New Leather Coral

W

wattsd

AC Members
Mar 22, 2005
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recently purchased a devil finger coral and after having it in the tank for two hours its not as big and it has kind of flopped over. Is this normal after transporting?
 
Yep. Leathers can be a little temperamental after being disturbed. Just watch it for the moment. If it pouts for more than a few days, it may be in a place it doesn't like.
 
Thanks for replying so quickly. He was the first coral to go into the tank and I didn't want him to be the first casualty either. We also got a few polyps which look really nice. This is an addicting hobby!!

thanks again
~d
 
You might consider running a little activated carbon for a few days after the introduction of a new softie. They seem to recover faster from the transport shock and the stuff you already have will thankt you to . They tend to release a lot of I'm iritated chemicals into the water and that will affect you other inverts. May not be much of an issue when you only have a critter or two but , as time goes on you'll really see an issue. Thanks to Dave for the great advise this is just me seeing your post before he did.
Chris
 
Thanks again. I just changed my filter today. Do people not normally run activated charcoal in their filter? I am using a twin biowheel (don't get me started) with activated charcoal right in the filters. Should I normally be using just plan-ole filter instead? The biowheel seams to be doing a good job but I have heard reefers shouldn't use one. I have a 30 gallon tank with only two inverts and 3 fish, and its the 330 biowheel (330 gallons/hour). Probably why i haven't experienced any problems as of yet.


Any other advice on my new tank mate? Feeding?

thanks again
 
Well the problem with wheel type filters is that they get trash caught in the wheel and that causes nitrate problems unless you keep them really clean. If you have enough l.r. 1.5 to 2 lbs per gallon I'd just take off the wheel. The leather will probably take phyto and zoo and the brighter the lights the betterpc at least halides are better.
You don't have to run carbon all the time ,"some do some don't", it's just a good idea when you introduce a new invert they will release toxins into the water . They also have chemical warefare from time to time. I didn't used to run carbon except at introduction but now I run it 24/7 and find that it makes my life much easier.
hth
chris
 
They leather is still flopped over. Looks a little better i guess but he is still drooped over. His little "thingies" are out so I guess that means he is feeding. I suppose I will just wait it out but it looks so pathetic when the lights go out. He puffs himself up a bit after 2 hours of light and then deflates about 2 hours after the light goes out.

Keep your fingers crossed for me
 
Keep in mind that a lot of leathers "sleep." Mine retract their tentacles, and some get pretty saggy after lights out. Borneman refers to this as one of the "false alarms" that new leather keepers often deal with.

If there is any sign of the tissue falling apart, then you can worry. Sounds pretty normal at this point. I have a Sinularia that sags for a few days every time I touch it.
 
The lights have been on now for 3 hours and it still looks droopy and pathetic. Maybe it doesn't like to get up before noon like me. I don't see any signs of distress, though some parts look like a greyish color rather than a brown. The LFS is using the same lights as me so I don't think thats it. I suppose it could be the intensity of light but its only a 30 gallon (18" tall). I dont' really want to move it but it might help. It came attached to a relatively small rock which I think I could move without touching the animal itself.

what do you think??
 
I'd give it more time. The placement is probably fine for the moment unless it's being blasted by current, in the shade, or being touched by another coral.
 
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