Why are leathers so hard to find?

[Sharkbait19]

I won't buy anything that's not attached to rock.
Just too many ways for things to go wrong.

I agree, unless it’s an LPS that just goes in the sandbed like a wall euphillia, a coral should be established to its base and completely healed

 

[Crashnt24]

I super glue my toadstool babies to frag plugs. Easiest way to attach for me

 

[sp1187]

I got my baby pink nep from Marine Farmers. They look like they're in stock right now there.

how fast a grower is this?

 

[danieyella]

how fast a grower is this?

Slloooowwwww

 

[Justin_Casper]

how fast a grower is this?

I’ve had my Pink Nepthea from UC for about a year. It’s gone from approx 1.5” to about 5” over that time. Not the fastest growing softy.

 

[Bill Urbanski]

I saw unique corals had a pink nepthea that I want SO bad but it’s sold out just frustrating that there are zoas and mushrooms galore available but leathers are so inconsistently available!

I just got a piece from unique corals. Hopefully it grows well.

 

[Bill Urbanski]

I’ve had my Pink Nepthea from UC for about a year. It’s gone from approx 1.5” to about 5” over that time. Not the fastest growing softy.

I just got a piece from UC. It's amazing how bright pink this is without light. The lights kinda take away from the beauty of this piece.

 

[jshaw1980]

I have a Kenya Tree that drops branches like crazy, unfortunately have nowhere for them and end up throwing them out..

 

[jshaw1980]

I have a Kenya Tree that drops branches like crazy, unfortunately have nowhere for them and end up throwing them out..

 

[Bill Urbanski]

I have a Kenya Tree that drops branches like crazy, unfortunately have nowhere for them and end up throwing them out..

Im
Sure a local store would take them

 

[Mickeyt1reef]

No one answered the question, "Why are leathers so hard to find?". I feel the same way. Softies, leathers, colts etc use to be every where and fairly inexpensive. Now I rarely see them. All about acros and zoas now days. I can't help but think maybe one of the bans is behind it, however; as stated above they seem like they would be easy to aquaculture.

 

[jshaw1980]

Im
Sure a local store would take them

I’ve always thought of it as a lower end coral and didn’t think there would be much interest. I will def let my LFSs know and see if there’s any interest. Thanks for the idea!!

 

[N-A-S-O]

If someone could find a way to manipulate their colors with LEDs and come up with stupid names you would find leather corals everywhere.

 

[hds4216]

Softies

Softies Softies, also known as soft coral, contain a wide variety of different corals. Softies are generally easy to care for, require low to moderate flow, low to moderate lighting and can be placed throughout your aquarium.

aquasd.com

AquaSD has some bright green Aussie crown leathers in stock. Is that what you're looking for OP?

 

[JumboShrimp]

To the OP’s point, I walked entirely around Reef-a-Palooza in Orlando a couple years back— finding a leather was like finding a hen’s tooth.

 

[fish farmer]

No one answered the question, "Why are leathers so hard to find?". I feel the same way. Softies, leathers, colts etc use to be every where and fairly inexpensive. Now I rarely see them. All about acros and zoas now days. I can't help but think maybe one of the bans is behind it, however; as stated above they seem like they would be easy to aquaculture.

Yep. Back in the early 2000's that's what you saw for sale, by the late 2000's my local reefers would give that stuff away...if they could. I've occasionally looked online and at LFS for sinularia/sarcophyton and rarely ones that interest me like I did years ago.

They are generally boring in color, can grow huge and become shade trees, can release lots of mucus, need I say more. It is more profitable/trendy/easy to hack up a favia, zoa colony or other pretty encruster, glue it to a frag plug and sent it away, that can be done in a days time.

 

[Stillahobbyist]

I have been having the same issue as well. Many reefers are interested in Euphyllias and Acros compared to the softies. I have been lucky to find some gems at my LFS and hobbyists near me. For the rare ones like the Japanese pink nepthea and Stereonephthya, I bought from Unique corals and Marine Farmers. I think it all depends on what you are looking for. I have gotten lucky and bought colonies of Rasta leather, Aussie Sinularia, and Bali Xenia all locally. The LFS near me seem to have a small variety of leathers and other softies but I do go weekly to see if any new items pop up.

As far as to "Why it is hard" to find leathers, I believe it has to do with the demand and the colors that they come in. The main colors I have seen are green and pink. The yellow leathers (Tonga and Fiji) always seem a bit harder to find. I'm still on the hunt for a Fiji Yellow

 

[Just John]

There are a few leathers at https://www.liveaquaria.com. They have fuzzy lobo finger coral, which is really cool and hard to find. And some nice toadstool and finger corals here: https://www.aquacorals.com

 

[dough]

To the OP’s point, I walked entirely around Reef-a-Palooza in Orlando a couple years back— finding a leather was like finding a hen’s tooth.

I’m headed to Orlando and I anticipate seeing nothing but named SPS and LPS for hundreds of dollars.

 

[danieyella]

I’m headed to Orlando and I anticipate seeing nothing but named SPS and LPS for hundreds of dollars.

That was definitely my experience the last time I went.