Leather wont open

[PeterEde]

I've had a sarcophyton for a few months now. It has never popped. I keep seeing it look like goose bumps but that is as far as it has gone.
Tank is 6 months old
NO3 22
NO2 .2
NH3 0
PH 8.2
KH 9

It does change colour and shrinks/expands but it wont open.
What am I missing

 

[Sharkbait19]

Pics?
Some of mine took many months before really opening.
What is phosphate at? They like to have a bit of that in the water.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

What fish do you have in your tank??? Nothing tastier than some good sarcophyton!

 

[flashsmith]

I have several large ones. In my experience they don't like alot of flow.For me at least they seem to do better and open in lower flow.

 

[PeterEde]

Pics?
Some of mine took many months before really opening.
What is phosphate at? They like to have a bit of that in the water.

PO4 is now at .1 as per my eyes on Salifert test

 

[PeterEde]

What fish do you have in your tank??? Nothing tastier than some good sarcophyton!

reef friendly. Although I did suspect my foxface ate my fireworks

 

[PeterEde]

I have several large ones. In my experience they don't like alot of flow.For me at least they seem to do better and open in lower flow.

Mine is bottom of tank directly under return and Nero3. It has flow but not a lot once it gets around

 

[vetteguy53081]

leathers do best at mid tank but more important is, they require medium/Good water flow and moderate light. If flow is inadequate, you will experience drooping, no polyps and even shedding
Also a little iron in the water

 

[PeterEde]

leathers do best at mid tank but more important is, they require medium/Good water flow and moderate light. If flow is inadequate, you will experience drooping, no polyps and even shedding
Also a little iron in the water

I have put it up off the sand on top of a rock. Hopefully it makes a difference.
Oddly my last ICP had 9ug/l Fe. Not sure where that has come from

 

[PeterEde]

My nitrates have jumped up from 18 to 29 and this is as close to open as this leather has ever been in my tank.

 

[Dbichler]

Looks like some algae on it. In my experience they won’t fully open with anything touching them including algae.

 

[Lyss]

Mine wouldn’t open all the way until I gave them more light and flow. I have one at the top of my tank right in the path of the wavemaker and it’s happy as can be.

I’m also convinced they could live in a toilet, so def give it some time. I dropped one of mine when it was still pretty new, and it cracked nearly in half on top — healed w/in like days and never acted weird. Recently the same one had a couple spots that looked like bacterial infection — it shed, popped out a pea-sized piece where the bacteria was, and is now healed. These corals literally amaze me.

 

[PeterEde]

Looks like some algae on it. In my experience they won’t fully open with anything touching them including algae.

That's only grown the last few days

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Hi Pete, So I’m still sticking with the possibility of a fish nipping at it which will keep it closed. You had mentioned your Foxface possibly killing another coral? Is there any way you can separate that fish for a couple of days? If you could that would solve the problem one way or another. The recent photo you posted appears to be a healthy specimen. One possible problem in the photo is the Euphillia to the left only an inch or so away. They have long sweeper tentacles that especially come out at night. If it’s stinging your leather each night there’s your issue.

 

[PeterEde]

Hi Pete, So I’m still sticking with the possibility of a fish nipping at it which will keep it closed. You had mentioned your Foxface possibly killing another coral? Is there any way you can separate that fish for a couple of days? If you could that would solve the problem one way or another. The recent photo you posted appears to be a healthy specimen. One possible problem in the photo is the Euphillia to the left only an inch or so away. They have long sweeper tentacles that especially come out at night. If it’s stinging your leather each night there’s your issue.

I have tried to keep it away from a xenia. So far I've not seen the hammer touch it. But I'll move the hammer and frogspawn further.

 

[Glenner’sreef]

I have tried to keep it away from a xenia. So far I've not seen the hammer touch it. But I'll move the hammer and frogspawn further.

Good move bud. Also if the hammer or frogspawn is hit by the current or flow, their sweeper tentacles will whip around like those ribbon excersises in the Olympics.