How do I propagate Leather

[swimswithfish]

I picked up a large leather a few months ago and has now overgrown its spot in my 29g reef. This thing is about 4inches tall, 2in at the base flaring to about 4.5in at top. It is tan and has hundreds of things that come out of the top, in light. Can I cut it and what are its chances of survival?

[phistio]

very good actually. soft corals are easy to frag...however, you might want to use a small dab of iodine to help cauterize the wound after cutting...

is the leather attached to a big rock, or could it easily be taken out of the tank?

[swimswithfish]

Its on a very small (less than an inch) piece of rock,so it can come out easily.I took a couple of pictures but the whit light just came on so its not quite opened up all the way. How and what kind of iodine? should i keep out of main tank for a while?or will it need full light to recuperate?

[RazerCorals]

I'd cut out a piece then glue it a new rock with super glue. Then run iodine over it. This will help it heal up, but it in a spot with the same lighting but way less water flow.

[HoopsGuru]

Leather corals are ridiculously hardy. If I were you (and I am at times, I keep a toadstool in a 10g :wink: ) I would perform the "donut" cut on it. Take the coral out of the tank and stand it upside down. With a razor knife, exacto knife, etc. trim around the capitulum to the appropriate size (hence the term donut). This can then be cut and placed amongst rubble for propagation or whatever.

Contrary though, I would place it into a area of good water flow and skip the iodine (I am just not a fan of meds unless very necessary). Within a few days it will heal quickly and have the cut area safely coated, a "scab" if you will. However, putting it in a low flow area will be begging to have bacteria present leading to potentially deadly infections.

[MindRiot]

I too have a good sized leather I'd like to cut, it's very simular to this one, only about 4" taller. From what I've read in my book it says that due to being totipotent, a cutting from almost anywhere will grow a new coral that looks like parent. Sounds good to me!

But before I cut it I have some questions that my book doesn't directly address. The polps are only out maybe 10% of the time. It has also been shedding a lot of that white film. The book says, and I quote, "All shed a surface layer of dead waxy tissue from time to time....During the shedding many aquarists observe a sick-looking and withdrawn Saracophyton and assume the coral is dying or that something is wrong in the tank. After the shed, however, the coral reexpands to full glory and appears larger and healthier than ever."

I've had mine for about 3 weeks and it has shed atleast 6 times now. Does this qualify as "from time to time" or is there something amiss here. My water quality is good. The two things I can think of is more/less light or more/less water flow. Currently I have it towards the top of the tank. I have 400w of VHO, half daylight, half actinic. I suppose I would characterize the waterflow as medium.

[HoopsGuru]

I would suggest more flow if possible. The toadstool sheds the waxy layer to remove dead cells and detritus from it (thus saves itself from potential bacteria problems). Since your's is doing it so often, it seems that you may have a lot of detritus and other matter settling on it forcing it to slough more often.

[MindRiot]

Ok I'll point a powerhead in it's direction. Thanks for the heads up.

When I go to make cuttings, should I cut it like a pie, ending up with a few cuttings that are almost as tall as the original? Sure seems like it would make attachment easy this way. Or should I just cut fragments from the crown?

[HoopsGuru]

If the whole thing is getting too big, I would follow the "donut" style of propagating as I detailed above. Of course, this is only possible if you can remove the coral from the tank. You can then take the donut and cut it into whatever pieces you want and either put them in with rubble or fix to rocks....each one will grow it's own stalk and capitulum pretty quickly.

If you can't remove it, I would just cut however you aesthetically want to, there doesn't have to be any distinct rhyme or reason. Just remember that when cut, Sarcos can and will excrete a pretty toxic chemical so do water changes and run carbon as needed.

[mikeski]

A great resource for this is www.garf.org. Much info on how to propagate a number of different corals. They talk about glue, rock prep, coral prep, and much more. Definately worth a look.

Regards
mikeski

[swimswithfish]

Well I now have four leathers and they are growing and filling in nicely. I took the parent out with its small rock/coral still attached put in a large plastic bowl with a gallon of tank water and a few teaspoons of reef iodine. I quartered the leather from top to bottom and was able to pull three of the new segments off and super glue to the new rock frags. It was easy to cut i used a new long razor knife cleaned with alcohol and followed the grain from the top to the base leaving four neatly cut sections to transplant. After one weak they are starting to really grow and attach themselves