why doesnt my toadstool like me?

[armagedon48]

i have had it in the tank for 2 months. it got covered in algae. i got the algae under controle and it shed it off. the polyps dont come out much and when they do its only alittle bit.

its a 10 gallon tank with a 80 watt pc light and its in a low-med flow right now.

water quality is fine, everything else is growing and looking good.
i dose c balance every other day and water change 1x per month (salt isnt cheap).

btw what should i be feeding? i am adding home grown rotifers and a phyto plankton food for filter feeders.

ty,
Chad Vossen

[graveyardworm]

Can you post some water parameters?

[Nagel]

Not so sure the rotifers are absolutely needed, most leathers are more photosynthetic..

Do you use any kind of phosphate remover? If so, what?

Also, you could move the toad to medium to high flow areas, they do tolerate higher flow pretty well, and that helps them to shed their tunic to rid themselves of algea. Most of my leathers shed from time to time, regardless of how much algea they do / don't accumulate.

[got2lb]

What do they do when they shed? I've had a big toadstool in my tank since January and it's always been opened up and real big. But the last 2-3 days it's been closed up. Just curious if maybe it's "shedding"

[graveyardworm]

Mine generally close up for a few days, but stay inflated. You might see alittle algal growth on it.

[got2lb]

Mine is really shrunken up and all the "fingers" have been retracted for 2-3 days.

I don't really see any algae growth on it though.

[Nagel]

When they shed, they start to look a little "wax like", and all of a sudden, some of that mucus tunic starts to peel off (like sunburned skin). On mine, it doesn't take but a few days for the whole process, and afterwards they usually open up more then before..

[armagedon48]

this morning it shed. i gave it a little help with the pipet to blow off the "skin"

all of the polyps are peaking but realy arent out much. right now is the best it has looked in 4 weeks... the tank water is fine. im going to check calcium and alk and ph in a min. if they arent where i like them of course ill fix it.

ill give an update in a day or so.

[Jeremy Blaze]

Post your water parameters.

[Brooks_McClary]

Hey, just a word of caution... I lost a toad stool and a couple other corals when I put phosphate remover in my tank. It went from 3ppm to almost zero in a short period of time. I may have used too much for a 20 gal tank. But I think it shocked the corals. Could have been unrelated, but I will never use phosphate remover again.

My toadstool closes up every night and sheads about once every two weeks.

Here is a photo of my surviving toad stool. The cool part of this toadie is that it came a little bit of guck stuck to a piece of live rock I purchased for $0.75. It looked like an encrusting sponge and I even tried to scrape it off. LOL. Im glad I didnt succeed.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g115/Brooks_Mcclary/d2cf7443.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

Most phosphate removers contain aluminium, which is toxic to many soft corals.

[armagedon48]

the phosphate remover is a filter pad with some kinda resin that holds the phosphates. i have xenia and some other corals. not sure if that matters but they are very good condition.

i ran a huge amount of carbon on the tank today and added c balance. the water is alittle cleaner looking and the parameters are good.

[graveyardworm]

I thought that all phosphate removers either used aluminum or iron. I'll have to check it out. Just as a note awhile back I was using phosguard pellets and lost virtually all of my xenia. I had a couple colonies which were spreading rapidly and I was able to trade them regularly, then one day for no apparent reason they just melted.

[Nagel]

For soft corals, I only use iron based phosphate controls, i.e. Rowaphos or similar. Phosguard (the white pellet stuff) contains aluminum, and I KNOW it really upsets my soft corals.

[Brooks_McClary]

It would be nice if they warned you. It was the next closest thing to a nuke in my tank.