Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral

[hobokendude]

Hi. I have a toadstool mushroom leather coral that seems to be thriving in my 20 gallon nanocube. Is there a way to "trim" him down? Or should he be taken out of the tank and given to someone with a bigger tank? If he were taken out, is there a safe way to get him out without removing the live rock that he is growing on? I saw some pieces in the fish store this weekend that looks like someone pulled them off by the stems. Not sure if that is ok or not, but I'm thinking he is getting too big for my tank. Thank you in advance for the advice.

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

you can razor it off the rock - no problem - mess with it a bit till it shrinks way down and do it in a bucket not in the tank and then have some fresh mix ready to place it in after it stops leaking - i have found needle and thread to be the most effective way to secure leathers

 

[drty811]

i second JD's post....i have also done it that way.

 

[hobokendude]

Thanks John & Erik. I have a couple of follow-up questions. What do you mean by fresh mix? And what would you do with the needle and threat? (Stitch the base closed after it is cut off the rock?)

Does this process kill the coral? I am hoping to safely remove the coral and hand it over to a petstore who can find a better home for it.

Thanks again.
chris

 

[Anonymous]

clean water - it will leak into the cut water
no, stitch through the base (about 2 stitches) in such a way as to attach it to a small piece of rock. the stiches just hold it in place till it heals and has time to attach itself about two weeks the cut will gro onto the new rock.

 

[hobokendude]

I finally had the balls to cut the leather coral off the live rock. To my surprise, he opened up the next day as he was tied down to a new small piece of live rock. In addition, it seems to be growing back on the piece where it was attached. The leftover "skin" from where it was is growing into a new one! yikes! but I guess good to know that I can just "trim" away when it gets too big. Now I need to find a home for the big guy that is taking up a lot of space in my nanocube.