How to remove leather from rock

[TCoach]

So, any suggestions on how to remove this leather from the rock? When I purchased it, it came with the rock since it had wedged into a hole. Im converting this main tank to a mostly SPS tank and will be moving the soft corals to my wife’s tank which comes out of fallow in a couple of weeks.

I’d love to remove the whole thing, but my guess is to just use sissors/bone cutters to cut the stock close to the rock. Ideas?

 

[Chrisv.]

I think you're be fine slicing it away cleanly with a razor blade and giving it a dip in an iodine/tank water bath, then putting it in the new tank. Scrape off the remaining tissue from the original rock to keep it from growing back.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

So, any suggestions on how to remove this leather from the rock? When I purchased it, it came with the rock since it had wedged into a hole. Im converting this main tank to a mostly SPS tank and will be moving the soft corals to my wife’s tank which comes out of fallow in a couple of weeks.

I’d love to remove the whole thing, but my guess is to just use sissors/bone cutters to cut the stock close to the rock. Ideas?

If you can get under the base, you may be able to pry it up. It will leave a little tissue there, but super glue over that area and no grow back. The leather should be fine from that, as long as you do not rip it to pieces in the process.

You can also take a sharp pair of scissors (cleaner cut) and cut it off as close to the rock as possible. Then use super glue to cover the rest of the base. For a large area like that, I would smush some sand into a second application of super glue to hide the super glue.

Lastly, if you can remove the rock, you can use cutters, small hammer and chisel (screwdriver) to just bust off a small area of hte rock where the leather is. This would be the best way to make sure all goes well and is less work in the long run.

 

[mfinn]

To give the leather coral the best chance at surviving, I would remove the rock from the tank and use a sharp wood chisel and hammer and break off the rock near the base of the leather.