BIG MAC ???? Leathers VS Acropora

[mlm]

I have read in a couple of books that leather corlas will syunt the growth and may even kill Acropora and other SPS. Do you keep any leathers in you SPS tank? I was wondering if you had any experience with this. My LFS has a beautiful purple finger leather on hold for me but I wanted to make an infomed decision before I bought it.

 

[sammystingray]

I do believe that leathers give off a chemical (?) to fight back anything trying to overgrow them.....not sure how far that reach is though.

 

[mlm]

Do you know if it is a constant giving off of the chemical or if it is when it detects a threat?

 

[beth]

I have always heard that too, but, as you can see from the pic below, I have a rather large leather near a pictina. The leather constantly brushes the pictina with no apparent ill effects. Contrarily, the areas that are constantly touched by the leather seem to be doing best!
It will be interesting to see what others have to say about this.

 

[nm reef]

I have very limited experience with any type of SPS corals...but I've often heard and read that toxins released by leather corals can cause problems with most stony corals(LPS & SPS).
In my system I keep a few types of leathers...a large sarcophyton and assorted fingers/cabbages...along with numerous LPS type corals. In truth I've never really had a problem with toxins from the leathers causing damage...some are even in constant contact.
Funny you should ask though because just this morning I was reading in "Aquarium Corals" by Eric Bourneman that there can be fatal problems associated with chemical toxins from leathers ... it made for some good reading...but like I said I've never experiencied any problems that I'm aware of. Maybe some of the members with extensive experience keeping SPS types can provide additional info.
By the way Beth...nice pic!!

 

[richard rendos]

I have a HUGE sarcophyton elegans in my 120 with lots of SPS. I run carbon 24/7 and change it monthly. I never have any visible warfare going on. Below is a picture of the side with the leather.

 

[beth]

Really, not wanting to dispute with the experts, but you can see in my pic that the leather is right on top of my sps, canstantly lying on it, brushing it. Interesting subject. I wonder if aggression can be based on food availability? If the leather is adequately feed and having its needs met, then perhaps its is not aggressive?
I've also heard that leathers and zoos don't like each other. However, this same leather is brushing up against a cluster of zoos I'm trying to attach to the back of my tank with no problems. On the other hand, I have some kind of encrusting coral that came in on my LR which definately does not like this leather.

 

[blondenaso1]

You have to take into consideration that we do run skimmers 24/7 and this would also help to remove any toxins before they could reach toxic levels. I would think that LPS corals would be more of a danger to SPS then leathers any day.
Oh and by the way Richard Rendos, Love that orange capricornis. Looks like it is really doing good. Mine is growing faster then ever lately.

 

[nm reef]

Just goes to show that especially in this hobby there are exceptions to every rule...and new rules are developed daily!! Everything I've seen indicates the "potential for toxins and chemical warfare" from leathers. But like I said I've got a few along with numerous LPS corals and its never been a problem...but information indicates the "potential" is there. I guess the balance has been struck in my system and the softies/LPS corals have declared a truce...long term I hope!

 

[mlm]

Thanks for all the replies. NMreef, I too read the info in Bourneman's book which prompted me to ask the question. I decided against b/c of the potential fo trouble and that it was more for my wife than anyway. She liked it. I called the LFS and told them to sell it. One of the workers is taking it home. Oh well it looked nice. Thanks all.