yellow leather

[dreams]

i read that yellow leathers don't have sweeper tentacles.....well, mine is sending out sonmething and they are very long.....the problem is that it is going through my pipe coral

do need to be concerned?....i can't move the leather, it has attached.....may be able to move the pipe

help

[V]

i read that yellow leathers don't have sweeper tentacles.....well, mine is sending out sonmething and they are very long.....the problem is that it is going through my pipe coral
do need to be concerned?....i can't move the leather, it has attached.....may be able to move the pipe help



learning time kids :o

Classification: Soft Coral
Common Names: Yellow Leather Coral

Description:
Yellow leather coral has a convoluted crown atop a single sturdy stalk. The crown is covered with small cream colored polyps.

Natural Environment:
? This coral is normally collected in the wild, but it is easily propagated.

Hardiness: Leather corals tend to be very hardy corals. They will sometimes withdraw their tentacles and get a waxy look to their surface for periods of time of up to a week or more. This is normal as the animal sloughs off a layer of skin. Very extended periods of withdrawal can indicate that the coral is not happy with its environment.

Lighting: Does well from moderate lighting up to very intense. Yellow leathers seem to do better under the higher intensity lighting.

Water Current: Leather corals like a low to moderate water flow.

Temperature: Does well within a range of at least 75º to 84º F.

Aggressiveness: Very low.

Feeding: Leather corals are photosynthetic and do not require direct feeding. It is unknown if they will take zooplankton or phytoplankton.

Supplements: No special requirement are noted. Normal acceptable water parameters seem to suite it just fine.

Tank Positioning: No special requirements other than keeping them out of forceful water flow.

Propagation:: Easily propagated by cutting a section of the cap off and dividing it into small pieces about 1/4" in size. The pieces can be placed on a gravel bed in low water flow and they will attach to gravel particles within a couple of weeks. They can then be superglued to a suitable substrate such as a reef plug.

Another neat thing about leathers is that they are often accepted as a host for Clown (anemone) fish (genus Amphiprion) when a suitable anemone is not present. This has been recorded in the wild, not just in captivity in aquaria. Clownfish have spawned in captivity with a leather coral for a host as well!

Leathers practice chemical warfare, since stinging polyps (aggressive defense) or a hard skeleton (passive defense) are not available options. They emit chemicals toxic to potential threats, like other corals trying to horn in on their turf, so it is important to not let them touch, or even be too near other corals. Usually this is a few inches on either side of the fully extended, opened up animal. Don't be fooled by their shrunk up size, which sometimes they do, appearing to be dying off. Then they often shed an outer layer of "skin", followed by a growth period after which it is larger than before, when you thought it was dying. Some of these chemicals are believed to have or hold potential for being anti-carcinogens - that is they might be cures for cancer. Research is currently underway into this possibility.

Dreams, i would do some research on stinging hydroids, they hitch in the corals from time to time. these send out stinger threads

[V]

damn, i hate that, i uploaded the wrong picture, they do look alot better that this.:agree:


this one is better

[V]

i should ask what they have/or are doing to the pipe coral besides intermintant contact!?>burning, mucus forming, ect ect

[dreams]

oh freaking geeze!

they aren't doing anything to pipe coral...just running through & past it....the pipe doesn' seem effected at all

from what i read they are threaded hydroids....how the heck to i get them off the coral and out of the tank?

[V]

telling u about it is one thing, removing them if indeed it is a hydriod is something else. kalk paste works, but u risk killing the leather, we got to advice a non leathal means if possible!
ive got to step down from this one & let our other experts step up to the plate. without proper research on the subject im at a lose! sorry kiddo

[dreams]

okay......how can i remove the leather from the tank without injuring it?....it is firmly attached......i will isolate it in a tank by itself for now

[fat walrus]

okay......how can i remove the leather from the tank without injuring it?....it is firmly attached......i will isolate it in a tank by itself for now
can you remove it with the rock?

[V]

can you remove it with the rock?

the great thing about these corals are they are entry level corals, but somewhere along the line we grow very fond of them as they grow. without ripping up the reef it could be abit harder, but treating the whole piece sounds better that manual removal. but u have abit of a background serch on these> enough to possitivly identify it is a species of hydroid?

[wildeone]

Ok someone help me out here. I tried to find a pic of a threaded hydroid and can't seem to locate one. If you have one please post it so i can see what it is. Thanks!

[V]

Ok someone help me out here. I tried to find a pic of a threaded hydroid and can't seem to locate one. If you have one please post it so i can see what it is. Thanks!

im at work wildman, & i have some on my home computer, if no-one dirrects u i'll drop one in in a few hours

[wildeone]

Great thanks veriann!

[Rob]

http://www.oceanlight.com/lightbox.php?ss=hydroid

[wildeone]

Are these bad cause they are kind of nice to look at! And thanks for the link Rob!

[fat walrus]

Are these bad cause they are kind of nice to look at!
it is a nightmare. you don't want anything to do with it. :(

[V]

they are exotic looking when photgraphed like that. thanks rob.
as for control, im on the hunt as we speak. ive seen everything from filefish, to wire wheel on a dremel tool being used as a control. but this doesn't help if they are within anothe coral.
actinic light only show show them up easyer?

[V]

Hydroids look like pretty white plants, but don't be fooled. These guys would be right at home in the Little Shop of Horrors.

The hydroid colony and its life cycle (http://www.vattenkikaren.gu.se/fakta/arter/cnidaria/hydrozoa/obellive.html)


A hydroid colony starts as one hollow stem that attaches to an object in a plankton-rich area. At the top of the stem is a mouth surrounded by tentacles. These lovely little "flowers" sting tiny, passing animals to death. The hydroid then swallows them whole.
A hydroid grows into a colony by budding. Outpouchings form along its stem to eventually become more stems, also with venomous mouths at the ends.
Besides those tentacles ambushing passing plankton, they are also part of the defense team. Touch a hydroid and you won't forget it.(if u are stung, try over-the-counter hydrocortisone ointment and oral antihistamines. Forget vinegar, meat tenderizer alcohol and urine. They don't work and might worsen the injur<>> an ice pack might also help to relieve the pain;)

But keeping your hands off hydroids doesn't mean you're safe. Some of a hydroid's buds turn into male and female medusae. These stinging rascals break off from their parents and swim away to release either sperm or eggs.
Fertilized eggs eventually settle down to become a new hydroid stem, starting the cycle all over again.



(http://www.vattenkikaren.gu.se/fakta/arter/cnidaria/hydrozoa/obellive.html)


another method i found was a syringe blasting with vinager, mean;t to clear them up very quickly!

i found a treatment page that might remove them in non lethal applications. its under the heading CNIDARIA
http://www.mbl.edu/BiologicalBulletin/CLASSICS/Russell/Russell-pp58-67.html

[Rob]

thanks V, and sorry i didn't post more earlier.. was a bit short on time...
yeah, they are nasty little buggers...

i got some LR in a few months back, and when it was setup in a QT/holding tank, i noticed some small hydroids on it...
me being overly cautious, took no chances.
i dried the rock out, bleached it, then baked it in the over at 400F for 10-15 minutes (in the middle of the summer, this sucks..lol )

[V]

im just taking a wild guess here, but im tipping that rock is still alive and teaming with life after that treatment..lol. what a bummer!



thanks V, and sorry i didn't post more earlier.. was a bit short on time...
yeah, they are nasty little buggers...

i got some LR in a few months back, and when it was setup in a QT/holding tank, i noticed some small hydroids on it...
me being overly cautious, took no chances.
i dried the rock out, bleached it, then baked it in the over at 400F for 10-15 minutes (in the middle of the summer, this sucks..lol )

[Rob]

no, actually it cleaned up quite well..
it was out of water for about a week all together after all that "stuff", and if anything did survive, it wasn't those hydroids.. so all is good.. :)

[V]

no, actually it cleaned up quite well..
it was out of water for about a week all together after all that "stuff", and if anything did survive, it wasn't those hydroids.. so all is good.. :)

it was a joke rob> u handed over the $ for LR only the destroy it bactera populations.

[V]

these are some mature species of tubular hydroids (Tubularia sp.).
these are found in aust & new zealand waters.
the main part of the animal is within the tube or stalk, with the stinging polyp extended! extremely clever design cause most if not all hydroids can not retract in general!

[Rob]

it was a joke rob> u handed over the $ for LR only the destroy it bactera populations.

lol.. yeah, sort of.. it was part of a "setup" i got used.. so i wasnt really out much.. besides, rather safe than sorry.. ;)

[V]

wheres wendy? i havn;t seen her come back in a few days?