Struggling/dying Finger leather

[reef dude]

I have had this finger leather for at least a year I would say. By now it is the size of about a persons two hands put together and the fingers largely sprawled out. It was doing absolutely awesome untill about 2 months or so ago. One day out of the clear blue, it developed a slimy white/clear coating all over it. I then directed a powerhead right on it and the layer seemed to peel off, the white/clear film started peeling off and blowing away. During that time, the polyps were constrained from coming out b/c of the coating. Now they started to come back out but the slime coating comes back almost every other day and now I end up rubbing it off with a soft spunge or my fingers. It came attached to a PVC pipe, now the back of it is attached to about 2-3 large pieces of LR. All water params are good, under 2 175w halides.
Please help, this specimen has lasted for so long and I need some advice. Thanks
-dave

 

[reef dude]

By the way, the reason I mention it is attached to several pieces of LR is that I am not able to take the coral out and give it a dip. I use Lugols on my hard corals and tech-D on softies, but I am not able to use any remedies this time other than strong flow.....

 

[slowest is fastest]

Sounds bacterial to me but I am no expert. Continue with moderate "INDIRECT" current. Do a 20% water change and run a quality carbon for 3-5 days.
If it is (or starts to) deteriorate, usually it will begin at the base of the coral or the base of a branch. When this happens you could lose a few tips of the branch when it separates from the rest of the coral. Recover save and mount the tips as they will grow.
If anything else has recently died/melted in the area be sure all remanants have been removed.
Good luck
SiF
PS A good turkey basting once a day whether it needs it or not wouldn't hurt either until the white film goes away.

 

[reef dude]

Yes, the base of the entire coral is becoming a deep, dark brown color, almost like an algae but it wont scrub off, and its slowly working its way up. I scrubbed the thing last night and its already covered with the film now, less than 16 hours later. Usually when I scrub it off, it will open the polyps for a day, then come back.
Besides water changes and carbon, can I dilute any lugols in some water and squirt it over the coral? Its really looking awful.....

 

[slowest is fastest]

I meant to add to the above post that "if you are dosing anything STOP for 1 week and give the water change and carbon a better shot at working"
Keep it as clean as you can but remember that a waxy skin is not necessarily a bad thing. Check all your water parameters and make sure nothing is out of wack (nitrates,phosphates,PH etc)
If you have not already seen it you might do a search for "COTW: Sarcophyton sp." Good info there that applies to finger leathers as well.
SiF

 

[roscoe ii]

no expert here however, I just purchased a leather Finger myself and was reading up on them. Book says rotting of the Basal attachment is fairly common due to poor water conditions and or poor circulation. It can recover over time if these conditions are changed. Also a shedding of a white mucus skin allows the leather to rid itself of parasites or other encrustations trying to establish a home on the skin. Bristle worms and some snails might bore into the body. Hope this helps good luck.