Leather

[reef-nut]

Here is a pic of my green polyped leather. Why is he sad? I have a thread on, titled filter material, that has my specs. Please help?

 

[reef-lover]

leathers like high flow and high light, put him at the top off the tank. also, hard to tell from your pic, but it might be shedding, they close up for a couple of days, and shed a layer of skin.

 

[reef-nut]

He is not shedding, he already did that last week. The polyps will not get more than maybe 1/8 inch tall. There is a lot of flow and he is as close to the top as I can get him.

 

[Russellaqua]

How many other leathers and soft corals do you keep in the same tank and how big is your tank? Leathers and soft corals compete in a chemical warfare (known as allelopathy) and that can cause some to not look happy. Your toadstool may also be shedding. Look for a waxy skin peeling off the cap. This is normal and it may look terrible for a few days. It's how the coral cleans itself of debris and algae.

 

[reef-nut]

There is only the one leather. I also have 3 zoo rocks and about 70 ricordea polyps. I have 2 perculas and a small sailfin tang and about 30 lbs. of LR. Its a 24 gallon aquapod.

 

[Russellaqua]

Wow, 70 Ricordea! You bioload for the tank is probably at its max, and the sailfin might want more room in the future. I wouldn't discount the possibility of allelopathy here. That's a lot of soft coral in a small space. Wait a few days and see if it perks back up. I may just be shedding. If not you can always increase the amount of carbon filtration you do. ViaAqua makes a PolyReactor which you can place carbon in. It comes with a pump and all the plumbing you need. However, this would only treat the problem if it's allelopathy, not cure it. You'd either have to remove some of the softies or continually use and maintain the reactor. Hope this helps. BTW, PolyReactors are fairly inexpensive and can be had for ~$40. Most online retailers or LFS either have them or can get them for you.