Leather coral dying or molting?

[smokinjoe2122]

Does anyone have any pictures of their leathers molting? I'm trying to figure out what my cabbage leather frag is doing. Parts of it look like snake skin, white and flaking... I am new to leathers so I am not sure what it's doing. Any info would be great!

 

[JulesVane]

I don't have a pic., but a molting leather usually looks like a person's skin pealing after a sunburn. Is it possibly being stung by a nearby coral?

 

[smokinjoe2122]

Hmm...Nope, no near by corals.. It does look like snake skin or peeling... I guess I will have to keep an eye on it...Was doing great since I've had it (3 weeks)

 

[QuentinB]

hope that works, it's not great, but you can see some of mine molting. it's a weekly occurance for me, not sure if it's growing, or irritated, but seems to be getting bigger. does weird stuff though.

Also, sometimes it'll wad up in the middle, but it's still the thin stuff you see here.

 

[smokinjoe2122]

hmmmmmmmm it doesnt look like that...it looks more chaffed and flaky

 

[steved13]

Maybe I missed something...but wouldn't it be a good idea for you to post a pic of your coral?

 

[Jetbkk]

I think this is very normal. My toadstool will shred it's skin at least once a month.. like a snake shedding skin. Usually takes a couple days and then it is looking good again. Seems to me that out of all the livestock in my tank, it is the leather and the anemone that do the weirdest things...but then they work it out and look better than ever.

 

[zigginit]

my toadstool will shed every so often. it looks waxy for a few days and it kinda floats off it in patches before turning back to normal. its just they way they are i guess.

 

[smokinjoe2122]

I know I should post a pic, but my camera kinda sucks... Right now it looks like its partially melting.. I'll try to get a pic, but I can't promise quality!

DSCF1212 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

DSCF1213 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

DSCF1214 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

BTW is there a way to show thumbnails from Flickr on here???

 

[QuentinB]

see if this works, I'll edit either way...

Edit: Muahahaha! I have mastered the internetz!

I'm using google chrome, so I'm not sure if its exactly the same in other browsers. I followed the link, made the picture big, right clicked ->"copy image URL".

Back here in RS, type "[img.]"(without the period or quotes) to "start" the image. Paste the image url. To "end" the image, type"[/img.](again, no period or quotes).

Hope this helps, I think there's a guide somewhere to doing things like this, couldn't say where though...

 

[smokinjoe2122]

thank you!

 

[QuentinB]

Not a problem!

And from what I can see, it looks to me like you've got a healthy coral there, bud. Leathers do weird stuff, I wouldn't worry too much about it, IMO.

 

[Octoman]

Not a cabbage, but a leather sloughing none-the-less...

 

[steved13]

I always use this method it works great;

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ub/52143-1-way-post-rsm-pics-photobucket.html

 

[smokinjoe2122]

well thanks for the input guys... It was flaking before and the 2nd branch shrunk up a tad.. I'll keep an eye on it.. So far I am having no luck with leathers.. LPS doing great.. Mushrooms doing great... Leathers not so much..

 

[smokinjoe2122]

Well Just an update.. One of the branches if you will, dissolved/melted away, but it left one nice branch.. It came loose from the live rock, so I put it down in the sand. It should be able to attach to the rubble/sand and grow a decent base right? Is it ok if it's not getting much flow at this point??

 

[thereefersspot]

it seems like its molting, it important to remove the "skin" as soon as it comes off, because it is toxic and can potentially kill other corals