Umbrella leather - Not extending polyps

[Steven]

[Has anyone had problems with Umbrella Leathers not extending their polyps. I have had this coral for 18 months. For about the last 7 months it will open for two or three days and then stay closed for 5 or 6 days. It does not seem to be dieing but it is not growing either. I do have a yellow goby that sits in it but I would not think this would cause the problem. I add coral accel and phytoplakton to the tank and everything else is doing fine including a finger leather, spaghetti coral and chili coral which I would assume have the same nutrient needs.

I would try to move it but it is attached to a large rock so are there any easy ways to peel it from the rock or can I just cut it at the base of the rock?

You can see a picture of it closed up with the goby sitting in it in this months Tank of the Month article in the news letter.]

 

[RickHarris]

[hi

I did a search a few weeks back to find out if it was okay that our new lawn-mower blenny was hanging out in our sarcophyton elegans. I read a lot about leathers being irritated by clowns trying to host them... wasn't the answer to my question, but I decided to try keepin the lawnmower out of my elegans anyway... (by conditioning- I'm a psychology major )

But, in your case -you've had the leather a long time- has the goby used it as a perch the whole time?

Your tank looks awesome! I'm curious to see what others think the prob could be... we have a toadstool we bought at saltwater paradise 3 weeks ago that has shed every 3rd day or so... and grown each time? at this pace- I'm afraid of how big it will get?]