Toadstool leather and SPS

[rworegon]

I have a rather large Toadstool Leather Sarcophyton on one corner of my reef. I've had it for a long time and its getting rather large. I have been losing a few sps frags from my frag rack lately and I was wondering if it might a result of the toadstool releasing some kind of toxin into the water. There is a return that flows past the toadstool towards the end wall of the tank. This happens to be where I have a frag rack mounted and where I have been losing some sps. One was a green monti cap, I thought those things were bullet proof, a tricolor acro has lost most of its color, and a sailors warning milli bleached almost overnight. The only thing I can think of is that everything that bleached is directly downstream from the toadstool. Oh yea there is also a Joe The Coral acro very close that isn't dead but has almost no color to it.

Is it likely that this beautiful toadstool leather is poisoning my sps?

 

[gar732]

How is your alk? Any swings up or down lately? The toadstool does release a chemicals into the water column but from what I've read in the past it shouldn't kill sps but it does inhibit growth. Are you running carbon at all? It is recommended to run carbon to help lessen the effects of this chemical warfare. I've had a good sized lime green leather in my tank for some time and I've had success with sps while keeping the leather.

 

[rworegon]

I do run ROX8 carbon but haven't changed it in a while. The Joe THhe Coral Acro has never done well next to the toadstool. My alk is stable through top off with kalk. The sps everywhere else is doing well. I have red planet, sunset milli, caps, other tri-color, oregon tort, blue stag, some wild aussie acros, $500 efflows growing like weeds.

I really like the toadstool, addes texture and movement to the tank, plus my lawnmower blenny uses it as a lo9unge chair, but I will move it to my 39 cadlights cube if i have to. Thats full of rbta and euphelia.

 

[ritter6788]

I'm not saying it couldn't happen but I've always kept large leathers in with my sps and I've never had a problem. It's always been a water chemistry or pest issue if my sps look bad.

 

[evolved]

I'd change your carbon and see if you observe any improvement. It's certainly a possibility.

I know the old school SPS reefers are almost unanimous in that SPS and leathers are not friends.