Brown spots on toadstool leathers

NortheastReefer97 · Sep 30, 2021

Hi all, was cleaning my tank today and noticed that there were some brown spots under my toadstool and was wondering what it was? The stool has been closed since i got back yesterday and looks shiny like its going to shed.

More info: was away for a couple weeks with roommates looking after tank, my nutrients are really high nitrate 15ppm and phos 0.1, so im going to be doing a bunch of small water changes over the next week to get it down to normal but i’ve had high nutrients before and never the brown. Theyre not flatworms as they crumble away when i brushed one with a toothbrush, but theyre on pretty good and the flesh underneath looks compromised... im going to dip in revive to see if that helps, but any help identifying the problem would be greatly appreciated

MnFish1 · Sep 30, 2021

NortheastReefer97 said:
Hi all, was cleaning my tank today and noticed that there were some brown spots under my toadstool and was wondering what it was? The stool has been closed since i got back yesterday and looks shiny like its going to shed.

More info: was away for a couple weeks with roommates looking after tank, my nutrients are really high nitrate 15ppm and phos 0.1, so im going to be doing a bunch of small water changes over the next week to get it down to normal but i’ve had high nutrients before and never the brown. Theyre not flatworms as they crumble away when i brushed one with a toothbrush, but theyre on pretty good and the flesh underneath looks compromised... im going to dip in revive to see if that helps, but any help identifying the problem would be greatly appreciated

Thats not a 'really high nitrate'. Your picture is a little unclear. Those leather coral can practically grow through anything. I would not be dipping, worrying, scraping, etc unless it looks the the coral is 'dying'. Thats my opinion. BTW - did you take the leather out of the water (which is how it appears) - if so - did it 'smell' like it ws dying?

NortheastReefer97 · Sep 30, 2021

MnFish1 said:
Thats not a 'really high nitrate'. Your picture is a little unclear. Those leather coral can practically grow through anything. I would not be dipping, worrying, scraping, etc unless it looks the the coral is 'dying'. Thats my opinion. BTW - did you take the leather out of the water (which is how it appears) - if so - did it 'smell' like it ws dying?

I know the pics not the best, but its reattached now and i don’t have an orange filter to get a less blue pic. Nitrates were higher than id like/ higher than usual, i knocked the frag off its spot cleaning just before the picture, so i dipped it anyways. Didn’t smell like dying softie so should be fine, was just worried being outta town and then seeing that. Especially because my favia colony looked absolutely terrible when i got back.

Edit: The brown stuff in question is kinda scaly looking and has ragged edges, is a light tan colour and in the one i brushed off had irritated underneath leaving a slightly pockmarked appearance

MetalMarinator · Jan 13, 2023

I have the same stuff. It’s orange/brown and looks like a growth that comes off when rubbed but, also, the flesh under is damaged. It looks like some kind of mold.