toadstool

[bigdscobra]

I have had the toadstool in my tank for about three days.. He was in a place with low to medium light and I noticed today that it was drooping down wards. So I moved him into a better light area of the tank. Do they Droop till they get use to the tank or will the change in light help him out.

[GaryP]

He'll take all the light you can give him, they are mainly photosynthetic and don't feed. They also like medium flow.

[TexasTodd]

They are pretty tough. They usually droop if you touch them.

Medium flow and medium to high light best. But, you can grow them under fairly low light too.

Dan, I had a funny thought writing this. No offense, but if you kill a Kuli Loach and a Toadstool in the same year.................well, you may be hexed! Couple of the toughest animals around! :w00t

But, it happens. I've lost a blonde Naso and an Achilies tang both in the last month. Sucks!

They do like some current on them.

Todd

[GaryP]

Its thought that they only aborb dissolved organics and small stuff like bacteria from the water. DO NOT put them under strong flow, it irritates them and then they start kicking out toxins and the other stuff in the tank starts to die off. I almost lost a beautiful open brain that way.

[bigdscobra]

LOL Todd

I hope he doesnt die I have been making sure to grab the rock he is on and not him. He is in medium flow and good light. So it may just take some time.. or dose the tank with viagra to get him up :lol I have seen those comercials tooo many times this weekend watching speed channel

[TexasTodd]

Gary would know better, but I think some iodine helps them out too.

Gary?

I like the Kent Tech-I because it's supposed to be a little safer. Also makes your Xenia grow like crazy! I use per directions on label.

Todd

[bigdscobra]

Just put 3ml on kent iodine in the tank this is about 2ml less than directed so I dont shock the tanks.

[GaryP]

I quit using iodine all together except for dips. I think the Tech I is potassium iodide and not iodine so its not as strong of an oxidizer. My monster toadstool doesn't seem to care, it just keeps getting bigger. Its taking up half of my 75 now. Its even bigger then the pic in my gallery that was taken in April.

I used to do dose lugol's for my Xenia, but it doesn't need any help. I have to thin it out often enough as it is. I read something a while back that seems to indicate that macro and Xenia don't need iodine like we once thought. There is probably enough from regular water changes and food.

Lugols is a mixture of iodine and potassium iodide.

[Polkster13]

Were the lights on or off, or had just come on, when you saw the "toadstool drooping"?

Leather corals will shrink during the night, this is normal behavior. Also, the polyps will not be extended until after the lights have been on for a while. For time-to-time, leathers will sloth off the outer "skin" and this is normal as well. You will notice that the polyps don't extend for a day or so and then this whitish film will start to detach from the leather. After a couple of days it will be expanded back out to its former glory. This again is normal behavior and nothing to get concerned over.

One of the things you do want to watch out for is to not allow anything around the base that will rub up against the toadstool. This will irritate the coral and cause it to not expand during the day. Prolonged exposure (a week or more) can also kill the coral.

[bigdscobra]

Werid i guess i wasnt sighned in

[GaryP]

You had the toadstool hanging upside down??? I'm confused.

[bigdscobra]

no it wasnt at first than it started to droop so i turned it upside down so it would be facing upwards but it didnt work its back to drooping no matter wich way the rock is.

[bigdscobra]

Its a gonner was all mush this morning took him out... :(

[LoneStar]

that sucks....... :unsure

[Polkster13]

Sounds like something was preying on it. Sometimes there are small worms that will start eating it at the base. It also could have also been due to stress. Did you have anything around it like a brain, galaxia, bubble, et cetera that sends out stinger sweepers? Is there anything else looking stressed in your tank? Do you have any other types of leathers in your tank? If so, how do they look.

I have only lost one toadstool in over 15 years, and that was because the tank temperature went through the roof because the electricity was off for three days while I was gone on vacation. These things are usually very hardy.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

[bigdscobra]

It was all by its self nothing around it. Dont have anymore leathers in the tank just zoos and a hammerhead coral but those look great.

[Polkster13]

Hmmm, definately a mystery. My only other guess (not having a way to look at the remains of the coral) is that it may have been a very small (even microscopic) organism that preys on Leather corals that was accidently introduced which then started eating the coral, coral went into shock and then died.

Have you introduced anything new into your tank lately?

[GaryP]

Do a big water change and run fresh carbon.

[bigdscobra]

Did a water change yesterday and added new carbon. Maybe it wasnt that healthy when I got it. The toadstool started to turn brown in the center after it was drooping than the next day it was wasting away. Thats when i took it out.

[TexasTodd]

Sometimes things JUST DIE in this hobby......for everyone.

I've talked with major authors in this field that complain about still loosing corals out of the blue.

Now, you still have killed a Kuli loach and a leather coral in the same year! You haven't had any black cats walking around you, have you? :)

Todd

[bigdscobra]

nope none of our cats are black well one is black and white :blink

[LoneStar]

that cat is satan! :angry

[Tim Marvin]

Simple.........., poor acclimation, collection, and handling before you got it. I have had a handful of leathers over the years die due to this. Usually when they are handled bad before you get them they will die within a couple weeks of going into your tank, and there is nothing you can do. Although they are very hardy corals they are alive, and can die. I have best luck with them under high light and medium flow. It also depends on you definition of medium flow... Mine is like 4 inches from a maxijet 1200, I would consider that medium flow. High flow is a couple Tunze stream 6060's in an 80 gallon tank or one 6060 in a 45 gallon tank. Leathers can take a fairly strong flow to rid them of sloughing "skin". If they are unable to slough the skin they will die.