Ruh-roh, Raggy! Finger leather in trouble.

nicoleah · 02/21/2014, 07:26 PM

For whatever reason the lowest stalk on my green finger leather is disintegrating and part of it has started to turn black.

The coral branches off into three main stalks and the back stalk is connected to another chunk of rockwork.

I'm thinking I need to frag this poor sucker ASAP and am also wondering if it would be beneficial to lop off the three large stalks into separate pieces before the entire coral goes necrotic? I would really hate to lose the centerpiece of my tank but it'll be even worse to lose all of it! Any advice is appreciated. Thank you as always for your help, guys.

Will post a pic soon.

Nanook · 02/21/2014, 07:35 PM

Hmmm, do you have another system to place it into? That would be my suggestion. Most likely it has suffered from some type of negative water parameter. Once they start turning black and disintegrating they tend to go fast.

nicoleah · 02/21/2014, 07:51 PM

Sadly it has nowhere else to go. So weird, the only changes I've made recently (within the last few months) was switching to IO salt from Coralife and changed bulbs a few weeks ago from ATI to UVL. I must have done something it doesn't like!

Nanook · 02/21/2014, 08:42 PM

Just leave it alone then. Do a water change when you get a chance, but leave it alone.

nicoleah · 02/23/2014, 02:43 PM

Tested water a couple of hours after lights-on, no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, pH was 7.8, calcium on the side of normal at 400 ppm, same with KH at 8 dKH. Did a water change (last one was only 2 weeks ago) and it just keeps looking worse.

A week ago the bottom part was fibrous but white, now it's turning black and has some algae growing on it. (insert lots of lots of curse words here)

Nanook · 02/23/2014, 09:03 PM

I've had that happen to my green nepthea in the past and it stopped dying off and made it...so, fingers crossed. I would just leave it be...might not be a bad idea to run a poly filter pad in the sump to see if there is some kind of heavy metal that could be affecting it. They are not that expensive and sometimes help...also, a small amount of carbon might not be a bad idea.

02/21/2014, 07:26 PM	#1
nicoleah SLASH Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 479	Ruh-roh, Raggy! Finger leather in trouble. For whatever reason the lowest stalk on my green finger leather is disintegrating and part of it has started to turn black. The coral branches off into three main stalks and the back stalk is connected to another chunk of rockwork. I'm thinking I need to frag this poor sucker ASAP and am also wondering if it would be beneficial to lop off the three large stalks into separate pieces before the entire coral goes necrotic? I would really hate to lose the centerpiece of my tank but it'll be even worse to lose all of it! Any advice is appreciated. Thank you as always for your help, guys. Will post a pic soon. __________________ - Nikki __________________________________________________________________________ 60 cube started 06/18/17 - Radion XR30 Gen3 Pro - Vectra M1 Return - VorTech MP40

02/21/2014, 07:35 PM	#2
Nanook Ancient Eskimo Legend Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Saint Louis, MO Posts: 41,852 Blog Entries: 11	Hmmm, do you have another system to place it into? That would be my suggestion. Most likely it has suffered from some type of negative water parameter. Once they start turning black and disintegrating they tend to go fast. __________________ The wind blew, the chit flew, and then they came two by two. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Current Tank Info: 375g Tanganyikan Tank & 470g mixed reef

02/21/2014, 07:51 PM	#3
nicoleah SLASH Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 479	Sadly it has nowhere else to go. So weird, the only changes I've made recently (within the last few months) was switching to IO salt from Coralife and changed bulbs a few weeks ago from ATI to UVL. I must have done something it doesn't like! __________________ - Nikki __________________________________________________________________________ 60 cube started 06/18/17 - Radion XR30 Gen3 Pro - Vectra M1 Return - VorTech MP40

02/21/2014, 08:42 PM	#4
Nanook Ancient Eskimo Legend Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Saint Louis, MO Posts: 41,852 Blog Entries: 11	Just leave it alone then. Do a water change when you get a chance, but leave it alone. __________________ The wind blew, the chit flew, and then they came two by two. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Current Tank Info: 375g Tanganyikan Tank & 470g mixed reef

02/23/2014, 02:43 PM	#5
nicoleah SLASH Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 479	Tested water a couple of hours after lights-on, no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, pH was 7.8, calcium on the side of normal at 400 ppm, same with KH at 8 dKH. Did a water change (last one was only 2 weeks ago) and it just keeps looking worse. A week ago the bottom part was fibrous but white, now it's turning black and has some algae growing on it. (insert lots of lots of curse words here) __________________ - Nikki __________________________________________________________________________ 60 cube started 06/18/17 - Radion XR30 Gen3 Pro - Vectra M1 Return - VorTech MP40

02/23/2014, 09:03 PM	#6
Nanook Ancient Eskimo Legend Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Saint Louis, MO Posts: 41,852 Blog Entries: 11	I've had that happen to my green nepthea in the past and it stopped dying off and made it...so, fingers crossed. I would just leave it be...might not be a bad idea to run a poly filter pad in the sump to see if there is some kind of heavy metal that could be affecting it. They are not that expensive and sometimes help...also, a small amount of carbon might not be a bad idea. __________________ The wind blew, the chit flew, and then they came two by two. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Current Tank Info: 375g Tanganyikan Tank & 470g mixed reef