New frag Emergency, please help!

[PJs_Bucket_List]

I bought this healthy leather frag Saturday. Brought it home and got settled in to the tank, no problem. It's been doing fine, but I noticed that the nearby Kenya tree and zoas aren't opening fully. Noticed this morning the leather is droopy and seems to be shedding, which I read is normal. Decided to move it away from the Kenya tree and zoas, and when I moved it a tiny piece fell off, and it looks like it's losing tissue! Is it dying? What can I do to save it?
Note: the dark spots are the "shedding". It's the tips, where it's losing tissue, that I'm concerned about.

 

[ecoreefguy]

What parameters are you testing for? It’s normal for it to shrivel and molt, but not have pieces falling off

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

Right now I'm testing everything I can think of. So far, everything is coming up within normal parameters, but I'm not done, so we'll see. Any idea what could cause this? And what can I do to fix it/save the coral?

 

[chaples55]

This does not look good

I had a leather coral kind of just melt away and die on me in the early days of my first reef tank. I also wasn't sure why since all my parameters seemed ok.

I would take it out, shake off (under water) and blow off (turkey baster) any loose or shedding parts, then do an iodine dip. I've found iodine dips to be pretty gentle while effectively clearing up mysterious infections. Anything that comes off easily was going to come off anyway and is just contributing to the spread of the tissue loss. If any healthy looking pieces come off you could try making frags out of them.

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

This does not look good

I had a leather coral kind of just melt away and die on me in the early days of my first reef tank. I also wasn't sure why since all my parameters seemed ok.

I would take it out, shake off (under water) and blow off (turkey baster) any loose or shedding parts, then do an iodine dip. I've found iodine dips to be pretty gentle while effectively clearing up mysterious infections. Anything that comes off easily was going to come off anyway and is just contributing to the spread of the tissue loss. If any healthy looking pieces come off you could try making frags out of them.

Thanks. I tried the shake and baste. I'll try the dip, and pray it does the trick. Wish me luck!

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

Update on the leather: I tried the iodine dip. Returned it to the tank and left it alone. It actually looked better at first. This morning, it's basically broken in two and separated from the base. Is there anything I can do to save it, or is this my first loss? I feel like such a failure. Where did I go wrong? Also, the zoas and Kenya tree that it was near aren't opening now... what is going on? They were doing great until I put the leather in there.

 

[hzheng33]

you may want to pull the leather. it's a goner and will likely pollute your water if left inside.

what are your parameters?

 

[spike]

Run carbon. if you have a media reactor put carbon with a pump. Toxins in the water from the leather dying are pissing off the other coral. Zoanthids will stay closed due to toxins in water column. Carbon might even help leather. If no carbon get rid of the leather.

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

Is there any part of it I can save? Should I try to frag it? How would I do that? I don't have any carbon right now, what else can I do to help the zoa and Kenya tree?

 

[chaples55]

Is there any part of it I can save? Should I try to frag it? How would I do that? I don't have any carbon right now, what else can I do to help the zoa and Kenya tree?

Not if the whole thing is dying. Maybe if there's a small finger that isn't rotting away you can cut it off with scissors, rubber band it to a small rock or frag plug, then do another iodine dip before placing it back in the tank.

You can get carbon at any fish store or Petco/PetSmart or even Walmarts that have aquarium stuff in the pet section. Other than carbon your best bet is a big water change or a series of smaller water changes

 

[PJs_Bucket_List]

Not if the whole thing is dying. Maybe if there's a small finger that isn't rotting away you can cut it off with scissors, rubber band it to a small rock or frag plug, then do another iodine dip before placing it back in the tank.

You can get carbon at any fish store or Petco/PetSmart or even Walmarts that have aquarium stuff in the pet section. Other than carbon your best bet is a big water change or a series of smaller water changes

I cut off a couple sections that still look healthy, making sure there's no deteriorating tissue. Iodine dipped, and rubber banded to small rocks. Now I'll watch, wait, and see if they survive. I don't know what I did wrong, or how a healthy, hardy specimen like that went down so fast. Thanks for the advice! Fingers crossed, hopefully it works.

 

[chaples55]

I cut off a couple sections that still look healthy, making sure there's no deteriorating tissue. Iodine dipped, and rubber banded to small rocks. Now I'll watch, wait, and see if they survive. I don't know what I did wrong, or how a healthy, hardy specimen like that went down so fast. Thanks for the advice! Fingers crossed, hopefully it works.

Your tank is still very new, right? There's a lot that goes on at the microbial level in a reef tank that we don't fully understand, but it is generally accepted that reef tanks take at least 6 months to a year to fully mature and stabilize. So, it could be related to that, or any number of other things that we can't really test for such as chemical warfare between corals or a mysterious infection.

Occasional coral losses are just a fact of life in this hobby IMO. It stings at first but you get used to it lol. I try to offset the ones that don't make it by fragging and selling/sharing the ones that grow well . Sometimes what does well in one tank does poorly in another