[CaptainK]

Hi All,
I have been waiting patiently for this toadstool to open back up for me, but it has not. It has been between 1-2 months since this has gone down hill.
It still feels leathery too the touch and and slightly removed it from the water and it does not smell rotten or foul.
Does my leather look like it is dead or should I hold on longer.


Thanks,
CaptK

[FishKid]

did you try supplements? it would have rotted away if it was dead. try tempting it with some phytoplankton, or a little calcium. Nurse it back man. You can do it!

[Strangelove]

My leather freaks me out about once every 2 weeks by shriveling up and turning blueish-gray. The next day it's always fine. If you're not loosing tissue I'd hang in there.

HTH

Gene

[watermama]

I'm certainly no expert on corals but I'm thinking a water change can't hurt and might even help it! I wouldn't give up on it yet either!!

[FishKid]

my xenia closes up like that every 5 days or so, when it sprouts off another stalk

[mastaJ]

IME with leather corals I wouldn't take it out until it literally melted away. Even then, I wouldn't count the coral out.

[bongobrian]

IODINE!!!! you need to add iodine! I had this same thing happen when I didn't add iodine for a long time... don't make this mistake! it's a natural antibiotic and it is very critical to leathers and other soft corals. I'll also agree with the above, as long as it's not losing tissue, it probably still has a chance. So add some iodine to your water. You might even want to get a bowl or tupperware container, fill it with a half gal of tank water, add 3 drops of lugols (if you have lugols iodine otherwise check the dosage on your iodine) and let the leather soak for an hour each day for a week. Dump out the water when you're done... don't put it back in the tank! don't reuse this water each time either, get a new half gallon of tank water each time you do this. You might also want to place the leather in stronger current inside the tank... I've noticed that seems to help leather rebuild their strength when you "blast" them. Good luck.

[CaptainK]

Thanks for the input everyone,
I do 10% water changes every 2 weeks and add Ca/Alk buffer every few days. I also add Reef Builder to get my Alk up two a good level.
I do feed DT's but that does not seem to work.
I will try adding the Iodine to see if that helps.
So I guess I will not give up hope until this leather actually falls apart.
Is that what happens when leathers go to meet their maker? They just fall apart?

Thanks Again,
CaptK

[Biomanjcs72]

Yes, when leather's die, they disintegrate like toilet paper in the clothes washer. (They also go limp, if your's was dead, he'd be lieing on his side, sloughing off dead tissue as he decayed.