Metabolic phases? Or just parameter instability??

[Walt71100]

See the picture below.

I have a leather, and another SPS coral which I don't know the name of, but it has numerous branches and can be seen in this picture right above the leather. Both have retracted their tentacles and gone into a quasi-hibernation mode for the last two days. I've seen this once before with the SPS coral, and it lasted about a week and a half, and then it came out and has been in full bloom until tow days ago.

The interesting thing about the SPS is that the last time this happened the right half turned the lightish blue that you can see from the photo and hibernated, this time it's the left half, making me think it may be some kind of normal cycle.

I keep my water parameters pretty stable and very near optimal, although I do it by hand, rather than using a doser, so small swings I suppose are possible (I usually dose to three times a week). Everything else in the tank has been looking great.

Any ideas what's going on with the leather and the other SPS?

 

[Tahoe61]

May I please see an image straight on the front panel of the tank.
Probably mistaken but I am not seeing any small polyp corals/sps in that image.
I see soft corals/octocorals.
Some soft corals such as leathers/sarcophyton/toadstools, close and slough/shed a waxing coating. The corals typically stay closed until the coating is completely removed. Increasing flow can be of assistance.

 

[Walt71100]

May I please see an image straight on the front panel of the tank.
Probably mistaken but I am not seeing any small polyp corals/sps in that image.
I see soft corals/octocorals.
Some soft corals such as leathers/sarcophyton/toadstools, close and slough/shed a waxing coating. The corals typically stay closed until the coating is completely removed. Increasing flow can be of assistance.

Attached is a picture showing a front view of the tank.

I'm amazed, because between the 20 minutes of taking the first and second picture, I see the white branchy looking coral (which had half of it in that light blue phase/state), now looking normal like the other half of it. It sounds like it's not an SPS, I have yet to learn the proper naming and classification of these corals.

In any case, the leather is still shriveled up...

Thanks and advance for your comments.

Walt

 

[Walt71100]

Attached is a picture showing a front view of the tank.

I'm amazed, because between the 20 minutes of taking the first and second picture, I see the white branchy looking coral (which had half of it in that light blue phase/state), now looking normal like the other half of it. It sounds like it's not an SPS, I have yet to learn the proper naming and classification of these corals.

In any case, the leather is still shriveled up...

Thanks and advance for your comments.

Walt

P. S. I adjusted the lighting to make this photo show up better, by turning down the blue, which is why it looks different from the first photo.

 

[Tahoe61]

Thanks Walt for the newer image. Nice mixed reef you have going there. Beautiful Haddoni anemones.

Yes those are soft corals/octocorals, this coral type does not produce the typical skeletal structure as do stony corals.
The link below list some of the more common soft corals and husbandry.
It's not uncommon for soft corals to open and completely close. Always check water chemistry should corals remain closed for prolonged periods.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=597+600

Stony corals are comprised of small polyp coral/ SPS and large polyp corals/LPS.
Sps have tiny small polyps, such as Acropora, Montipora..... LPS, have a large polyp head such as Hammer Corals, your Torch Corals.

 

[Walt71100]

Thanks for that information, and the helpful link. One other relevant factor I should mention is that a few days ago I extended the lighting time from about 9 hours per day to about 10 hours a day (not including a half-hour ramp up from 0 to 100% in the morning, and a half hour ramp down in the evening). I'm concerned that maybe too much light, and I should move them towards a corner of the tank where there is less light intensity.

I'll post another picture in a couple days (or sooner if things change significantly).

 

[Tahoe61]

What lighting type?

 

[Walt71100]

It's pretty much a no-name brand from China.

The label has some details though, and here's how I have it mounted:

 

[Walt71100]

By the way, I moved the leather to the back left corner of the tank so it's partially shaded, so it's not visible in this photo. Neither is the anemone, this morning has he moved to the back of the tank under one of the rocks. I'm trying to find a new home for him because he moves around too much. He ate my Mandren Golby a few days ago, which I'm still getting over. I didn't see it happen, but it's the only place he could've went.

In fact, I've been wanting to post in the live stock trading section in this website so I can move him out of my tank, but I don't have the reputation score yet to do that... So for now I'm building up my post count until I can post there.

 

[Walt71100]

I said I'd post an update on the health of this leather, so here's the follow up: It has taken this long for the leather to return to a semi-normal looking state. No changes were made in the tank, except moving the leather into a much less lit area...