Devils hand leathers

[Zoa_Fanatic]

So I was just gifted two small, what I believe to be, devils hand leather corals. Are these the ones that give off chemicals that stunt the growth of other corals? Forgive my ignorance but leathers, outside of toadstools, are foreign to me.

 

[Timfish]

Many (if not all) corals release growth inhibitors not just devil's finger. Just do your 20% - 30% monthly water changes and don't let them get to be morethan ~10% of the total coral biomass. The big problem with devil's finger is they can grow and fast and are self fragging and drop off fingers that compete for space.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Many (if not all) corals release growth inhibitors not just devil's finger. Just do your 20% - 30% monthly water changes and don't let them get to be morethan ~10% of the total coral biomass. The big problem with devil's finger is they can grow and fast and are self fragging and drop off fingers that compete for space.

I plan to trade the fingers in for credit at the LFS. I’m in a biocube so finding and grabbing them won’t be an issue. I also don’t like letting anything get out of control large. Is this like my toadstool where I can just chop it up with a blade and it’ll grow? Should I run carbon? I already have a toadstool but it doesn’t bother anyone.

 

[Timfish]

Yup. FWIW your toadstool is releasing growth inhibitors too, if your on top of your maintnenance you shouldn't have any problems withthe devil's finger/hand either.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Yup. FWIW your toadstool is releasing growth inhibitors too, if your on top of your maintnenance you shouldn't have any problems withthe devil's finger/hand either.

I keep my tank on top shape. I’m kinda iffy on the finger leather now though. Should I just get rid of it to not have to worry about these issues? It was free so I’m not gonna miss it. I love my LPS and zoa more than leathers anyway

Edit: is this like an overnight issue? Like one day I may wake up and find my tank nuked? Or is this a slow burn kinda thing?

 

[cconnolly]

I’ve had a devils hand in my BioCube for probably 7 months. No issues and I know many others who have them

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I’ve had a devils hand in my BioCube for probably 7 months. No issues and I know many others who have them

Do you keep LPS? I have hammers and a torch in mine

 

[cconnolly]

Do you keep LPS? I have hammers and a torch in mine

It’s a true mixed reef with frogspawn, Duncan’s, candy cane trumpets, assorted mushrooms, birds nest and a few others. All seem happy and healthy although the devils hand hasn’t shed in awhile. Here is a pic. Not a pristine tank by any means but we are happy and the inhabitants are doing well

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

It’s a true mixed reef with frogspawn, Duncan’s, candy cane trumpets, assorted mushrooms, birds nest and a few others. All seem happy and healthy although the devils hand hasn’t shed in awhile. Here is a pic. Not a pristine tank by any means but we are happy and the inhabitants are doing well

I think we have different definitions of pristine. That is amazing.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

It’s a true mixed reef with frogspawn, Duncan’s, candy cane trumpets, assorted mushrooms, birds nest and a few others. All seem happy and healthy although the devils hand hasn’t shed in awhile. Here is a pic. Not a pristine tank by any means but we are happy and the inhabitants are doing well

Is that a coral banded shrimp in there? Does he mess with your corals? I want one bad but I’m afraid he’ll mess with my Zoa.

 

[cconnolly]

Is that a coral banded shrimp in there? Does he mess with your corals? I want one bad but I’m afraid he’ll mess with my Zoa.

Yeah that’s a coral banded shrimp. He has gotten quite large and moves pretty readily around the tank. It has a ton of personality and is very active so it’s a win for us. I only have a tiny patch of Zoas and they seem fine. The CBS walks all over the corals but none of them seem to have an issue with it. Occasionally it will chase off a fish that tries to hang out in its cave but other than that no issues.

We did have a mysterious fish death of one of our pavo damsels. I think it was fighting with the other Pavo damsel or our clowns were messing with it. Never found the body so assumption is the CUC ate the remains. It’s possible the CBS picked him off while sleeping but I don’t think that was the case.

 

[Timfish]

I keep my tank on top shape. I’m kinda iffy on the finger leather now though. Should I just get rid of it to not have to worry about these issues? It was free so I’m not gonna miss it. I love my LPS and zoa more than leathers anyway

Edit: is this like an overnight issue? Like one day I may wake up and find my tank nuked? Or is this a slow burn kinda thing?

Depending on growth it's a slow, slow burn and trimming as needed is easy to do with these animals.

 

[sfin52]

Many (if not all) corals release growth inhibitors not just devil's finger. Just do your 20% - 30% monthly water changes and don't let them get to be morethan ~10% of the total coral biomass. The big problem with devil's finger is they can grow and fast and are self fragging and drop off fingers that compete for space.

Truth and use activated carbon.

 

[MaxTremors]

So I was just gifted two small, what I believe to be, devils hand leather corals. Are these the ones that give off chemicals that stunt the growth of other corals? Forgive my ignorance but leathers, outside of toadstools, are foreign to me.

Pretty sure those are toadstools. The way you can tell the difference is on the edges of the top part, toadstools have a hard border where the polyps don’t wrap around to the underside of the top part of the coral, devil’s hand has polyps that sort of wrap around to the underside of the lobes. I feel like I’m not explaining this very well, hopefully you understand what I’m trying to describe.

IME, all leathers can stunt the growth of other corals (mostly stony corals), but this can be mitigated by running some carbon.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Pretty sure those are toadstools. The way you can tell the difference is on the edges of the top part, toadstools have a hard border where the polyps don’t wrap around to the underside of the top part of the coral, devil’s hand has polyps that sort of wrap around to the underside of the lobes. I feel like I’m not explaining this very well, hopefully you understand what I’m trying to describe.

IME, all leathers can stunt the growth of other corals (mostly stony corals), but this can be mitigated by running some carbon.

I’ve got a toadstool and they look different but I’m not sure. The guy I got them from had a bunch of leathers and it wasn’t quite clear which one had dropped them. I’m fairly certain they came from the finger leather though.

i do know what you mean about the toadstool. Mine doesn’t have any polyps on the sides or under the bell

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Pretty sure those are toadstools. The way you can tell the difference is on the edges of the top part, toadstools have a hard border where the polyps don’t wrap around to the underside of the top part of the coral, devil’s hand has polyps that sort of wrap around to the underside of the lobes. I feel like I’m not explaining this very well, hopefully you understand what I’m trying to describe.

IME, all leathers can stunt the growth of other corals (mostly stony corals), but this can be mitigated by running some carbon.

I’ve also got a protein skimmer going full blast and my understanding is this will remove teepenes to some degree and keep the tank safe

 

[Sharkbait19]

One of the dominant corals in my 13.5 is leathers, of all types.
The growth inhibitors seem to mainly affect other leathers, but I haven’t noticed much if a problem. If anything it keeps the growth manageable.