Leather experts !!! issues!!!

[justforfun]

well my leather has not had any polyp out in the last 2 weeks...
it has been building a little bit of red algae on its surface so i had been sucking it off
nothing has changed in tank parameters in 2 months...
the little tyree leather right next to him has been out entire time
420 ppm cal
but then i come home today after work ( i check on my tank everyday at noon) and the coral has polyp about 3/4 extend....they are skinny....but 1/4 of it is covered with a slime layer i can see the polyp open under the layer.....What is going on and should i suck it off & dip coral in iodine?....anybody with leather propagation exp. or knowledge please help
125 ppm alk
1400 ppm mag
o nitrates
0 phosphates
1.026 salinity

....please move to right section of forum

 

[justforfun]

 

[Bosco83]

Sounds pretty normal to me.

 

[justforfun]

2 weeks with no polyp exstension sounds normal..........to who ?????

 

[IPisces]

Actually it happens sometimes. I have a toadstool that went a couple weeks without polyping once. My tyree also went a week or so without polyping. Give it a little more flow. Keep it blown off. It might be sluffing off an outer layer.

 

[Peppie]

My leathers some times do this also, but not for two weeks straight.A couple of days yes.
I agree with Ipisces Add more flow. It will aide in the sluffing

 

[Faciosity]

Soft corals naturally do this to clean themselves. If they get dirty or injured they will suck in and slowly shed off an outer layer. Usually they come out bigger and brighter than ever after doing so. Perfectly normal.

 

[Chichas01]

my leather will also close up and slime a bit every now and again. I think it's part of their growth process so I wouldn't be too worried unless you actually see it melting/deteriorating.

 

[TJL]

Yep all good and true advice DJ, its a Sarcophyton's normal way of growth and/or self-cleaning if not in a heavy flow area.


Cheers, Todd

 

[spllbnd2]

Leather type of corals will do this when they shed a layer of skin (?) if you can call it that. :lol: I have had many leather corals do this from time to time and one of the keys is to have a good enoguh flow to get that dead skin layer away quickly so that the coral will reopen more quickly.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[kevnkev]

When ours did this the first time, we totally freaked out. And yeah, it kept its polyps withdrawn and looking shriveled for a week or more. Gentle blasting with a turkey baster helped knock off strips of skin, and also let us slurp up the sloughed skin so it didn't go junk up the tank.

 

[BigAl07]

As noted above this is normal for up to a couple of weeks. I too freaked out the first time one of my leathers did this but have since learned it's very common. This "pouting" could last an hour, a day, a week or two. I've never seen a total pout (as in the whole coral wilted) for more than 2 weeks but I've seen a coral that was about to split (asexual propogation aka self fragging) do this on half the coral for several weeks and after the event the "pouty section" because a whole new coral.

The term is called "Sloughing" which means:
1 v, to shed or cast off dead tissue
2 n, the tissue that has been shed.

 

[IPisces]

Funny you should say pouting! My green polyp toadstool, which is approx 10" tall and 8-10" in diameter was lying on its side all closed up for two days. It was perked back up this morning though. Yeah, it looked like it was pouting!