Problems with a Leather

justinx

justinx

Active Member
Well first off, I bought this leather about 5 months ago and it has caused me nothing but problems. I actually want the thing out of my system but I dont know what to do with it. I cant just throw it away.
Anyway, so the latest problem is that the stalk is too tall for the coral and it cant support itself anymore. I believe that it is unhealthy because it gets too much current, but I cant move it because it is attache to a huge boulder of a rock.
So here is my question, can I just cut the coral off the rock and move it somewhere else (like someone else's tank!!!)
Also, can I cut the stalk in half making it half as tall as it is now?
Thanks,
Justin
 
justinx

justinx

Active Member
well . . . perhaps some clarification is needed here. The coral is capable of holding itself upright, it is not limp. However, it does so at an odd angle. The stalk has two 90 bends in it basically. One right at the base, and another about 3/4 the way up the stalk. It is by no means resting on anything and it does support its own weight, but it is not upright. Does it make alittle more sense now?
The reason that this is a problem is because the way that it is positioned it creates water movement problems for other coals and redirecting the PH is not an option unfortunately.
Justin
 
clarkiiboi

clarkiiboi

Active Member
I understand, mine also has these "twists" near the rock its attached to. I want to reach in and untwist it, but dont want to stress it more. Is yours a toadstool? It still opens up and such, just dont stand "up", though it could.
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
Idea....Its kind of similar to what you have.... When you first bought the coral was it detatched? Or did you turn the rock sideways to place it? Did you attatch it flat long ways to the rock?
The reason i ask is because i have a kenya tree coral, similar to leathers and a soft coral. I started with one piece. Rubberbanded it loosely and ended up with two pieces. I rubberbanded it again. One piece attatched and took off. The other kind of attatched. I think it attatched in the middle of the stalk and started growing up thus causing it to grow at a 90 degree angle. After if finally attatched and was healthily expanding it would expand at a 90 degree angle. I just cut this top portion off in the hopes that it will grow straight. The top is still a little crooked as is another piece now. I think it is because of where its placed. In the direct flow of the power head. Its a Rio 50(tiny) and about 10 inches away but in the flow that goes to the front of the glass. It waves slightly but seems a little crooked. While its very healthy it is growing like that. So moral ofthe story is it's probably your power head causeing it to grow like that as well as when you initially placed it in the tank.
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
you can definately becap the toadstool without any problems... cut it whereever you like, but be sure to use sharp scissors, and after the surgery, place both pieces in areas with medium flow....they will slime like crazy and prob wont open up for weeks, but they will heal and will grown new heads/bases without any problems....i had to do this in my 135 at home cause i had a leather that was going to grow out of the water, and we couldnt move him down the rock structure at all, so we cropped him!
good luck
jon
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
Its pretty easy to frag one. And when you do you can sell or trade it to the store :) I'm "harvesting" my kenya and some xenia now.... Think of it kind of like pruning a tree.... Or bush....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top