Toadstool Leather Coral vs. Reef Crab

[dbmtrman]

I was able to get a great deal on a very large Toodstool Leather Coral. I put it in my 120gal DT yesterday afternoon, and by this morning it appeared to be fully opened. the stalk on the coral is about 6 or 7 inches in diameter and the head is spread out to about a foot or more. This is the first coral I've added to my tank, which has been going and cycled for 4 months now. I bought the coral from a LFS, it was on a large piece of Tonga Branch LR, and also had 3 anenomes and about a dozen large green mushrooms. All of the anenomes and most of the mushrooms are also fully extended after the acclimation and placement in the DT. There is one mushroom that is somewhat shriveled up on the end of one of the Tonga branches. I'm afraid it may have been damaged when it was being transported or picked up and placed in the container at the LFS. One question I have is are the two Scarlett Reef crabs a threat to any of the corals? One of the crabs has climbed the branch and is currently sitting on the stalk of the leather. Also, what, if anything can I do about the shrivels mushroom? It isn't completely shriveled up, and actually the color on it is more vivid then any of the other ones.

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by dbmtrman
I was able to get a great deal on a very large Toodstool Leather Coral. I put it in my 120gal DT yesterday afternoon, and by this morning it appeared to be fully opened. the stalk on the coral is about 6 or 7 inches in diameter and the head is spread out to about a foot or more. This is the first coral I've added to my tank, which has been going and cycled for 4 months now. I bought the coral from a LFS, it was on a large piece of Tonga Branch LR, and also had 3 anenomes and about a dozen large green mushrooms. All of the anenomes and most of the mushrooms are also fully extended after the acclimation and placement in the DT. There is one mushroom that is somewhat shriveled up on the end of one of the Tonga branches. I'm afraid it may have been damaged when it was being transported or picked up and placed in the container at the LFS. One question I have is are the two Scarlett Reef crabs a threat to any of the corals? One of the crabs has climbed the branch and is currently sitting on the stalk of the leather. Also, what, if anything can I do about the shrivels mushroom? It isn't completely shriveled up, and actually the color on it is more vivid then any of the other ones.
scarlets are reef safe and pose no threat to corals. How long have you had the shrooms and what are your water parameters?

 

[dbmtrman]

I went on to the LFS yesterday and they had taken in a bunch of coral from a customers tank. The guy had just put in new carpet and somehow got a back feed into his sump that flooded the house. He got so aggravated that he broke down his tank and brought everything into the LFS, and told them they could have it all. I got this big piece of tonga branch with the leather, anenomes and mushrooms already on it. So to answer your question, have had it in my tank for just over 24 hours. The leather's polyps were all withdrawn yesterday, but extended today. The anenomes began to move up the branches today, and as I stated before all but one of the mushrooms were fully extended. My water parameters are: temp 77.8, ph 8.0, alkalinity was a little low 1.7, ammon. 0, nitrites 0, nitrates between 10-20, calcium 360, phospates 0. Calcium had been about 420 up until 2 months ago, when I added about 100 pounds of LR, now it stays down around 360. I have dosed with Kalkwasser approx. 3 times a week, but probably need to do it nightly. Eventually I want to get a calcium reactor. I have recently built a DIY denitrifier, which is still in the cycling phase, so haven't seen a drop in the nitrates yet. I have a 48 inche coralife power compact flourescent light, with 2 65 watt 12000k daylight, and 2 65 watt blue actinic bulbs. I know they are slightly underpowered for a major reef tank, but was told they should be adequate for the leather and the mushrooms. I did place them fairly high up in the tank, with the top of the leather about 4 to 6 inches from the surface. Also the leather is fairly near one of the return nozzles so it gets moderate flow.
Thanks for the answer reference to the Scarlett Crabs, by the way.