What to do with dead leather coral?

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DustinKeating

Large Fish
#1
Jan 9, 2005
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so i bought a leather coral about a week ago now (there's another thread on that somewhere) and it definately didn't make it, so now it's all limped over, white (mostly) in color....so i'm assuming it's pretty dead/gone.

What do i do with it?

if it's not "dead", can i give it to someone else and see if they have better luck with it?
 

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aresgod

Superstar Fish
#4
Jan 14, 2004
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not sure what you mean, i would just look for the healthiest part of the coral, and take an exacto knife and go from there, leathers tend to die in sections almost so you can usually find a part that is doing better than the rest
 

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wayne

Elite Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
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Do you have a spare tank you can put it in, preferably with decent lighting and flow. I've seen these recover from a hell of a beating.
Does it smell, is it breaking up? Does anything look decent, savable. If so I would cut it off and super glue it to a frag of live rock, or I use a plate of milliput. Then stickk it ina an area of reasonable flow.
But first make sure it's not kaput. What lighting was it under, what do you have.
 

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DustinKeating

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#6
Jan 9, 2005
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Right now i only have 4 NO fluorescents, but they're overdriven substantially. so probably around 25 watts each, on a 10 gallon. so around 10 watts per gallon, but unfortunetly there's no actinics because one broke and i'm also broke.

I think that's why it's not doing so well, but on the contrary i have lots of polyp's that are doing really well, but perhaps it's the different coral reactions. I'm new to the coral thing, but i was told that this leather was extremely easy to care for. My parameters are also all in order.

i have an extra 10 gallon kicking around, but not much for it. I could maybe rig up some sort of lighting but it would take a little while, and i'm also short powerheads, salt mix...the whole deal.

Maybe i should just give a decent frag away, i know some people who might appreciate it, and maybe trade some mushrooms... But my question is, can (a struggling coral) be harmful to another persons tank?
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

Superstar Fish
#9
Jun 12, 2004
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yeah you can but i don't think it's great. Some leather can release toxins in the water ( altough most don't.. i just read that) . Anyways you don't wanna release its skin in the water. Why don't you take a 1 gallon water bottle, chop the top off and put your SW in it ? Easier if you can have your 2 hands to frag. Cut clean and fast
 

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wayne

Elite Fish
#12
Oct 22, 2002
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#12
Have a look at this. http://www.the-other-world.co.uk/ This guy was operating from his second floor bedroom and I suspect his mum has said 'no', but his info is good on propping softies.
you need to ask why it failed. Your lighting is adequate, so it must be either a poor specimen or water quality, or acclimation. What is adequate for polyps will not always work for others. If it had taken longer I would have been worried about adequately turbulent flow in a 10 as well, as I have found them prone to getting sed in the middle and rotting from there if flow is poor.
 

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DustinKeating

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#13
Jan 9, 2005
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that seems to be what may have happened, it seems to have rotted from the middle out. and now it's kinda spreading. So i'm going to frag as much as i can. Where should i place the frags? i was thinking near the top close to the lights? what type of water flow?
 

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DustinKeating

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#15
Jan 9, 2005
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yeah i think you're right, really blows....90% of the coral was rotted and i think that's probably the source of all my cynobacteria.

I managed to cut what looked like a pretty good stock, and another peice was still attached to the rock and not rotting. Hopefully they do alright. keep you posted, and if i get off my butt i'll post some pics.
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

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#16
Jun 12, 2004
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I don't think it's what causes the cyano. I noticed that copper 'n old plumbing metals could increase the cyano in the tank. Light time either 'cause it's like an algae. Po4 ( phosphates ) too. I used reef crystals for a month..got no po4. 0 problems. My LFS was out..changed back to instant ocean. Today i have 2 big patches of red cyano in my tank. My ro/di didn't remove all the heavy metals from the water..need to change cartridges. Reef Crystals has a chemical that removes those metals..i guess it's true 'cause cyano is back a little. Wuth ammonia : 0 / nitrite : 0 / nitrates : 5 / phos : 0 and 1.024 salinity...i think i can only blame metals and my old neons ( 10 h/day now )
 

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