help for my leather

[cooksalot]

i have a finger leather that has been doing great for a few weeks under 64W PCs. On saturday i upgraded my lighting to a 70W HQI Sunpod. I am acclimating the tank with screens and a shortened photoperiod. everything in the tank is doing fine except the leather. It had been standing straight up and was soft but firm. after a day of the new lights it swelled up (had shed just before) and got really mushy and flopped right over. nothing else in the tank changed in terms of water parameters, heat, etc.

before new lights:

after new lights:

after this pic i moved him to a more shady place, but he flopped even more, but at the same time his branches seem to have grown even more and he's spreading as he's falling. does anyone know what's going on and what i can do?

 

[Deanos]

Similar situation

 

[deelucky]

i have to agree with what deanos posted.there are days when my DH decides to just lean over and stay for days then next thing i know its open real nice with every polyp extended.

 

[cooksalot]

thank you both. i'm feeling better now knowing that this can happen. is there anything in particular to look for to see if there is any rotting?

 

[ellebelle]

My toadstool leather is mostly back to normal now, though there does seem to be one small dead spot on the side of it. Doesn't seem to be affecting it much, and it looks like it's healing up daily. (Of course, now my devil's finger leather is pouting....)

 

[cooksalot]

thanks for all the help. the leather stood back up just a little bit ago. he looks like he grew...is it normal for them to look like they swell up when they get bigger? here's a shot of him from about ten minutes ago, and i was going to ask about that dark spot (which was lighter in real life than the picture), but when i just went back to check on it, the dark spot seems to be gone. he's not upright 100%, but i'm assuming he'll continue to perk up.

 

[deelucky]

its normal to look bigger.i had to move my devils hand because it was getting stung by my rbta so i moved im and he drooped for days then bam he was up an bigger than ever.