leather not attached to anything

[fish are life]

so when i baught my leather i didnt realize it but it wasnt attached to a rock. that was about 2 months ago and he is still alive and seems to be doing well but ts still not attached to anything. will he eventually find a place to stay? is this ok?

[blackie lawless]

I don't believe leathers attach to LR on their own. I have my Leather on the sand bed, seems to be where he likes it best. You could purchase some underwater epoxy, put some under the base of the leather, and attach to a rock.

Remember to leave space for the base and the rest of the leather to inflate and deflate. If not, it will be unhappy and eventually die. I think this is why mine loves the sand so much!

[rustybucket145]

what type of leather are we talking about? Toadstool? Devils Finger? Colt?

Given time all of these will naturally attach to rock. To speed that time up you might want to lightly rubberband the base of the coral to a rock. I would not reccomend using the epoxy (It burns human skin, imagine a sensative coral). If you must use a glue use superglue gel. But the rubberband method usually works quickly and easily.

[fish are life]

thanks i am actually not shure as to what kind of leather it is but it is brown and about 3 inches in diameter. but when i put it on a rock it always finds its way back down to the sand bed. is this because a fish picking at it? i have all reef safe fish. or can he do this on his own. but he does seem to never be open when he is high on a rock. they like less intense lighting right? and his "stem" seems to either be deteriorating or been eaten away. what is this from?

[Tu Ku]

Sounds like your leather needs some TLC. I would not recommend that you rubberband it although it's not unheard of. More than likely it's just getting moved around by some current in the tank since not a lot of fish like to chew on leathers, and you said that they're all reef safe. You could try to glue it, but unless you have coral specific glue, you're only going to be risking it's death even more. Just put it under good, strong light, decent current and try to wedge it's base in between two pieces of your live rock. And then don't mess with it, if it is going to get better in your system it should attach itself within a week or two.

[blackie lawless]

The problem with wedging it in between rocks is it might not be able to inflate it's base, which would make it very unhappy. I know this from experience. It can work though, if you make it hold the leather in place, and not stop it from inflating.

Here's another idea. Buy a wide piece of PVC and cut it to make a base wide enough to put the coral in, and just tall enough so that the leather can't fall out / over. (Sorta like a pot for a plant but with no bottom end) Put that on to the LR (hold it place with rocks or any other way) and place the leather inside. Hopefully the leather will attach to the LR while the PVC holds it in place.

[bobt2]

toothpick thru the base into the rock you want it to attach to. in a few weeks it's attached

[rustybucket145]

If you are dealing with a toadstool, which is what it sounds like to me. It may look like this:
http://pics.llarian.net/albums/5gnanoreef/aad.sized.jpg

or

http://www.masla.com/images/toadstool01.jpg

Keep in mind that the family Sarcophyton is pretty broad and the colors can vary even within species. If this is indeed your coral I can help. I have propagated many many many sarcophytons. If you have a rotting spot on the stalk you need to cut it off. Not just a small chunk of the rotten spot. If it is just at the bottom of the stalk, cut off the entire bottom of the stalk. Trust me It will survive. If you must use glue use Super Glue Gel (Ross is the brand I use) but I do not use glue on sarcophytons I have heard mixed results using this method. The rubberband method I mentioned earlier has worked 100% for me and everyone I know personally that propagates. The only difficulty that you may have is if you rubberband it to tight. You want it just tight enough to hold the coral in place. You can even use several rubberbands if it is necessary to hold the coral in place.

This method does work, I have done it more times than I can count. Just be sure to use natural color rubberbands. It will begin to attach within a week but you should leave the rubberbands on until you are 100% sure the coral has attached. The coral may even grow around the rubberbands, this is normal, and it will be ok. After you are sure it has attached simple cut the rubberband and slide it out of the coral. if the pics are not similar to your coral, you should try to get a pic of it to post so we could take a look at it.

[fish are life]

no its not that type of leather, iot is brown and with little pollyps that look just like bumps. and the stalk is almost completely gone anyways.

[PiscesLou]

Ive tried the rubberband, glue and the toothpick methods, The one that works for me is the toothpick. through the center of the stock pinned to a hole in your LR. I left the toothpick in for about 1 to 2 weeks. HTH

[graveyardworm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7209627#post7209627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fish are life
no its not that type of leather, iot is brown and with little pollyps that look just like bumps. and the stalk is almost completely gone anyways.

Not sure what you mean here is the stalk rotting/disintegrating, or does it just not have one?

[fish are life]

oh welll it progresivly gets smaller and smaller. i dont really know but i put it on the sand bed today it looks better

[DaRealDvs1]

You can put the base of the leather deep in the sand. In a few days it will attach to the grain......then you can glue it where-ever you like.
Otherwise the rubberband trick works fine. Place in a low flow area.

[fish are life]

ya, i have heard that they like high lighting and dim lighting but mine only does well when under dim lighting and on the sand. is there a way that they can propell them selves onot the sand bed or in any direction.