The infection appears to be only on the surface, and was just a small area, I scraped it away. The leather is currently in QT all by itself. The flow its in is decent with good lighting. So far it has inflated well but no PE yet. I may dose some iodine per Kents recommendations, but mostly for now I'll observe, and take more action if it becomes necessary.

 

[tinyreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7363944#post7363944 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
I may dose some iodine per Kents recommendations, but mostly for now I'll observe, and take more action if it becomes necessary.

actually, Tech I from kent is one of my preferred additives. i suspect it's a dilute form of lugols or something (not a chemist obviously). i use lugol's and tech in concert. sorry, it slipped my mind before.

 

[graveyardworm]

Okay last night I dosed iodine, 1ml in the 10 gal QT, I cant say that I noticed anything positive or negative from this.

This morning I changed out 2 1/2 gals with water from my display, and a couple hours later I had some PE, dosed another 1ml of Kents iodine, and 1 ml of Kents trace elements. Whether it was the iodine or trace I cant say, but there appeared to be better PE after doing this.

The brown ( algae? ) which was present on the affected area hasnt returned yet.

I'm thinking I may add a small hermit to the QT to hopefully clean up a few spots of algae present on and near the base of the coral.

 

[graveyardworm]

Update, leather is still in QT, I'm seeing good expansion, some good overall polyp extension, but the infected area is persistant. For some reason there is an algal bloom in the QT. I've been changing water almost everyday, sometimes 50% change. I figured to keep the algae down I would purchase a few snails and QT them at the same time. There are two fighting conch, and I purchased two turbo snails (one of which died in QT for unknown reason, but was almost immediately removed ) which have been keeping the algae down. BTW I'm QTing a couple yellow watchman gobies in a tank adjacent to this which has no algae problems. Anyway I bought some Seachem coral dip in the hopes of eliminating the infection. Anyone with experience with this treatment?

 

[tinyreef]

the nutrients can be coming from the coral itself or something in its rock base. coral tissue is (imo) essentially all muscle or 'meat'. but the fact that your coral is healthy is confusing.

are you blowing and siphoning the infected area constantly? i've found if an infection results, it must be treated like a human wound with 'dressing changes'. but since there's no bandages or such, you can only keep the area free from detritus or mucus buildup.

in a QT, it should be easier to dose iodine too. more directed at the coral than in a typical tank. but i'd stay to lugol's or kent's tech I (those are just my pers prefs though).

i'm not a dipper so i can't say i'd recommend dips or not.

 

[graveyardworm]

To combat mucas buildup, I have alot of flow in there. I put in a maxi jet 1200, it seems to be helping. The infected area is receding. I thought I might try the dip (never used it before myself) to help speed the healing process.

 

[tinyreef]

sometimes tank flow isn't enough and having really turbulent flows constantly on is also just as bad as leaving it to rot imo. i find you sometimes need to get right up into the infected area and give a blast from a turkey baster and then siphon out what you can to avoid contaminating other corals (if this was done in display tank that is).

sometimes 'scabs' will occur on the crown and even sometimes on the sides which require a very light scraping to get off. again, intense flow will not (usually) get that 'scabbing' off. that's not the typical coral skin shedding but a localized 'scab' (sorry, that's the best descirption i can come up with). for scraping, i usually use a chopstick and lightly rub the affected area.

but i sometimes use this technique to check infected areas like we're discussing to check the tissue integrity (i.e. softness, stiffness, loose tissue and so on). physically limiting the infection/rot helps immensely in the healing time. the coral might get ****ed at the moment but should sprout right back within an hour ime. hth

 

[chrisbenavides]

Gosh I have been trying to find this coral everywhere and I have had the hardest time. No where in my city (Laredo, TX), nor in San Antonio when I visit. Consider yourself blessed youy guys to be able to find awesome corals.

My favorite would be the one I don't own, which is this Yellow Leather.

 

[zarro]

very nice pics