Leather breaking loose

razorvines

razorvines

Member
Okay I got a leather from a friend this weekend. It is attached to a really large rock and he is breaking loose. I put him in Friday night and he looked awesome on Saturday morning. This morning he was laid over in the sand so I sat the rock up to get him out of the sand. Now he is doing worse. He looks like he is about to completely break off the rock. What should I do? My friend said let him be and he will come back. If he comes off will he reattach?
Thanks
Jason


IMG_5118_rs.jpg
 
nicoleblkwidow

nicoleblkwidow

Member
hmmm... is this a brand new tank? All water parameters good?
Leathers usually take awhile to acclimate to a new environment and will be closed up and sickly looking for a week or two. Splitting/tearing away doesn't look good and may mean water, flow or lighting are off.

What are the other specs on the tank?
 
razorvines

razorvines

Member
No my tank is about 2 months old. I used cycled water and live sand so didn't spend the normal time cycling. I did a water change earlier on Friday and all my parameters were great. Salt was between 1.024 and 1.025 afterwards. Water stays about 78 degrees. I have two sets of T5 80w lights but one strip went out earlier this week. I also got a little rock of mushrooms and they are doing very good. He is completely open right now and looks really good other than cutting himself loose.
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
That looks like localized tissue necrosis. My suggestion is to remove it to a bowl of tank water and make a clean cross sectional cut just above the necrotic tissue, into healthy tissue. Then tether or glue it back to a rock. Try to remove any necrotic tissue from the rock it is on now.

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razorvines

razorvines

Member
Well about an hour after I posted last night he completely broke off and was free floating. I turned my powerheads more toward the top and moved him into a corner in one of my rocks that looks kind of like a basket. I didn't trim anything off because I hadn't read your reply yet Scott. I was just hoping for him to reattach after reading one of the fragging posts on here. I don't see how I could glue him, because he is so slimy. Do you think it would be better for me to take him out and trim him tonight when I get home, or should I just leave him be and see how he does? He isn't moving around any and he looked pretty happy this morning.


This was what he looked like this morning
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This is what was left of his base.
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BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
What does the under-side of the cap look like? That's the important part of this whole thing. If it's still receding you'll want to try Scott's method ASAP!
 
razorvines

razorvines

Member
Yeah I am going to do that when I get home. I was wiped out last night and barely stayed up long enough to catch the detaching. It stinks because I rearranged my rocks to get this guy up away from the sand just for him to pull the rip cord. Anyway I kind of wanted him in that rock anyway. When I get home I will see what his bottom looks like. I do know that last night I could see between his bottom and the rock but this morning I couldn't so it really looked like he was settling in right away. Thanks for all your input!

Jason
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Best case it will re-attach itself to the rock with no help from you. That would be a GOOD thing! I know that when these guys are fragged they readily regrow their stalk but that's only when they are strong and healthy. If the tissue is still receding tonight go ahead and give it a good clean cut and hopefully it will remove the problem before it goes any further.

Also I would do the same thing on the base! Remove any "decaying tissue but I'd be tempted to leave the rest of the STALK if it's healthy looking. Who knows you might get lucky and get TWO toadies in the future. These guys can be VERY resilient if healthy tissue is left.

Good luck and keep us posted :)
 
razorvines

razorvines

Member
Cool that is what I was wanting to hear Al! I am really hoping it will be my first frag, albeit no fault of my own....
 
razorvines

razorvines

Member
Okay bad news. I made a trip home at lunch to check on things and he is still doing bad. He was laying in the sand. There was a good white spot on the rock where he had reattached, but here is a picture of his current state. It has run so far up him now that I am not sure if I can save him.

100_1554_rs.jpg
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
Time for surgery! It's worth a try. These leathers are what they call totipotent, meaning that any part of it can regenerate a whole new animal. You need to remove the dead tissue by cutting into the healthy tissue regardless of what it looks like when you are done. Make clean cuts with a clean razor blade or xacto knife. After that, give it an iodine dip before placing it in back on its rock. Do you have a QT tank?
 
razorvines

razorvines

Member
I have it in a tupperware container but have a power compact light about 3 or 4 feet above it. I am about to have to go back to work. Anybody got any input before I leave it for the afternoon? Will it be okay without any flow at all?
 
razorvines

razorvines

Member
Would I be better off waiting until this evening and get my QT setup and pickup iodine, or is it going to be more critical to get him sliced and diced in time?
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
IMO, it's best to remove the infected tissue ASAP. Secondary organisms, bacteria and possibly some protozoans, are fueling the breakdown. The iodine dip is to kill any of these organism that get past the incision process. Get some Lugol's solution from the LFS. It can probably wait until you get back from work.
 
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