Identify, if you can!

Seth Francis · Feb 12, 2018

So I picked up this neat little coral about 2 months ago. I was told that it was a “finger leather”, but I really don’t believe this is true. When I first got it in my QT it opened up and was a beautiful blackish- purplish- peachy color with a main stem and branch pattern. After 2 weeks in QT I put it in the display and it has NOT be happy since. I think the main difference is the light, the QT has a cheap light that doesn’t really do much other then replicate ‘okay, it’s 9am! You should have light now!’ ‘Okay is 8 PM, goodnight!’. I’ve tried a couple places around the display and this seems to be the place where it’s opened up the most so I stuck him there.

NOOOOO idea what it is, any help???

It’s attached on a small piece of rock that I epoxied (sloppily at the moment) to a rock in the DT. The base of the coral has this fibrous coating on the outside, it feels similar to hay or staw but very small, it acts kind of like a flexible bark. The rest of the coral is soft and does feel like a leather coral.

Eric23 · Feb 12, 2018

Pics would help

Seth Francis · Feb 12, 2018

Apparently the images didn’t want to attach to the post

Seth Francis said:
So I picked up this neat little coral about 2 months ago. I was told that it was a “finger leather”, but I really don’t believe this is true. When I first got it in my QT it opened up and was a beautiful blackish- purplish- peachy color with a main stem and branch pattern. After 2 weeks in QT I put it in the display and it has NOT be happy since. I think the main difference is the light, the QT has a cheap light that doesn’t really do much other then replicate ‘okay, it’s 9am! You should have light now!’ ‘Okay is 8 PM, goodnight!’. I’ve tried a couple places around the display and this seems to be the place where it’s opened up the most so I stuck him there.

NOOOOO idea what it is, any help???

29bonsaireef · Feb 12, 2018

Whatever it is, it looks dead. Are those white worms moving around? They could be eating it.. I would get it out of your tank.

Seth Francis · Feb 12, 2018

29bonsaireef said:
Whatever it is, it looks dead. Are those white worms moving around? They could be eating it.. I would get it out of your tank.

They’re not worms, they don’t move. It’s something attached to the coral and it’s not dead, It still responds to touch.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h · Feb 12, 2018

Those are exposed sclerites (soft coral skeleton) from the tissue receding. It's in really bad shape; probably too far gone to heal, unfortunatley...

Seth Francis · Feb 12, 2018

S-t-r-e-t-c-h said:
Those are exposed sclerites (soft coral skeleton) from the tissue receding. It's in really bad shape; probably too far gone to heal, unfortunatley...

Thank you! I haven’t been able to find out anything about what that was!
I know its not in good shape at all. I’m not sure what did it in, I use water out of my DT for my QT so there shouldn’t have been a parameter change. The only difference is the light and amount of water flow.

Macdaddynick1 · Feb 12, 2018

If I were to take a guess, I would say that it’s some type of leather or to be exact a Kenya tree. It still might come back, because they are very hardy. The problem is your tank looks brand new, judging by the rock behind the coral. So you might want to check your parameters, and make sure everything is in order.

johntdaballa · Feb 12, 2018

Looks like urchins spines. Looks crazy as hell. Wish I could take a guess

S-t-r-e-t-c-h · Feb 12, 2018

Seth Francis said:
Thank you! I haven’t been able to find out anything about what that was!
I know its not in good shape at all. I’m not sure what did it in, I use water out of my DT for my QT so there shouldn’t have been a parameter change. The only difference is the light and amount of water flow.

I'm honestly wondering if it was a non-photosynthetic coral. It's hard to tell at this point, but the colors you described weren't typical of a leather coral. Google "dendronepthea" and see if you spot anything that looks like the coral when you got it...

Labridaedicted · Feb 12, 2018

Like s-t-r-e-t-c-h said, that looks like dendronepthea that's dying. It's an non photosynthetic coral that has a pretty poor track record in tanks not designed around NPS. Dendro usually has those really large sclerites

Seth Francis · Feb 12, 2018

S-t-r-e-t-c-h said:
I'm honestly wondering if it was a non-photosynthetic coral. It's hard to tell at this point, but the colors you described weren't typical of a leather coral. Google "dendronepthea" and see if you spot anything that looks like the coral when you got it...

Yes! The first image that came up was VERY similar to the colors of this

Seth Francis · Feb 12, 2018

Macdaddynick1 said:
If I were to take a guess, I would say that it’s some type of leather or to be exact a Kenya tree. It still might come back, because they are very hardy. The problem is your tank looks brand new, judging by the rock behind the coral. So you might want to check your parameters, and make sure everything is in order.

Nah, my parameters are all in check. I rescaped and did an upgrade to the sump size and did a massive water change in the process. After that it triggered some a small diatom outbreak again, it’s all under control though. Parameters are all close to ideal

tdileo · Feb 12, 2018

It’s really unfortunate dendronepthea is considered impossible to keep alive by all but literally a handful of people. I have only heard of 1 or 2 people keeping them alive. It’s believed need constant food in order to live, and enough food for that would foul your water super quickly.

Jr'sReef · Feb 12, 2018

Maybe a gorgonian? I have had a few that the area in which it rubs against something or near the fragging site, the tissue necrosis looks just like that.

James Johnson · Feb 13, 2018

It's NPS, I believe common name would be carnation, impossible or to keep

Hans-Werner · Feb 14, 2018

Looks like some kind of dead branching leather or soft coral, maybe Sinularia or Dendronephthya.

Seth Francis · Feb 14, 2018

tdileo said:
It’s really unfortunate dendronepthea is considered impossible to keep alive by all but literally a handful of people. I have only heard of 1 or 2 people keeping them alive. It’s believed need constant food in order to live, and enough food for that would foul your water super quickly.

Oh okay, thanks for the info! I appreciate it!

nano reef · May 9, 2020

Seth Francis said:
So I picked up this neat little coral about 2 months ago. I was told that it was a “finger leather”, but I really don’t believe this is true. When I first got it in my QT it opened up and was a beautiful blackish- purplish- peachy color with a main stem and branch pattern. After 2 weeks in QT I put it in the display and it has NOT be happy since. I think the main difference is the light, the QT has a cheap light that doesn’t really do much other then replicate ‘okay, it’s 9am! You should have light now!’ ‘Okay is 8 PM, goodnight!’. I’ve tried a couple places around the display and this seems to be the place where it’s opened up the most so I stuck him there.

NOOOOO idea what it is, any help???

It’s attached on a small piece of rock that I epoxied (sloppily at the moment) to a rock in the DT. The base of the coral has this fibrous coating on the outside, it feels similar to hay or staw but very small, it acts kind of like a flexible bark. The rest of the coral is soft and does feel like a leather coral.

Does it come out of a pod like a sun coral. I am wanting to buy one marked dendronepthea after that it says dendro. I think its a dendrophyllia. They are like suncorals and pop out of a tube looking casing. That what the pic online show from unique coarls and Ihave a giftcard and want to order, they are closed today and nothing lasts long ontheier site. It has 3 pods for 60 buckx. I iwsh iy were open iin the pic but do these corals pop out of small pods?