Leather Coral Care Guide

What are Leather Coral?

If you have ever seen photos or videos of the coral reef, it very possible you have seen a Leather Coral! Leather Coral have a variety of different types and colors. Neraly all Leather Corals are easy to care for! Leather Coral are a type of soft coral, often coming in 2 forms, toadstool and tree / colt.

Toadstool Leather Coral

The toadstool leather coral come in different colors and styles. Some of the most popular are the Green Toadstool Leather Coral, Pink / Brown Leather Coral, and Yellow Fiji Leather Coral. These coral typically have a single stalk with a smooth, plate like top. This smooth plate will then show a large number of polyps that generally have long stems and make the leather coral seem fluffy. These polyps generally retract at night and some times throught the day. This is normal for this toadstool leather coral. If the polyps are retracted for multiple days, the coral is not happy and either flow, light, or fish/pests may be nipping at it.

Finger Leather Coral

The finger leather coral is nearly identical to toatstool leather coral. Finger leather coral come in different colors and styles. Some of the most popular are the Thick Finger Leather Coral and Devil's Hand Leather Coral. These coral typically have a single stalk with a bumpy leathery top that looks like fingers coming from the coral. The top will then show a number of polyps that generally have long stems and make the leather coral seem fluffy, much like toadstool leather coral. These polyps generally retract at night and some times throught the day. This is normal for finger leather coral. If the polyps are retracted for multiple days, the coral is not happy and either flow, light, or fish/pests may be nipping at it.

Kenya Tree / Colt / Sinularia Leather Coral

The Tree-like leather corals have a very unique shape to them. They have a main trunk with "branches" that come out of them. This leather coral can then drop "baby" coral branches in order to spread. When irritated and at night, the tree like leather coral will shrivel up or retract toward itself. When happy, however, this leather coral will inflate and flow with the current. The branches have fluffy polyps that extend and look beautiful in most reef tanks.

Leather Coral Care - Temperature

When it comes to Leather Coral Care, temperature is a very easy answer. The commonly agreed upon temperature is the same as most corals, averaging at 78 degrees F. Leather Coral can survive in a wide range of temperatures, all of the resources used for this guide agree that keeping the reef tank's temperature close to 78 degrees F is ideal for Leather Coral Care.

Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium

For Leather Coral Care, there is very little that needs to be done in regards to special alkalinity, calcium, or magnesium levels. Maintaining a stable alkalinity, within about 0.5dKh will be one of the greatest maintenance routines you can do for nearly all corals. After alkalinity stability, calcium stability within about 25ppm is also valuable for optimal growth. Leather Coral prefer the standard calcium levels between 400-450 ppm. This level is optimal for most corals and should come as no surprise.

Nitrates and Phosphates

Though you don't want to be absolutely zero on Nitrates or Phosphates, you also don't want to be too high either. The ideal levels for Nitrates is between 1 and 10 ppm. Phosphates should be roughly 0.01-0.05ppm.

The reason for having some nitrate and phosphates in your tank is due to research showing that coral need nutrients to enhance their growth and coloration. Too much of either, however, will slow growth and reduce coloration.

Leather Coral Care allows for a bit of a wide range in aquarium nutrients. Leather coral are very forgiving to non-ideal reef tank parameters. This is one of many reasons why leather coral are ideal for beginners.

Leather Coral Care - Flow

Leather Coral Coral prefer a low to medium flow. Too much flow can cause the polyps of the Leather Coral Coral either stay retracted. Generally, you want just enough flow to allow the polyps to flow, and cary pollutants away from the leather coral.

One of the best powerheads to allow you to change the power and the flow patterns is the Ecotech Marine MP40wQD. This will let you easily modify your reef tank's flow to match the needs of your coral.

Leather Coral Care - Lighting

Proper Leather Coral Care generally requires low to medium light. Nearly any lighting reef lighting options will suffice.

When you find the location where the Leather Coral has full polyp extension, it's best to let that be its home.

For more about the different types of lighting, see the Reef Stable Saltwater Aquarium Lighting Guide.

Leather Coral Care - Placement and Aggression

Leather Coral care dictates very little about placement. Leather Coral do not sting other coral, however other coral will sting Leather Coral. Ensuring there is space between Leather Coral and other, stinging coral, is crucial to the survival of the sea fan.

Leather Coral Care - Feeding

Leather coral are photosynthetic corals. As such, they do not require feeding. Some leather coral may consume plankton from the water, but feeding leather coral is not necessary.

Leather Coral Care - Stress

When leather coral are stressed, you will notice the polyps retract and / or the coral will shrivel up much smaller than normal. This lets you know that something is wrong. The first items to look in to are flow and coral, fish, or invertabrates that may be attacking the coral.

Pests and Common Problems

Fish and Inverts

Being a soft coral, watch for nipping from invertabrates and fish that are not "reef-safe".

Leather Coral Care Guide - Cheet Sheet

Temperature

• Leather Coral prefer stable temperature (~0.5 F) around 72-78 degrees F.

Alkalinity

• Focus on stability, maintaining within 0.5 dKh
• Most success between 7-8 dKh

Calcium

• Focus on stability, within 25ppm.
• 400-450ppm is the ideal range.

Magnesium

• Between 1200-1400ppm. Targeting 1300ppm.

Nitrates and Phosphates

• The below numbers are ideal, but Leather Coral can tolerate a range of nutrient levels.
• Nitrates: 1-10ppm
• Phosphates: 0.01 - 0.05ppm

Lighting

• Low - Medium Lighting
• Blue and Actinic spectrum are best for color and growth.

Additional Coral Care Reading:

• Reef Stable - Acropora Care Guide
• Reef Stable - Montipora Care Guide
• Reef Stable - Euphillia Care Guide
• Reef Stable - Acan Coral Care Guide
• Reef Stable - Zoanthid Care Guide

Conclusion

This guide will be continuously updated as I learn more about Leather Coral Care and coral care in general. If there is any information you would like to see that is not present, please reach out to reefstable.store@gmail.com and let me know! Happy Reefing!

References

• Saltwater Aquarium Blog - Toadstool Leather Coral Care
• Saltwater Aquarium Blog - Kenya Tree Coral Care

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About the Author

John Krenzer

John is a Software Engineer with a passion for saltwater aquariums, as well as the founder and president of Reef Stable. He started in the aquarium hobby as a child with a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. His interest in aquarium life grew and in 2008, John set up his first saltwater aquarium.

Today, John maintains a 120 gallon mixed reef aquarium as well as a 210 gallon aggressive species aquarium. These large tanks are contained within the same system, sharing a sump as a means to reduce total maintenance and increase total water volume.

John writes articles for the blog as a means to learn about more reef aquarium topics. These articles act as a reference for the readers as well as himself. John updates these articles frequently to provide additional information or make corrections as new information becomes available.

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