Yellow leather coral  - 03/13/2006 I have recently purchased a yellow Fuji <Mount?> leather coral when it was place in the tank it appeared healthy but has since appeared to be declining I have it in a 120gal reek system with several other soft corals that are doing very well I have the leather place high in the tank with moderate to strong water flow the lighting is a 260 watt compact fluorescent that I have on a timer for about 15 hr per day the water quality is good but it does not appear to be improving any suggestion I have lost a xenia but all of the corals appear healthy including a colt coral that is thriving please help. dale Berkley <... this may be a Sarcophyton elegans... not easily kept. Use the Google search tool on WWM... see elsewhere re. Might even be an artificially dyed specimen (lucky you!). Bob Fenner>  

Yellow Leather turning green color... Cnidarian allelopathy, classic  2/22/06 Help!!! By the way, hello all! My yellow leather has a large green patch and looks deflated. Can this be due to the recent upgrade to halides. <... yes... if done/switched on too much, too soon...> This is a 50g tank, 18" tall, and the new halide bulbs (two at 150w each, 14,000K) sit about 7" from the tank. Halides are an upgrade from power compacts, 260w. I acclimated by placing the bulbs about 12" from the surface of the water and later brought it closer and placed a screen (the same screen from a screen door) over the bulb. <Good techniques> This was there for about a week and the screen was removed. The first day was fine, but the second and third, the yellow leather began to deflate and change colors. I have since put back the screen. Water parameters are as follows: Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 10 to 20 (been decreasing since I removed the Bio Wheel from the Tidepool sump) Phosphate - .5 (I know, should be zero) Calcium - 350 (a little low?) <Yes, but acceptable> Alkalinity - about 13 pH - 8.2 Salinity - 1.025 to 1.026 Any ideas? Other tank inhabitants include Pipe Organ (not opening much), Crocea clam (doing great and growing), various mushrooms, Pineapple Coral, Pulsing Xenia and Bubble Coral. <... likely a mal-reaction from these other cnidarians... too much chemical competition in too small a volume... You might try using activated carbon in your filter flow path> Inverts - Cleaner shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, Emerald crab, Brittle Star, Anemone (green neon-tipped, unsure of species), <... This is the likely source...> various snails and Feather Duster. Many inverts have died recently including a Blood shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, Emerald Crab, Pistol Shrimp which I have attributed to the sudden spike in Nitrate, all of a sudden from 0 to 10 to 20 to 40. Thanks for all your help! <Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompfaqs.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Re: Yellow Leather turning green color   2/23/06 Thanks! That may make sense, the anemone just went in two days ago, the same day I removed the carbon fearing I would remove too much trace elements. So you believe allelopathy is the issue here? If the carbon doesn't work, any additional advice? <... A bigger tank, adding a refugium, DSB... Please see the referred, linked files... Bob Fenner>

Leather Corals comp., health, sys.    2/17/06 Hi there... Thank you for the wonderful insight into marine aquariums. I had a question about Leather Corals. I have a 55G tank set up primarily all for Sarcophytons, 12 total. My Ph is 8.0, ammonia .25, <Should be zip> Nitrate and Nitrite both 0 on an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit. The tank has been set up for a year with a chiller keeping it at 78. My question is for the past two weeks All of the leather corals have closed up. <See the ammonia?> No new corals or fish have been introduced and my green star polyps, woods hole polyps, and anthelia have been fine. <They're winning...> I did a 10 Gallon water change, with R/O water. Specific Gravity is 1.023. After the water change two of the smaller leathers opened up. Should I be concerned of a toxin in the water or is this natural for leathers to all close at the same time.   -Thank you for your response. <I would be concerned... start using (continuously) activated carbon... and fix the root cause of the ammonia source... and all may live together for some time forward. Bob Fenner>

Sarcophyton becoming covered with algae  - 02/16/2006 To the WWM Crew <Flavio> The Sarcophyton is in my 500 litres tank about 2 months ago. In this period of adapting time it expands his head and only 1 or 2 mm of his polyps maybe every two or three days. All these times it produces the peculiar protective thin film. <Yes, good> Since about one week, it his always closed and the film is becoming yellow with diatoms and on some areas I could see thin filamentous algae. <Not good> Near the Sarcophyton (10 cm) I have a Hydnophora that is ok. <Too close... I'd keep this and all other stony corals at least 15 cm. away...> The lights are 6 NO fluorescent and 1 actinic. Do you think that it is better to remove the coral to another position, far way from the Hydnophora ? <Yes, ciertamente> Too much light for the soft coral? <No> The NOs are 30 cm above it. Do you think it will help to gently remove the algae after the change of place if it were the case? <I would wait... hopefully the Sarcophyton will shed this in time> Thank you very much for your site and your precious help. Flavio <Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Colt Coral Health  2/14/06 Dear Crew <Larry> I'm having trouble keeping "colt" coral.  I have one nice big specimen that is thriving, but can't seem to keep a second one around, no matter where the placement. I'm on my fourth attempt.  Can only one specimen be kept per tank, or am I just having bad luck? <They are an aggressive coral but as long as they are placed far enough apart, shouldn't have any trouble keeping more than one.  Colt corals will sometimes secrete a mucus during shipping/bagging to protect itself.  Do rinse off good in seawater before placing in your tank. Are you dosing trace elements...strontium, iodine, etc?  How about flow rate, nitrate levels?> thanks <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)> L. Splitter
Re: Colt Coral  - 2/15/2006 James I hate to generalize, but if one specimen (colt coral) is doing well, shouldn't the other specimens (colt coral) do the same. <Understand you here but quite possible the one you have may have adapted or came from a system with similar water parameters to yours. There are many varieties of colt coral also.  Do you drip acclimate the coral before introduction?> I dose iodine, strontium and do frequent water changes.  The nitrate level is between 10 and 20 ppm, sp gravity is 1.023, <1.025 much better for corals.>  temp 77 F, dKH 12, ph 8.3 and they are placed an opposite ends of the tank. <Am at a loss for words as these corals are relatively easy to grow.  May want to try one from a source other than where you bought the previous colts.  Another suggestion is to propagate new ones from your present colt.  Here is a link showing you how.  http://search.isp.netscape.com/nsisp/boomframe.jsp?query=colt+coral&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Dce25d7a9a126710f%26clickedItemRank%3D3%26userQuery%3Dcolt%2Bcoral%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.garf.org%252Ftrever%252Fcolt%252FCOLTmoves.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSISPBoom%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.garf.org%2Ftrever%2Fcolt%2FCOLTmoves.html > Thanks <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)>

Sarcophyton trouble and unreliable test results  12/10/05 Hello again crew, <Hi Tom, Adam J with you today.> Thank you in advance for reading this and sharing any ideas that might spring to mind. <My pleasure.> My question is about a Sarcophyton coral I've had for a couple months. It seemed happy in my tank for the first few weeks, but the last couple weeks I have noticed that, although the polyps extend, the ends don't open up fully.  Instead, the fingers at the ends of the polyps seem to form little globes. <I've noticed this myself with Sarcophyton, could be a few things going on. One reason is it's about ready to shed, has it done this lately? Another reason is allelopathy from neighboring corals? Any new additions or drastic growths from neighboring animals. Also And the final reason I can think of at the moment is phosphate additives or sponges. Some of these have aluminum which has been known to irritate softies and leathers in general.> I know that Sarcophyton do some kind of shedding thing from time to time. Could this be part of that process?  <Possibly.> Or could it be something else? <See above.> My tank is 30 gallons. Tank started in March. Used old live rock, pre-seeded Bio-Wheel, and occasional bit of shrimp to feed bacteria for first few months. Added some new live rock 8/27/05 (arrived in pretty good condition). First livestock (Sarcophyton, Fire Shrimp, and 30 small hermit crabs) added 10/5/05. Firefish added 10/25, and Yellow Clown Goby added 11/18. All but about 12 hermits have disappeared (probably I started with too many) <Yes.> but all the other creatures are doing well. <No protein Skimmer.> I tested water last night and got this: pH 8.4 (7:20PM) ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 (approx, certainly below 5 ppm by my test) specific gravity 1.026 dKH 6.7 (low, see below) <A little low but not drastically low. The 7 to 12 range is ideal.> Tested alkalinity again this morning and got 7.4 (still low, see below) calcium - no reading I never got a color change on my calcium test sample using a Tropic Marine titration kit. Either this implies off-scale low calcium or a bad test (or bad kit - kit might be a couple years old). Earlier, on 11/25, I had dKH of 8.0, and still earlier, on 10/15, I had dKH 7.2 and calcium around 340-350.  <Kits do have an expiration date please check this. It's also a good idea to verify the test with a local LFS, but get exact readings, do not just let them tell you "Good" - that's not helpful.> I'm puzzled that I cannot seem to raise my alkalinity and calcium. I use RO/DI water for top off, and dose with B-Ionic almost every day. I started using 15 ml per day on 10/12, and raised that to 20 ml on 10/24. In a 30 gallon tank I would have thought this would raise dKH and calcium, even if there is approximately 40 lbs of live rock with a lot of coralline algae. The maximum recommended dosage in a 30 gallon would be 30 ml/day. My alkalinity test kit is a couple years old too, but it gives a plausible reading on new aged Instant Ocean, which tests 8.3. Probably I should get new test kits for alkalinity and calcium so I'm more confident of my readings. <Yes I agree that you have a wacky test kit.> For circulation, I've got an Aqua-C Remora, <Oh you do have a skimmer, a very good one too.> Penguin 170 (sans Bio-Wheel), two 175 gph powerheads, and one 127 gph powerhead. <Consider another powerhead for some more turbulent motion. For a few months, I've run a 96 watt 50/50 compact fluorescent 12 hours/day. The other bulb is a 96 watt actinic that I've experimented with, recently running it 7.5 hours/day, compared to daily 1 hour "dawn" and 1 hour "dusk" cycles for the previous several weeks. <Lighting is good.> I did feed DT's Marine Phytoplankton regularly for a few weeks in October until I ran out and the fish store was out of stock. I wasn't too anxious to get more since my son has a Sarcophyton in a different tank that has done fine for a year or two with no special feeding. <Yes they can often get by on dissolved organics, waste from fish, etc..> I know there's potentially a lot to consider here. Does anything jump out as a possible explanation for the Sarcophyton's malaise? <I would address your test kit issue first and get some more accurate readings.> Thanks, Tom <Welcome, Adam J.>
Re: Unhappy Sarcophyton, Chemistry to Blame?  12/26/05 Thanks, Adam. <Quite Welcome.> Since I didn't trust my test kits, I decided to order new ones (Salifert). <Good move.> It took forever to get them.  In the meantime, I decided to discontinue the B-Ionic applications, and change 10 percent of the water about twice a week. <B-Ionic is a reputable calcium/alk two part but yes you should not be adding it without the test kits for it.> Test kits arrived, and I got dKH of 5 and Ca of 380, with pH of 8.4 at 5:00 PM. <dKH is a bit low, should be between 7 and 12.> That looks low on dKH, fine on Ca and pH. <Yup.> So here's the question:  Am I close enough to balance on Alk and Ca that I should just go ahead with B-Ionic dosing at the low end of the recommended range (1 ml per 4 gallons per day)?  Or more than that? <Go with the recommended dose and test daily, or at least every other day to monitor the effects. The best way to stabilize these though is with keeping up on the regular water changes. If you don't like the two part additives look into ripping Kalkwasser.> My uninformed instinct is that I should dose with the Alkalinity component alone for a while to get the dKH more like 8, then resume dosing both.  Is that crazy? <Not completely, but I wouldn't do it. Your Calcium could be a little higher, 380ppm is not extremely high.> Or do I have to do more water changes to get something closer to dKH of 10 and Ca of 400, then dose in equal amounts? <Read here for a much better explanation than I can provide: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm.> By the way, just today I found the recommendations to shake the B-Ionic before application. <That's the recommendation for most bottled items.> The bottle does not say to do that, and I have not been doing it.  Can that be part of the reason dosing did not seem to raise my dKH? <Should not be to much of an issue.> Thanks, Tom <Welcome, Adam J.> P.S. Sarcophyton is still not quite happy. <Try correcting your chem. issues and then take it from there.>
Re: Sarcophyton Still Pouting  1/8/06 Thanks again, Adam. <No problem.> I'm working on water chemistry. <Cool.> But one of your earlier responses suggested chemical warfare from other corals as a cause of unhappiness for my Sarcophyton.  I didn't think much about this, because I thought I had no other corals. However, it occurs to me that I do have some little things that are probably Aiptasia that came with Florida live rock.  I can see 8 of them (in a 30 gallon), but there could be others. What's the chance that these are why my Sarcophyton is not quite happy? <If they are in direct contact, then yes they could be/are responsible for he negative reaction, if they are a-ways-away then I wouldn't fret to much. However I would look up Steven Pros article Re: Aiptasia on WWM, these little buggers can get out of hand.> Thanks, Tom <Anytime, Adam J.>

Leather/Xenia Shrinking   1/30/06 To whom ever, <Mike G> I have been searching the FAQs and don't think there is an answer (tank info below). Over Christmas, I left my tank in the hands of a family member, who took the pre-sized frozen food portions in the weekly pill case out of the freezer for the week, but continued to feed the rotting food.   <I assume that most every fishkeeper has a horror story of a similar sort.> Secondly, right before leaving my Auto top-off stuck on and added two gallons of fresh water to the tank.   <It just gets better and better.> Finally, my heater stuck stock on (now I'm thinking a surge of some sort) and sent the tank from 76-77 to 82, and that night down to 73 before I put the new heater in.   <Bad day. Really, really bad day.> Needless to say everything is now thriving/spreading again (mushrooms, zoos, gsp, the too many fish) except my leather and xenia which were good for 4 months prior.   <Xenia are notorious for suddenly doing poorly/melting away for either no reason at all or from previous stresses.> The leather is now about half the size, with no melting or white tissue, just slumped over and a little shriveled looking.  The three connected xenia stalks have reduced to small white bumps on a rock.  Is there any hope for them?   <Well, there's always hope, I'd like to think.> If so what measures can I take to improve their odds. <Keep water conditions stable/close to what they were doing wonderfully in before the day of doom. Not much else you CAN do.> I have done several water changes slowly returning PH, Temp & SG to normal, But two weeks later no improvement, but not dead (the leather) or completely gone (the xenia).  How long can they persist this way before I should remove them?   <Until they're dead, they can still bounce back. Leathers and Xenia are notoriously hardy corals once they're in good water. Keep the conditions stable and you should se an improvement.> Thanks. (Last x-mas it was three fish dying for some reason, same care giver) <Time to invest in a tank sitting service?> [My tank:  2yr old Sumpless 44gal Corner Pentagon (By product of my past hobby, wife&kids and Finding Nemo Movie), internal refuge w/ Chaeto, and DIY spray inj/air stone skimmer (2 liter pop bottle of brown tea/mo), Ca=390, <A touch low... should be ~400, 425> DKH=11, Amm, Nitrates & trites~0, Phosphates are too high <0.5 (water source) <Considered RO/DI water? May also help the melting softies in the long run.> but not any higher than always (need a more precise test kit (CHEAP/accurate recommendations?)) <Not usually two synonymous terms... Salifert is wonderful for accuracy.> (Thanks by the way! last year removed Bio-Wheels nitrates went from constant 20 to zero in two days) <Very nice.> SG=1.025, PH=8.3(low before lights on), don't test/add trace elements <Try adding a two-part Cal/Alk supplement such as B-Ionic or C-Balance. Would help your Calcium levels, give the corals something extra.> 8gal water change (tap water) 1/wk <I'd recommend a switch to RO/DI water - tap really isn't great for reef tank purposes.> About 4gal evap auto top-off/wk. Tank is 1/3 full with live rock & 4in deep sand bed (I know it doesn't leave much water (this tank is for growing inhabitants for a 125gal in a year or so, wife didn't know she would rekindle the itch)).  2 oscillating power heads, one more feeding skimmer , and an eclipse hang-on w/ removed filter cartridges for current (border line violent water flow). Two cartridges with carbon and PolyFilter changed alternately every week.  Four 15W 10k NO Fluorescent Bulbs 3in from surface 13hrs/day w/ 3-4hrs natural sun light in morning (all corals are less than 6in from surface) <Still not much light - would recommend upgrading to at least PCs. Much better idea in the long run.> Fish: Flame Angel, Pair Yellow Watchman Gobies, Engineer Goby, Pair Neon Gobies, Pair Percula Clowns, Royal Gramma. <I'd say you're a touch overstocked there.> Inverts: Brittle Star, Pair Cleaner Shrimp, Couple Dozen Cerith and Nassarius Snails, 8 Blue Leg Hermit Crabs. Corals: GSP, Red & Green Mushrooms, 1 Ricordea (sp?), Hairy Mushrooms, 4flavors of Zoos, 3"Leather, Xenia, Some quick spreading brown/white small star looking polyp gift of the live rock gods (spreads with white thread like growths, help IDing this one would be great) <Have a picture? Best of luck, Mike G>
Re: leather/Xenia Shrinking   1/31/06 Thanks, Xenia disappeared.   <Bad news.> Leather looks like it does before shedding, but seems to be more inflated today.   <Good news.> I have read Seachem's Reef Plus is good, might an additive like this if used moderately help? <Seachem is a wonderful brand - I'd assume it would be alright, though, really, I'm not a fan of adding anything more than you can test for. A two-part additive such as C-Balance would be a far wiser purchase, in my experience.> Additional Question: Is there a good place to get PC sockets, my hood is home made, also do you know if they can be driven by a workhorse 4 ballast? <Hmm... I'm not the one to talk to re: ballasts, but I do know that Coralife makes decent PC sockets. I'm sure other companies such as Custom Aquatic would offer them for sale, as well.> As far as the mystery polyp I have included two pictures.   <Not attached... send again?> One shows its coloring a little better, the other shows the white strands it uses to spread, they spread under rocks and places void of light to pop up just about anywhere.  I just want to make sure it isn't something that might take down my tank or start a war with some of my other corals.  Thanks, I appreciate your time and input! <You're very welcome. Good luck! Mike G>
Re: Leather/Xenia Shrinking   2/1/06 Sorry, hope these go through. <They came through fine, and, if I'm looking at the right creatures, they look like Clavularia species to me - a beautiful and desirable Octocoral. Some resources: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clavulariids.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypfaqs.htm  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypfaqs2.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypfaqs3.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypidfaqs.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypcompfaqs.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypdisfaqs.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypreprofaqs.htm > Have a good week! <Same to you!> Ryan, Amanda, Larkin & wee Liam <Mike G>

Leather Coral 01-26-06 Hi Crew, <Mohamed> I have 2 Thin Finger Leather Corals and 1 seems to have some die off. It gets sort of mushy on the one side. I just done a water exchange calcium 400, ph 8.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5.0, alkalinity 8, phosphate 0.1 and magnesium 1300. (ppm) I have done a fresh water bath for 3 minutes and an iodine dip for 15 minutes but the problem still continued so I cut the part that is dying but with no luck (day 5). <Make sure to cut into the good tissue to remove all the diseased tissue.> I had a problem once with a Finger Leather Coral that had some die off but I cut the patch that had the die off twice but with no luck and finally I cut about ½ a inch away from the die off which seem to help. <As mentioned above.> Is there a rule as to how much can be cut off from the die off? <You want to make sure all diseased tissue is removed. It is similar to tumor or cancer removal in that you go past the lesion to ensure that it will not return.> I need to save this coral what else can I do? <Cut it and do an iodine dip. Then place it in a moderate flow area so the slime coat can be cleared away. Travis> Thanks    Mohamed.

Finger Leather Coral Behavior, Health  1/26/06 Hello all, thank you in advance for helping me with this one. <OK> Your site is WONDERFUL. <Thank you.>   I came home tonight only to find my 4 year old green finger leather had found my intake tube to my filter. <Mmm, wonder how that happened, not a mobile animal.> Much to my disbelief, most of the fingers were sucked up into the tube. I turned off the power to the filter, and carefully dislodged the coral. What a mess!! My beautiful "showpiece" is nothing more than dangling, damaged white fingers. When it was healthy it was at least 12-14" tall, now only about 5"tall. I think it is a survivor, because when I fed the tank, its polyps opened up. Oh, I only hope. Now, my question, it has many dangling, damaged appendages. Do I do anything to these to speed up the healing, or leave them alone? Should I move the leather, or leave it in my 125g system? I have put sponges over the strainers for now, just in case ( even though it has been fine for many years). I did change the carbon, and added a poly filter. Please help me with this. I have never seen something so pathetic, I am really feeling for this coral.  <Stephanie, carefully trim the damaged areas with a sharp pair of scissors and the coral will heal itself.  Don't believe you will lose it.>Thanks in advance.  <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)> Stephanie.

Yellow patches on toadstool mushroom    1/25/06 Mr. Fenner I've noticed this problem several years ago while using phosphate binding media, and have noticed it again under the same condition.  Is this at all related to the phosphate binders (Kent media and sponge)? <Too likely so, yes> It's not a waxy film.  The best I can describe it is that is looks like patches of thick brown-yellow adherent paste, usually no bigger than the tip of a pencil eraser, numerous and not localized to any one part of the leather.  All water parameters are in normal range. Thanks L.Splitter <I'd pre-mix, add these sorts of supplements to new water to be mixed in slowly during water changes. Bob Fenner>  

Sarcophyton elegans ...  Alcyoniid (non)selection  1/18/06 Hello. Briefly, 90 gallon with mix of fish, inverts, soft corals, and some SPS. Everything does great... I am propagating and selling to a great LFS. I recently ordered my fourth yellow Fiji leather coral. <Am sure you know... this is not often a hardy species for aquarium use>   The first two arrived in brown water so dead and didn¹t even try to put in tank.  The third didn¹t look so hot but it didn¹t smell, and the water was ³clean² upon arrival.  In two hours, it was melting and disintegrating and smelled horrible.  I promptly removed it.  My experience has been that these corals are a nightmare though I see pics of them in people¹s tanks and apparently they can do great!  I¹ve seen them at a LFS in person and they looked horrible so I order them through a company giving a guarantee.  They are very reputable.  This last time, I processed one and it had been in there about two weeks.  It¹s not dying (it seems so but I mean when those things decide to go, they go ) but it¹s not doing great either.  Holes, brown spots, shriveled, shedding.... I got permission from the seller to work with it- in other words would my warranty stand and they said yes, just try to save it.  I ran by them attempting to cut away bad spots and giving iodine baths.  They said those are good things. <Are generally good stop-gap measures> I am no expert, so I took a brand-new, clean razor blade and cut away bad spots.  I have given several iodine baths- 10 drops to one quart.  It seems rejuvenated at times.  Some yellow even growing back where I cut away at hole and brown stuff.  However, one ³ruffle² (is it capitulum?) <The whole top, yes> is especially looking really good in comparison to the rest.  Clean, clear, yellow, not shriveled.  Lately it has even had bumps on it as of I will see some polyp soon.  Can I , could I, should I cut this part and give it an iodine bath and attempt to attach it to something else and let it be apart from the rest that is not doing so great? <Worth trying... but as stated, this species just doesn't "make it" often...> With what do I attach and do you have any suggestions.  I really would like to enjoy this coral....or is it like the mandarin... leave it alone.  Please help me. Oh, Salt 1.025 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 10 (My skimmer is not functioning right now, awaiting a new needle wheel)...but I am faithfully keeping up a 15 gallon water change weekly. -Water warmed, aerated, matching salt, pH 8.3-day, 8.1 night KH 9-10dKH Ca 350ppm Under 2 MH 175 watt, and 2 96 watt pc 50/50-though I keep it from being under the direct blast of the light.  It is also in good flow to help remove sloughing.    <I would only try this species if you have an extra tank, money and patience. I am unaware of what (if any) "magic" there is to keeping it. Bob Fenner>

Sick Sarcos?   1/14/06 Hi guys, thank you for the wonderful service you are providing. I have a 55G tank home to primarily all Sarcophyton leathers. I purchased a new leather about a month ago and after a week noticed a quarter sized brown "scab" on the edge, the coral being about 5" in diameter. I put it in the path of a powerhead and the "scab" blew off, soon to re-appear a couple days later. Fearing an infection spreading, I discarded this coral. This week I noticed another brown scab on a Sarcophyton. This scab is about 1" long and the width of a pen tip, on a 3" diameter Sarcophyton. I removed the scab with tweezers. In researching your past articles, it didn't look like brown-jelly infection or a necrotic infection because the scab was hard and the tissue underneath looks healthy. I hope this is a descent description, thank you for your response. <Don't know what this/these might be... perhaps just accumulated/shedding mucus cuticle. Likely adequate nutrition, lighting, good water quality is all that is required here. Bob Fenner>