Leather Question

[dani]

My leather had been unhappy the past 2 weeks. Now it is looking a little better.
It wasn't looking like it was melting like a candle - it had just been shedding a lot and drooped over.
Now it is up and open, however, there are 2 spots on the edges that are yellow and look to be "burnt" or dead sections. The leather is still shedding. Will try to get a photo up tomorrow.
Any ideas what is going on with it?
pH is 8.0, nitrates are <0.3, and salinity is 1.021

 

[jerryatrick]

Will wait for picture.... But I think your water parameters need some work.
IMO
PH -8.2 to 8.4
Nitrates - as close to zero as possible
SG - 1.024-1.026
Not saying that your leather is having problems because of your water parameters but just a suggestion.

 

[oneradtek]

you gotta love leathers! they do the weirdest things! mine always go in and out of phases and molts. My finger leather actually developed what i thought were "dead" spots and it comes to be that it was how its reproducing , now i have 3 more baby finer leathers!. my experience with them just shows to give them time, given good water conditions. they always will have you wondering what the heck is going on with it

 

[dani]

It was open and "normal" looking this morning but it still had the two spots on the edge that are bothering me. I forgot the camera at work and will remind myself to bring it home tomorrow to try to get a photo up for some opinions.
I will check salinity and pH again and post those up as well.

 

[reefkprz]

your specific gravity is low. this can stress corals and allow diseases to set in. the burnt look is usually necrosis caused by damage or infection. the leathers tend to go through sheds to rid themselves of such infections. keep an eye on the affected areas to ensure it is not spreading. this may or may not have anything to do with your low SG but it would not hurt to bring your specific gravity up to appropriate levels for invertabrete life. IMO appropriate levels are 1.025-1.027

 

[dani]

Thanks for all the help!
I will work on getting it up to 1.025
I will keep an eye on the necrosis... I was afraid that's what it might be. It's on 2 sections.

 

[peachie98]

Dani...I wonder if those spots are from when I moved the rock/leather and it got bumped around (might have damaged it?)...combined with the water issues they are talking about above? Glad it's doing better than it was before.

 

[spanko]

Here copy this and paste it into a google search. Great article by Eric Borneman on leathers.
Aquarium.Net June 1997 Is Leather Optional? By Eric Borneman

 

[jerryatrick]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2714819
Here copy this and paste it into a google search. Great article by Eric Borneman on leathers.
Aquarium.Net June 1997 Is Leather Optional? By Eric Borneman
Very good article. Glad it touched on flow for a leather. That is by far the biggest struggle for leather keepers.

 

[dani]

Thank you for the article.
I took some pictures today and will have to upload them at work tomorrow in order to post them.
The leather now has a yellow necrotic spot in the center.
Yesterday it was completely open and looked "happy" compared to how it's normally been.
Tank is now at 1.0245 and pH is 8.1..working to get to 1.025-1.027 and 8.2
I've been using the ProKdh buffer. Is there a better option to bring the pH up?

 

[dani]

I attached a couple photos
They're not as good as I wanted.
The top pic is from Sunday Night and the bottom pic is from Monday AM
Now one of the yellow edges is completely brown/shriveled and looks like it will fall off like someone who's peeling horribly from sunburn

 

[spanko]

Sarcophyton Coral are strange creatures in that when they shed, and will do this fairly often, they look like they are going on to the great reef in the sky. Sometimes this "look" may last a week, then one day they bounce right back. Ensure that you have really good flow over it so that the shedding is removed from the coral. It really does not look too bad to me. Let it be, flow flow flow, for a while and see what develops. If it starts to look like it is melting I would get it out of the display and into a quarantine tank.
JMO

 

[dani]

I will monitor it. Thanks for all the input!
It has some more flow now and I'll be looking to get a few powerheads hopefully in the near future.