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do leather corals sting?


sen5241b

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What kind of leather coral is it?  Most don't have nematocysts and therefore can't sting.

 

Generally soft corals, and leather corals in particular, have a reputation for releasing chemicals that inhibit nearby corals and protect the leather from corals that might sting it.

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Looks like a toadstool leather (genus Sarcophyton). Sarcophytons are of the phylum Cnidaria, the key characteristic being the presence of stinging cells. So they have stinging cells (on their tiny tentacles). However, they're not very developed nor effective at it and rely on allelopathy ("biochemical warfare") for most of its defensive needs. These chemical secretions (toxins released by nematocyst cells into a mucus layer) can irritate and stunt other corals nearby. Activated carbon can adsorb these chemical irritants in an aquarium environment and make them more compatible with other corals. 

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So how much space would this toadstool (2 or 3 inches tall) need?

Honestly, they can grow to be huge - 2' or more across. I have one in my frag tank that I fragged down to less than 6 inches a couple of years ago, I think, (to give away pieces at frag fest) and it's grown back to about almost a foot in diameter again.

 

Here's an article by one of our recent speakers, James Fatherree, on sarcophytons.

 

You frag them (or I do) by cutting off a ring around the perimeter, and then slicing the ring up into smaller pieces. Do this outside of the tank and rinse before returning to clean off some of the inevitable mucus. 

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