Leather question

[BummersReef]

we are newbies and one of the first coral we got (3 weeks ago) was a little leather. He was ok for awhile but I think he's dead now -
I thought leathers were pretty hardy. Wondering if they are sensitive to high KH or calcium? our most recent water test showed kh was a little high as was calcium. We had just done a water change and he died the next day.
??
strange

 

[Reefing Madness]

How did it "die" It usually takes some time for a leather to die off, it disintegrates. They also look good, then shrivel up, then shed, and come back out. They may look like they are dead, but they are not. Got a pic of it? Water parameters?

 

[BummersReef]

How did it "die" It usually takes some time for a leather to die off, it disintegrates. They also look good, then shrivel up, then shed, and come back out. They may look like they are dead, but they are not. Got a pic of it? Water parameters?

I'm not home now but I'll get a pic and post asap. It has white areas on it that are spreading and it all shriveled with none of the little .. ummm ... feathers ... coming out. It would normally shrivel several times a day but always perk back up. will also post all the parameters we got yesterday. thank you!! (so much to learn, I love this hobby I really do)

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yea, they are pain in the butt coral, kinda like kids, if you tick them off, they can pout for awhile, but tend to come back with no issues. When they appear to die, they kinda start falling apart, pieces fall off, and it disintegrates.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Is it completely gone? If not, can you take a picture?

 

[Humblefish]

Leathers will not open, shrivel up and even "shed"... but that doesn't necessarily mean they're dead. Post a pic when you can.

I have a Toadstool, Devil's Hand and Fiji in my 29 gal frag tank, and all seem pretty tolerant of alk swings so long as I don't go > 11 dKH.

 

[BummersReef]

Here's a photo .. That's it in the middle
KH tested yesterday was at 12 ... Maybe that's it? But I just tested it and it's down to a little over 9 now.
Other parameters as tested yesterday:
Ammon and nitrite 0
Trace nitrate
Phosphate .25
Kh 12
Calcium 500
Salinity 1.026
We did a water change the night before all those levels were tested and cleaned skimmer if that might be important
It is for sure worse than it was this morning
Sorry photo so bad

 

[Humblefish]

It might just be stressed from the alk spike. BTW, what's up with all the GHA? Is this a new tank?

 

[BummersReef]

It might just be stressed from the alk spike. BTW, what's up with all the GHA? Is this a new tank?

Lol I thought you might mention the GHA! It is 10 weeks old ... We only added livestock 2 weeks ago .... Cuc and a few basic corals. Been thru the real ugly stage - half of the rock was live rock from LFS the other was dry reef saver. Had the diatom bloom weeks ago and only 2 rocks got the GHA. The leather is the only coral on this particularly bad piece of rock. It's on the down swing for sure. Have a little cyano but not much and that seems to be going away too
Other corals include Xenia and mushroom and they are super happy campers
We have total volume of 250 gallons with both sump and refug
Did we put corals in too soon? I bet we did .... Patience has a whole new meaning in this hobby
Carla

 

[njtiger aquariums]

I am no expert but a drop from 12 to 9 in your KH seems like a bad swing to me. Corals are very sensitive and swings like that can cause them to act up. How long has the leather been in your tank?

 

[BummersReef]

H

I am no expert but a drop from 12 to 9 in your KH seems like a bad swing to me. Corals are very sensitive and swings like that can cause them to act up. How long has the leather been in your tank?

he has been in there 2 weeks - never has looked very good. I think I went overboard on the seachem fusion dosing, I am finding all the tinkering kind of sparks my OCD! I have to learn to keep my hands out of the tank

 

[njtiger aquariums]

Its hard but the best thing I have learned is hands off and hands out. When I first started I was putting my hands in the tank almost every day for one reason or another. Now I try not to put my hands in the tank. Even when feeding my tanks seaweed I use a twolittlefishy mag clip so I don't need to reach in and pull the clip out (just slide it to the top)

Good luck with your leather and hopefully it turns around.

 

[Humblefish]

Lol I thought you might mention the GHA! It is 10 weeks old

Your tank is going through "the uglies" - a period of nuisance algae growth due to unstable parameters. Most new tanks go through this. Leathers are not "delicate corals" per se, but I probably would have waited for your system to mature a little more before adding one.