Waxy coating on leather

**Phurst** · 02-01-2007, 05:12 PM

I understand leathers sometimes create a waxy coating over them as a way to make sure they are free of bacteria or algae or whatever. My question is, how long is it usualy before they shed it? I have a finger leather that is doing it now. It's a frag, the mother and several other frags are in the tank and fine, fully open, etc. I wau under the impression it lasted maybe a few days, but this one has been covered for about 2 weeks. It otherwise looks fine. Still colored, no tissue necrosis, not meltng. There is a thin film of algae starting to grow on the waxy coating. Should I do anything about it? It's the same stuff that grows on the walls of our tanks. Is there any way to encourage it to shed, or should I just wait it out.

**Seahorsedreams** · 02-01-2007, 06:38 PM

Can you grab a picture. It's so hard to tell without one.

**Phurst** · 02-01-2007, 07:02 PM

Parent:

Frag in question:

Thx.

**Seahorsedreams** · 02-01-2007, 07:13 PM

That's on a big ole rock, is it? Get a little more flow on it. It still looks fine but with the film algae on it, it's going to spend extra time in mucous mode. Sometimes if it had trouble shedding it's mucous, bacteria can thrive and the coral will get into trouble. Help blow that stuff off it... It's probably on their pretty good and can't be blown off with a powerhead but give it a whirl anyway just to see.

But you are going to need a little more flow in that area.

**Phurst** · 02-01-2007, 10:15 PM

It's in the front of the tank, but yes, it's between TWO big old rocks. It was time to blow off my LR anyway, so I gave it a whirl. It didn't come off, but I have adjusted one of my powerheads to provide it with a little more flow. I guess we'll see how it goes. Thanks fot the info!