leather coral help

[boardryder]

I have what I believe to be a cauliflower leather coral. It has been in my tank for a few days now and is just slumped over most of the time. There are also a few small branches off of the main ones that appear to be melting. It doesn't look horrible, but it sure looked much happier at the store. What can I do or what is happening? I have moved it around a few places with about the same reaction at each location. Other lps and polyp corals are thriving.

Nitrate ~10
Phosphate ~0
Salinity ~1.025
Temp 78-80 (more temp swings from the heat wave)
3 watts per gallon
Moderate flow.

 

[reefman]

from your water specs,they should b fine. unless your alk/ph is all outa wack.
maybe bacterial/protoan infection?
they should be 1 of the hardiest corals to keep.
try increase flow n increase idoine.

 

[Deanos]

:moved: to current forum.

 

[boardryder]

My ph is generally around 8.2, Alk is ~9, calcium ~450. I think it may just be adjusting? I have a Mag 5 and another flow pump so my flow is probably around 400 and 250 depending on which pump. I also just added a cap of Kent Iodine.

 

[mandown123]

dont worry yet it is probably just adjusting. sometimes leathers get a muscous coating when acclimating and then shed it and even end up bigger than before. keep updating!

 

[Chris5]

leathers can get especially stubborn when moved or touched especially when they aren't acclimated yet to the new tank ... give it time it will eventually flower up ... sometimes more flow does the trick as well ... but also could do the opposite depends on the coral I guess but I know when i move my powerheads slightly my toadstool goes in for like 30mins than readjusts and comes back out ...

 

[KathyC]

Did you acclimate the coral to your tank..and did it come from a LFS?
3 watts per g doesn't tell us what your lighting is, and that formula is usually used when discussing FW tanks...( best of you list whether MH's or PC's or T5's... )..do you know what kind of lighting it was in before?

Can you post a pic of it?
Best bet for now is to stop moving it around...that more than anything has a tendency to aggravate new corals.


Nice avatar btw

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

im not knockin what anybody had to say.these are perfectly good reasons why it might not be opening up. but i have noticed that alot of the time soft corals grow on the sides or on overpasses on the reef. maybe its having a hard time standing up.lol

and im actually not sure if u have a cauliflower(colt) soft coral. or if its a true leather soft coral. if its a leather dont worry about what i said as they grow upright on the reefs. so im not sure lol. give us a pic.

<-------check the pic

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

<----does ur coral look like #1

<------or like #2

 

[boardryder]

Thank you everyone for your help. It is looking that it likes its fourth stop the best, but still slumping a little. No more signs of melting! I think has jut been aclimating, it's my first leather.
It's under 4t5(2 white17k, 2 actinic) and it looks like picture #2 only not as upright.

 

[Josh]

It if it like #2, it should open up in a day or so.

Any idea if the store had it labeled as either a carnation or nepthea? If so, both of those will be very difficult to keep alive in your tank.

A photo will reveal everything.

 

[boardryder]

Some pics. I would say it's nepthea. As you can see it is very slumped over, but the polyps look pretty happy for the most part.

 

[mandown123]

i would say that looks relatively healthy. im sure its just gathering up some stregnth to pull itself up. or maybe its a lazy coral and it likes to lay down lol

 

[ReeferGoneMad]

very nice looking colt. i think u will be please with this coral once it gets comfortable.good luck with it.

 

[boardryder]

So after a month now I think that this has just been slowly dying the whole time, and my lfs has just been spinning me in circles telling me I have water quality issues when every other coral is thriving and multiplying. Thanks!!!

Anyway, I noticed that the main part appears to have rotted away from the base, but the fingers still seem okay. Anyone know what I can do? Cut off the branches and frag? How? Am I just wasting my time as this is slowly dying and fouling my tank?

Please help. It looked soo nice when I bought it. Aren't they supposed to be hardy and easy to care fore? Thanks.