Purple Finger Leather Coral help...

[Zen Reeferer]

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Does anyone have any experience with a Purple Finger Leather Coral that they could share?

Got it on saturday, and have been searching the net since. Have found a couple of pix, but
no clues about care-n-feeding, placement in tank, lighting, origin...
Any help would be...helpful. Thanks. (LFS did say that it isn't dyed, but I'll check the
skimmer when the lights come on)
Also...growing on the LR, to the right of the purple leather is that brown patch. It's getting bigger despite my lawnmower blenny's attempts to scrape it off. Would like an ID if possible. (maybe a sponge?) It's pretty hard to the touch.
Thank you.

[Reefland]

Hi Zen Reefer,

The coral would have pretty general care requirements; moderate lighting, decent water movement, etc. It does look pretty purple though, not really seen a color variant of a leather like that. As for the brown thing growing, I can see the spot but that is it.

[Zen Reeferer]

Okey dokey, thanks.
Any chance that there's a link or two that I
can find details on stuff like this? I found a couple, but were Indo-Pacific specific, or Great Barrier Reef exclusive, and were impossible (for me) to navigate without a doctorate.
Here's a picture from another angle.

The foot is wrapped around one end of the branch, and it looks like more are forming twords the other (left) end of the branch. Should be no problems with breaking off the end of the branch for frags, right? (after a couple of days/weeks acclimation in my tank)

[Reefland]

I can't really make out the new branches that you are talking about but as long as the coral is healthy and you take cuts 1-2" long, the frags should be fine.

[charlie]

What did your skimmer show you this AM? I have never seen a purple leather. My first thought was that it was dyed, sorry .
The lfs that sold it to you probably will say anything to sell stuff, sorry just my experience showing thru!!!

[Zen Reeferer]

k, thanks.

[BubbaWPB]

It's hard to tell without a closeup of the brown hard spot, but I've got some encrusting brown coral (I have no clue what species) that grew on my live rock. If a spot of my brown stuff dies, you can clearly see the skeletal structure. Anyway, it's brown, it's hard and it looks sorta like what you got.

[kevinpo]

Hello and welcome to Reefland!
Leather corals are fairly easy to care for and are quite hardy. Power compact or VHO lighting will work well. Medium flow (enough to slightly sway the branches when extended). They do not require feeding beyond what you are feeding your fish.

Regarding the color, they can be purple naturally but sometimes are colored with food coloring. Either way it will not harm the coral, it just may turn brown over time. Cream or brown are the most common colors but I have seen them in purple, red, and yellow.

The brown looks like it may be a stony coral, (Porites sp.) which is a common hitchhiker. It has the same requirements for light, flow, and feeding.

Regards,
Kevin

[Zen Reeferer]

Skimmer looks like it's normal, yellowish-brown. After wife wakes up, I'll clean it, and check again.(keeping fingers crossed)

[Zen Reeferer]

Checked the skimmate cup this am when lights came on...The contents are a rosy shade of fraud. Bummer. It's the only s/w shop in town. Will be going online, or to Vegas from now on for any purchase. I don't really mind my mistake in buying it, but when I asked what kind of leather it was, he said "a rare Purple Finger Leather that hasn't been dyed...it's natural". My bad...won't happen again with this LFS.

[zhenya]

Yes, you see when it is "rare purple leather" it could be sold for a lot more than your average brown/beige variety. Most LFS do it without blinking an eye but in their defence, if they haven't seen such corals in natural habitat and knew what it looks like, even in purple, it is hard for them to be sure and pass up an opportunity to make an extra buck.

The coral in question looks like some species of Sinularia to me which are found in purple color in nature, along with some regular brown/beige and green.

[Zen Reeferer]

<sigh>

[Zen Reeferer]

Do some corals expell some of their zooanthella when stressed? Guess I'm keeping fingers crossed, that this is the case. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

[kevinpo]

Do some corals expell some of their zooanthella when stressed?

Yes they can, but with soft corals it's more unusual.

Regards,
Kevin

[Zen Reeferer]

Found THIS just cruisin' around the web. Maybe there's hope for mine, afterall.
Has anyone had any experience in dealing with MarineCenter.com?

[marxsman]

I have been keeping the soft leather corals for years. I keep mostly the finger leather that you show. Mine look identical to yours and propagate often. Mine will make a small tail that appears to be growing and then a new branch will start. The tail will dissapear and I have a new piece. As for the color, mine only look purple when it is closed and under actinic lights. Other wise it is a pinkish brown color when opened. The lights I have are PC's and the system has a refuge, skimmer and wet/dry sump.
I also will cut the coral with a razor blade and super glue it to a small rock to start my frags. I take these to the LFS and get instore credit for other things. Here is a picture of one frag. Also the picture of the full tank, if you look at the far right of it you will see that the coral EVEN GROWS ON GLASS!!