my yellow leather...

[jercon_85]

hi, I have a 12 gallon aquapod(about 6 months old) and i just recently started to add coral. Just yesterday i added some yellow leather coral. I think i did a fair job of acclimating it, but it's starting to get a little brownish on one of it's sides. what is it? and what should i do?

[Ross]

Probably needs more flow, and those aquapods really dont have much. I'd replace the stock pump with a MJ 900 or 1200

[Enigma13]

Agree w/ above regarding flow. Also, I am not really familiar w/ Aquapods so what is the lighting. The yellow leathers require quite a bit of lighting for a softy.

[C.Mydas]

On a side note...make sure your running carbon, leathers release a lot of toxins and can accumulate quickly in a smaller tank. Your other corals will tell you, if they start to look a little 'tired'... They also 'shed.' As they grow they'll turn brown and lose their skin like a snake. Some leathers it happens and its very obvious others you'll never see it. Be patient and see what happens. HTH

[caferacermike]

Mydas thanks for the tip. My leathers shed about once every 3 days. My yellow (ahem thank you Enigma) sheds about once every other day. I always wondered if that was good or bad.

And yes Jercon I to have heard that they require high lighting.

[Enigma13]

Caferacermike- Sorry I forgot to warn and explain about the shedding. It is a good sign with the leathers from my tank because it is a sign of growth. I try to make sure that I either position flow to remove the shedding layer or just wave my hand around the coral every couple days to help the process. It will shed a lot less once it gets larger and more settled.

[caferacermike]

Jason that thing is all over the place. Huge during the day and almost non existent at night. Long polyps, short polyps, neon grren, yellow, brown, whitish can change to all colors in one day. I've moved it a few times as my tank keeps getting more and more packed. Has settled in well right next to my 2 other toadstool leathers. I thought for a few days it was going to split in half but seemed to calm down. It's a character.