Toadstool leather

[beefcake]

I bought a toadstool leather on Thursday. When I bought it the toadstool was beautifully open with its tentacles waving around. When I got home I made sure to acclimate it for a couple hours and it hasent opened up yet. Is this normal ?

 

[goldrush]

Toadstool's are not overly fond of being handled. Give it a day or two.

 

[barracuda]

Beefcake, Toadstool leather (Sarcophyton sp.) is very easy coral to keep. But..... few things you should know 'bout him. When first brought home, it takes time for him to acclimate to the new environment. Sometimes it will retract all tenticles for few days, then shed and reopen again. Put it in the moderate flow and it will shed less. Give him a space in the tank as he will grow large and multiply by budding. This is from personal experience with few different types of Sarcophytons.

 

[kimkissyfish]

Hi,
I got one too and it took like 3 days for it to open up again.. now its HUGE, bigger than when it was in the store! It will be OK..give it time.. =)
Kim

 

[beefcake]

I feel better now. I love the look of this coral and am hoping to get my pair of false percs to host in it. Other than the toadstool not opening it looks to be in great condition. Thanks guys! Also I have been dosing my tank with iodine once a week, is there anything else I can do for this coral? I was thinking of feeding my tank phytoplankton. Would this be a good idea ?

 

[barracuda]

Beefcake, i wouldn't add any iodine if you don't test for it. You just throw your money in the tank. There is no proven need for that. If you do regular water change, don't add it.
Using coral as host for clownfish is detrimental for corals. Coral may refuse to open and eventually die.

 

[michaeltx]

I agree with baracudda some corals do better hosting a clown than others but the clowns will wallow in it like it was an anemone and could spell disaster for the coral.
FWW
Mike

 

[beefcake]

The LFS I bought it from has a display with about 3 huge toadstools and an anenomie in it with about 8 clowns in it all doing great. It's been up for quite some time now. I was hoping for the same results. So far the clowns show no interest in it as it has yet to open up.

 

[fishy all the time]

I have two toadstools and they go into a "dormant" state every now and then. They then shead their skin and open up again. They even do that if I move them around too much. It will be fine.

 

[logan15]

Ok I bought one about a month ago It has never fully opened except in my fish guys tank with 2 400 watt metal halides and 2 96 watt Pcs.It will stick its little branches out but not its tentacles and waving around.Could It be I dont have enough lighting I have about 2.75 watts per gallon?I plan on adding a 110 Watt VHO Ultra Actinic so that will put me up to 5.5 watts per gallon in a couple of days.
What do you guys have for lighting?
Please Help,
Logan
P.S. It had shed some skin

 

[beefcake]

I have PC lighting about 3.5 wpg on my tank. Should be plenty for a toadstool. I was worried that I had too much water flow for it though. Hard to find a place in my tank that has low water flow.

 

[barracuda]

Beefcake, find the place with more vigorous water flow. Sarcophyton has one little problem when going to shed. It retracts polyps and stays like this for several days. Having low water flow near the closed coral may lead to creation of thin algae film as the top layer of coral's tissue. This film can cause the coral to stay closed for lonk period of time and hard to shed.
Also this water flow can help Sarcophyton to stay free of accumulated detritus.

 

[marco333]

I recently purchased a leather (not sure what type), and put it in my tank in a low courrent area. It looked great with all its polyp things out. Then i had to move my power head, and it got into a high water flow area. It closed up and shrunk half its size. I then moved it to a moderate flow area, but it still hasnt opened up or gotten back to its large size. Its been about 2 days. Do you think it will be ok?

 

[matti070]

marco
it will probly be fine. i got a torch coral yesterday and it is fine now. its right under the skimmer outlet(or whatever you wnat to call it) and get lots of current.

 

[marco333]

mattio a torch and a leather coral are different, and need different needs, just because your torch has lots of current dosnt mean my leather should to.

 

[beefcake]

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Its been fully open most of the day. It will close up a bit when my cleaner shrimp walks all over it but then it opens up again.