Sagging toadstool leather

Sawdonkey

Sawdonkey

Premium member
I have a toadstool leather that is pretty good sized (the head is about 6" accross with a 5-6" long stem) and it is attached to a huge piece of live rock. I moved the rock yesterday and now the weight of the leather is pulling itself down and almost touching he sand and really close to my carpet nem. The top of it pretty much faces directly sideways and its polyps aren't extending. The problem is that I can't move the rock because I epoxy'd everything in place yesterday. The leather has never really been attached too well to the rock. It has fallen over in the past and I've had to prop it up.

My question is....can I cut the leather at its base and re-mount it to a smaller rock? If so, how should I mount it to the rock. Will it live? Right now, it's polyps aren't even extending because it is facing sideways.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
I chopped one at the base and I used a rubberband to secure it to a new piece of rock .... U gotta make it pretty tight so it doesn't slide out
 
If I chopped the base perfectly flat, could I super glue it to the glass on the bottom of my tank? I think it would look cool to have a leather coming out of the sand. I have less thank 1' of crushed coral.
 
The leathers give off slim when they're cut which makes superglue a pita. If you were going to try this, I'd try propping it up with rocks to keep it in place until it bonds to the glass then remove the rocks, assuming it will bond to glass...
 
You could also try to get it to bond to a very flat rock that you could bury in your substrate. This way you could easily move it around in the future and wont be forced to cut it off the glass to do so...
 
EricTheRed said:
The leathers give off slim when they're cut which makes superglue a pita. If you were going to try this, I'd try propping it up with rocks to keep it in place until it bonds to the glass then remove the rocks, assuming it will bond to glass...
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+1 no use using super glue.

You could also cut it, then put 2 toothpicks through the base and used the those toothpicks (sticking out) to secure/rubberband around a rock - once it heals/attaches you can remove the toothpicks/rubberband.
 
Top-heavy leathers always seem to flop over eventually. Be careful with a tight rubber band--it will cut through the soft skin. Dan's toothpick idea is better. Also, be very aware--cutting a leather underwater, inside the tank will release all sorts of chemical warfare issues against your other corals, especially a large leather. Do a WC & then run fresh carbon on there. Expect new leather/s to grow from any material left behind on the rock.
 
I found that even a lose rubberband cuts em. I usually jamb then in a hole on rock and put em in no flow for few days. Jeni right though when u cut they release milky stuff so far i havent had issues with it bothering other corsls but i have heard it can. So be aware of that. Another trick i did was stab them with tooth pics going across then glueing tooth pics down worked great
 
Thanks guys. I think I'll cut the base flat and try to attach it to a flat rock. I'll stick two shish-kabbob skewers through it and pull its fresh cut base tight to the rock with rubber bands or zip ties. The base is pretty thick and I don't think a toothpick would penetrate both sides.

Should I do the cutting in my tank or should I take it out and do the surgery on a table? I just want to minimize the potential for chemical warfare.
 
Yes, if at all possible take it out & do a good rinse in tank water after cutting, being sure it's done sliming before putting back into the tank. I'd still run fresh carbon after that.
 
Great. I'll pull it out and do the surgery in a bucket. I'll leave it in bucket for a few hours after I remount with the skewers. Thanks for the advice everyone! Some day I'll be smart enough to give back to the community with some advice.
 
Sawdonkey said:
I'll leave it in bucket for a few hours after I remount with the skewers. Thanks for the advice everyone! Some day I'll be smart enough to give back to the community with some advice.
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lol I learned all the hard way I didn't know about forums my first 8 yrs . trial and error maybe that's why I do stuff people think is crazy .
 
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