Toadstool polyps not opening anymore

[Tinnerito]

Hello to who reads this! 4 days ago I bought this toadstool leather coral, and although it has changed its shape drastically from a wrinkly pulp, to an actual coral look, its polyps have never fully opened yet, and when they do, they open only during the day. That was until the 3rd day whereas until now, the polyps have not been opening at all. Is this just a phase in acclimation or a placement problem? Let me know. I attatched 2 photos of the coral 3 days ago with the polyps somewhat open, and the coral now with none of them out. I see no signs of disease, and I blasted it earlier to see if there was any debris or algae, but there was none. I will leave a reply if theres any additional information that your may need.

 

[SandNRocks]

Best guess: low nutrients. Tank looks really clean and has abunch of macro algae as well. Macros will suck out the nitrates and phosphates quicker than the leather can get to them. Check nitrates and phosphates and then id dose nitrates/ feed mysis juice/mysis for a few days and see if that helps.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

My toadstool is currently doing the same! They develop a waxy coating periodically that they need to shed. When this happens they close up. Do you have a good amount of flow? They really need good flow to help them shed the coating

 

[NonstopSoda]

It might just be shedding! more flow would help it get rid of the shed skin faster : )

 

[Tinnerito]

Nitrates and phosphates were at 0. Thank you so much!

 

[Tinnerito]

My toadstool is currently doing the same! They develop a waxy coating periodically that they need to shed. When this happens they close up. Do you have a good amount of flow? They really need good flow to help them shed the coating

I'm not really sure if the flow is adequate. Toadstools prefer moderate flow. But I have no clue what "moderate" means. But for comparison it is in a spot where macroalgae slowly, gently dances with the water if that makes sense. I appreciate your insight! I will think about it.

 

[Tinnerito]

It might just be shedding! more flow would help it get rid of the shed skin faster : )

Maybe! I will continue to monitor the coral and see how things go. I am certain that it is not dying(yet atleast). Thanks for the reply!

 

[Uncle99]

This coral when new, or moved, will sulk for weeks.
Place it and leave it, every change puts you back to zero.

It will come around.

 

[Tinnerito]

This coral when new, or moved, will sulk for weeks.
Place it and leave it, every change puts you back to zero.

It will come around.

I hope so. I just can't bare the thought of seeing my coral one morning bleaching, rotting, or melting away. I will take your word for it. Thank you!

 

[SandNRocks]

If nitrates and phosphates were 0 thats the problem. I wouldnt worry about flow and shedding. Youll visably see them shedding(they get all shiny) and you can just take a turkey baster/pipette and blow them off manually if you think its an issue. Based on the pics it looks like you have a jar/bowl and any decent airpump would be plenty of flow. But anyways, id focus on the nutrients. What I use: Mysis/ mysis juice for nitrates, reef roids for phosphates. Or for manual dosing, neophos and ESV nitrates. Ive never needed or used anything else to maintain nutrients. I dose to like 5 nitrates and like .03 phosphates or something like that.

After a little while and some practice youll be able to look at your corals and tell whats missing without testing as much. Youll remember this particular leather closes up when nitrates/phosphates get too low and it can act as an indicator for when things go wrong and other corals dont show any signs.