My Devil's Hand has gone madd! Should I frag or forget about it?

[I'm a natural blue]

At least I was told he is a Devil's Hand?

So before I get ripped to pieces about the state of this guy I should tell you his history. My father owned a 75g reef which he decided he didn't want anymore. Well, he ended up gifting it to me and I was stoked! Woo hoo! I haven't had a tank in twenty years and even then it was a FO small salt. I always wanted a reef tank and things really have come a long way in 20 yrs. Anyway, this was back in August or so. My father lives in Florida and I am in Louisiana. It took me 2 months to get to Florida to get the tank. My father had dismantled the tank and put about 40lbs of the live rock into a big black Rubbermaid bucket with a power head, all of the macro algae from his fuge, (only natural lighting from the window) and the rest of the 130lbs of live rock into other buckets, dry. So here is where this guy comes in. He was on one of the pieces of live rock that was in the wet bucket for that two month period. He looked this way when I got him and as you can see he still does. I got the tank up and running and cycled and put him in 11/29/15 (he was still alive from what I could tell!) about one third of the way up from the bottom. The only "action" I have seen from him is swelling/puffing up on occasion, sliming and growing downward if you will (too much light too soon?). So I moved him to the bottom which is where he is now. Still no action. He has no black spots, he is not soft or mushy at all. His "fingers' have begun to look a bit more yellow at times but nothing noteworthy. Twice I have seen pock marks on his surface but they go away. I'm guessing this is where his polyps extend from? I have 3 A150w Kessil 's Ocean blue lights and LED moon lights. Same lighting my father had, I didn't change anything as far as that.. My parameters have been stable since the cycle.
Tested on 1/2/16
SG: 1.025
dKH: 9 (All API)
Cal:440
pH:8.0
Amonia, trate, trite, phos: 0
Using Ro/di, Salinity Salt
Reef Octo 150 skim
35ish gal sump with fuge
I do not have a mag, strontium or Iodine test kit yet.
I've tried dosing Fuel, and that only gave me an algae outbreak.

What would you do with him? He seems to be hanging on but just remains madd! Should I frag him? Leave him alone or pull him and call it quits? Will he rebuild his zooxanthellae? Is he too far gone? Any suggestions are appreciated!!

 

[ritter6788]

I just leave it. Make sure your water is right and the coral will adjust and open on its own. Those leathers are very resilient.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

I just leave it. Make sure your water is right and the coral will adjust and open on its own. Those leathers are very resilient.

Thank you, Ritter. I guess I'm just being impatient as he has been this way for months now. However, I am hanging on to hope for the guy! Tonight he has puffed up quite a bit. Hope this is a good sign.

 

[human]

Give it time, it'll eventually open up, if it would have died it would have a while ago.

 

[Dtackett]

yeah, sorry didn't even read your post. as soon as I saw the pic I knew what was going on. its getting ready to shed. they do it to grow, when theyre stressed, when they need to clean themselves, when you sneeze, when someone stubs their toe 2 states away.... I think you get the point lol itll be fine, just leave it be. if it doesn't open up after a few days to a week, then you should be only slightly concerned. you could toss that leather in a blender, make devils soup and pour it in your tank and it would survive.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

yeah, sorry didn't even read your post. as soon as I saw the pic I knew what was going on. its getting ready to shed. they do it to grow, when theyre stressed, when they need to clean themselves, when you sneeze, when someone stubs their toe 2 states away.... I think you get the point lol itll be fine, just leave it be. if it doesn't open up after a few days to a week, then you should be only slightly concerned. you could toss that leather in a blender, make devils soup and pour it in your tank and it would survive.

D...read my post. You might have a different opinion. He has been this way for months. LOL I'm still open to suggestions.

 

[Dtackett]

D...read my post. You might have a different opinion. He has been this way for months. LOL I'm still open to suggestions.

lol if that's the case, hes not happy. give him moderate light and moderate indirect flow. I had one like that after a move. he got a little ripped up and even though he healed he wouldn't open. I put him in a different area, and he opened about a week later and lived happily ever after.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

lol if that's the case, hes not happy. give him moderate light and moderate indirect flow. I had one like that after a move. he got a little ripped up and even though he healed he wouldn't open. I put him in a different area, and he opened about a week later and lived happily ever after.

So last night after lights out I noticed some Digitate Hydroids all around him. Now I am contemplating a different approach. Thoughts?

 

[I'm a natural blue]

So last night after lights out I noticed some Digitate Hydroids all around him. Now I am contemplating a different approach. Thoughts?

 

[3dees]

looks like it's near the bottom of the tank. how is the flow. mine is at the top under led's and good flow. it doesn't look like it's dead, just not happy. try moving it to better flow and light.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

looks like it's near the bottom of the tank. how is the flow. mine is at the top under led's and good flow. it doesn't look like it's dead, just not happy. try moving it to better flow and light.
He is at the bottom, @3dees. I started him mid tank because he had been without good lighting for so long then moved him mid tank because he started to creep away from the lights. I can move him again however, since discovering there are digitate hydriods right next to him I am wondering if they are stinging him adding insult to injury. They are so tiny I dont think I can successfully remove them. I am really contemplating cutting him off the rock and starting him over on a new one. Decisions, decisions. Thoughts on that approach?

 

[I'm a natural blue]

@Lionfish Lair ....This guy is a whole separate mystery in his "shyness". As you probably read I discovered the digitate hydroids next to him. Stinging him maybe? Thought's?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Usually digitates don't concern me, but that would be the next step in trouble shooting if it's them. I'm actually not up on what people are doing to get them out of their tanks, but I would start there. Something is ticking them off. Do you have other leathers in there?

 

[I'm a natural blue]

Usually digitates don't concern me, but that would be the next step in trouble shooting if it's them. I'm actually not up on what people are doing to get them out of their tanks, but I would start there. Something is ticking them off. Do you have other leathers in there?

Nope. I have GSP, Torch, and a 9 polyp frag of zoas. Skunk cleaner, snails, red and blue leg crabs, 2 ocellaris.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

OK, so it's not allelopathy.

It probably lost all of it's zooxanthellae when in the bucket. If you are starting to see a yellow tint coming back, that is a good sign it's starting to recover.

 

[I'm a natural blue]

OK, so it's not allelopathy.

It probably lost all of it's zooxanthellae when in the bucket. If you are starting to see a yellow tint coming back, that is a good sign it's starting to recover.

I think the zooxanthellae is the initial issue also. Thank you for your input.