dont see many cabbage leathers ?

Greybeard · Mar 26, 2018

I once had a problem that I'd always attributed to a cabbage leather. I can't say that with any certainty that the cabbage was guilty... but I've always thought so. My last big mixed reef, which I tore down over a decade ago, had a big toadstool and a big cabbage leather. When I started trying to grow staghorn acros, I noted slow growth and poor coloration. Had a friend tell me that many leathers, including most cabbage leathers, were known for releasing chemicals intended to help them compete with other corals, and that SPS wouldn't do well with these corals. He recommended that I start using carbon full time. I did so... and the coloration and growth of the staghorns increased. Now... was the carbon pulling out something that the leathers were producing? Or was it something else in my water that was causing the problem? Who knows.

This goes under the 'anecdotal' heading, for sure... I've avoided cabbages since, though other than this single experience, I really have no reason to do so.

These days, I run carbon fairly regularly anyway... I may pick up a nice cabbage and see how it does