Help- Toadstool peeling / discolored on base (not shedding)

[cdw79]

I've had this big toadstool for several months now, got it from a local. It's gone through shedding several times so I'm familiar with what that's like. Today it had shed for probably the third time in a week and a half, so I gave it a closer look after I Turkey basted the mucus off the toadstool. I've seen this discoloration a bit on the lower stem, and I've seen something similar on several other large toadstools, but now it's crept up the entire back of the coral and has some patches near the top. The brownish discoloration is algae I think (been dealing with a mini breakout recently) but this progression doesn't look normal to me. I also saw what looked like peeling on the side facing the wall (first two pics) but the pics don't seem to capture it very well. This doesn't seem normal, and I'm not familiar with them shedding from the base or anything like that. What can I do, if anything?

Parameters-
pH- about 8, give or take .04 or so
Temp- 77.5 give or take .5
Ca- 477
Alk- 9.35
Mg- 1280
Phos 11 (Hanna)
Nitrate 10 ppm (based on the closest purple color comparison)

(Again I realize Nitrate and Phosphate are higher than ideal, working on that, but I'd be surprised if that is what caused this given softies are pretty resilient)

 

[sfin52]

I've had this big toadstool for several months now, got it from a local. It's gone through shedding several times so I'm familiar with what that's like. Today it had shed for probably the third time in a week and a half, so I gave it a closer look after I Turkey basted the mucus off the toadstool. I've seen this discoloration a bit on the lower stem, and I've seen something similar on several other large toadstools, but now it's crept up the entire back of the coral and has some patches near the top. The brownish discoloration is algae I think (been dealing with a mini breakout recently) but this progression doesn't look normal to me. I also saw what looked like peeling on the side facing the wall (first two pics) but the pics don't seem to capture it very well. This doesn't seem normal, and I'm not familiar with them shedding from the base or anything like that. What can I do, if anything?

Parameters-
pH- about 8, give or take .04 or so
Temp- 77.5 give or take .5
Ca- 477
Alk- 9.35
Mg- 1280
Phos 11 (Hanna)
Nitrate 10 ppm (based on the closest purple color comparison)

(Again I realize Nitrate and Phosphate are higher than ideal, working on that, but I'd be surprised if that is what caused this given softies are pretty resilient)

Looks like its making splits.

 

[cdw79]

Looks like its making splits.

@sfin52 Are you sure? It doesn't seem to be showing any indentations where a split would be happening, and that skin discoloration all over the place doesn't seem right to me. Light just came on and I see the polyps starting to extend but that skin condition seems more than just some shedding, no?

 

[sfin52]

I was looking at pic 1&2. Look like possible splitting. Pic 3 doesn't look right. @fishguy242 thoughts. Are you sure phosphate is 11. Nitrate is fine. 10-20 is a good number.
Was it laying on a rock?

 

[cdw79]

Yup- tested twice yesterday and got .11 and .12. I can go run another one now just to be sure.

I've always been a little anxious abut this toadstool admittedly- when I came to pick it up from the local guy, he neglected to mention it was stuck to his scape and a small rock , so he ripped off part of the base to get it off.... I did my usual dipping for a new coral but figured softies tend to be pretty bullet proof so didn't do more

I was anxious about it for weeks but it seemed to be ok and settled into the tank pretty well. I had one instance where it kept shedding multiple times in succession but moving it to more flow helped and it's been fine ever since, though I have seen the picture 1 / 2 look to a much smaller degree for awhile (just some scruff around the very base, for lack of a better word). I only noticed its progression today when it was closed in on itself before the lights came on.

The good news is it is now on that small rock plus another small ish rock that *should* be removable if I need to dip it in medicated water. I'm just so surprised as I have several other leather species doing great, and nothing about the light or flow have changed, and I'm at least generally within acceptable parameter ranges. Not sure what would have caused this unless it's just a slow progressing issue that perhaps was there from the beginning

 

[cdw79]

Update- phosphate test just finished, got .12 again, so I'd be pretty confident that's where I'm at.

For what it's worth, I went looking for other comparable threads and mine seems to look different- no hole in the crown or other indentation in the base, just this really thin almost mucus-esque peeling on that one side and the scaly skin looking growth that's especially pronounced on pic 3. So maybe, hopefully, it's not rotting at least?

 

[fishguy242]

hi ,up near cap possibly splitting ,
the line ?? if starts turning black ,and you see "fibers" would then cut away bad tissue.
jmo, mild dose iodine dip if have to cut, just a 10-15 second swish dip. and then SW swish dip before putting back in.
i normally don't dip a fresh cut myself.

@Eagle_Steve ??

 

[cdw79]

But would that explain the weird growth on the sides? That's my only real concern honestly. I just can't seem to find another example of this anywhere to get a sense if it's a bad sign. Haven't seen any of that dark decay or cap tissue coming off or anything like that

 

[fishguy242]

can you get us a pic under whites only ?

 

[cdw79]

Featuring my long nose hawkfish wondering what all the commotion is for lol. However, I also have noticed this (below). When I got the toadstool, the base had this kind unusual shape, like it had been taller at one point but kinda stuck itself to the rock it's on and the rock it got ripped off of. There is the little extension of the base down the very back- it was like that when I got it and was not the area that was ripped off. It was very thin and kinda looked like Swiss cheese lol- had these little bare spots with some tissue around, but it was very "clean," ie no brown spots where decay was happening. Now, interestingly, it's kinda dissipated and now it's kinda consolidated (?) to just being some thin tissue. There hasn't been / isn't now any of that brown rotting look, just kinda looks less stretched now. I have no idea if this has any significance at all, but I noticed it and figured I'd throw it in. Though I'm pretty sure this isn't rot- still got the same full color as the rest of the base hah / has

 

[cdw79]

Also, I wasn't able to replicate pic #3 because the leather has opened up a lot more and spread out, so apologies for the mediocre pictures here

 

[sfin52]

Update- phosphate test just finished, got .12 again, so I'd be pretty confident that's where I'm at.

For what it's worth, I went looking for other comparable threads and mine seems to look different- no hole in the crown or other indentation in the base, just this really thin almost mucus-esque peeling on that one side and the scaly skin looking growth that's especially pronounced on pic 3. So maybe, hopefully, it's not rotting at least?

.12 isn't bad. I thought you had 11 not .11. I could be areas that went get enough flow and the shed stayed attached.

 

[sfin52]

Looks like its attached to some detritus you should be able to gently blow that off.

Since it was attached to some rocks they can pull part of the leather off and make it split. This maybe what is going on in the latest pic.

 

[cdw79]

Yes, sorry, the number 12 came up when the Hanna egg gave the final result- I always mess up where the decimal goes with the various parameters lol

So it is on the opposite end of the tank from the powerhead that it gets flow from (tank is 36 inches long so call it 28-30 inches away) but it's getting hit almost head on. The polyps extend like you'd expect and you can see the wave motions on them. Do you think even more flow would be needed? To be fair its in the back corner of my system so it's possible that the view in pics 1-2 in the original post aren't getting TONS of flow, but pic 3 growth is where there is arguably the most flow, so idk

 

[cdw79]

So I tried giving it a little spritz of water / a little rub to see if that might tell anything. For one, the sheets that came off were a white ish color, some a little more tan (which makes sense given the pics I think). They left very white area (see second and third pic below, shadows made it hard to see so third pic is with the flashlight under whites). The white sports in pic 1 felt less mucus-y than the normal coral, but the newly white spots didn't have a noticeable difference. Obviously this is all very unscientific but just trying to see if any of the details might help.

I also couldn't quite tell if my lightly rubbing on the base made what was colored tissue turn white, but I don't think so- pretty sure it was what was left when the stuff from the previous pictures came off. Just a little anxious because the coating that came off from that off colored part looked thicker than just mucus

 

[sfin52]

I would say opening and full polyps is a good sign. If you wanted to dip it just to make sure that would be ok. Just follow instructions.

 

[cdw79]

Would that be an iodine dip? Or is something else better? Anything I should specifically look out for going forward?

 

[cdw79]

Something I'm also realizing is a bit of a pattern is that two spots on the edge of the crown are not opening at all. These two spots are close to where the growth in the original picture 3 was and they also seem a little discolored relative to the rest of the coral. I looked back at a video from a month ago and the rest of the polyps are only extended maybe half the length they were then. I know there's definitely an element of me being generally anxious here, but I can't help but feel like something isn't right

 

[cdw79]

This morning I saw this- more shedding (maybe looks a little less peel-y) but over the affected area I mentioned last night, pieces of the actual crown are seemingly coming off too? The underlying part is the same white color as parts of the base have been turning, and this is happening right where the polyps weren't opening. The rest of the base is back to having those sheets of mucus / flesh like it had been originally too...

 

[sfin52]

This morning I saw this- more shedding (maybe looks a little less peel-y) but over the affected area I mentioned last night, pieces of the actual crown are seemingly coming off too? The underlying part is the same white color as parts of the base have been turning, and this is happening right where the polyps weren't opening. The rest of the base is back to having those sheets of mucus / flesh like it had been originally too...

Its shedding again. Is there another coral bothering it. Are you dosing anything?