I need some reassurance.

[spyderreef]

I bought a beautiful yellow leather last week. It opened in my tank just fine but now it won't open and it appears to be shedding this brown skin. How do I know that this is normal and it is not gradually dying? I have a more established tank that I could move it to but I would rather not stress it.

 

[slick]

I have a leather that does this all the time. I think it's normal. But I could be wrong.

 

[nerdy]

Yellow leathers are a bit more trickier to take care of than a normal leather. You have to make sure that they are in a position that no residue can collect in the middle. They need more light thatn normal leathers. As for not opening and shedding, I know that mine regularily does this and when it opens up it is usually bigger that before.

 

[spyderreef]

Nerdy,
When your leather sheds does what comes off look brown? Also, how long does it usually take before it opens? I will try and post a pic.

 

[yosemite sam]

Is it a translucent brown skin that you can see through, or is it brown goo. When my leathers shed, it is usually a pale tea color (and see-through), even though the leathers themselves are different colors. Unless it's showing signs of degeneration, it's probably just shedding. Like nerdy said, keep it in good light and good current and it should be OK. I have a yellow leather and it took it a while to fully open up, so don't worry too much.

 

[eugenecjr]

Correctly if I am wrong, but this shedding is a way that the leathers use to get rid of any materials that may have settled on the coral. It is pretty common. As for the brownish color, this just depends on how much the leather shed. The fact that you just added it to your tank would be a good reason for this.

 

[spyderreef]

The leather was open the first couple of days before it stopped opening. Only part of it looks as if it is shedding. It looks more brown and flaky than gooey. It should have more than enough light. I thought maybe it had too much. I have it in a 120 gal a little more than half way up. I have 2 400W radium MH and 2 110W blue actinic. I think it has enough current but if it doesn't open in a couple of days I will consider moving it. I have had other leathers this but this is the first coral in my new tank.

 

[eugenecjr]

I understand what you are saying about the film that is coming from the coral, but even though the coral is not opening up how does it look in its closed state. The flakes that you are talking about do not appear to pices of the coral, but maybe just some material that settled on it.

 

[spyderreef]

The coral is fully closed and the pieces do look as if they just settled there. Should I try and blow them off with a turkey baster or should I move it where it has more current?

 

[eugenecjr]

You can try to put a little current to it to remove it if you would like. Although messing with it may delay the coral opening. That will depend on how much messing around you do with it.