The sulking sarcophyt

Around 6 weeks ago, I purchased a beautiful looking toadstool leather coral. It was a real highlight of the tank. But 3 weeks after purchasing him and spending alot of time marvelling at its beauty it decided to do what Sarcophyt's do.

It started to sulk, like a child not allowed into the candy store. The only difference between it and the child, is you can reason (read: distract or bribe) with the child. The coral on the other hand, you can't. It's been sulking for 4 weeks now and I have wondered on many occasions if its sick instead of sulking. But thanks to the experience of a number of members in countless forums, I believe that it is just sulking and not sick.

There seem to be 2 ways to determine if it is sick/dying. The tend to develop very dark spots on the body and trunk. These eventually result in the piece falling off. In my mind i am picturing coral frostbite. The second way is the sniff test. If you can take it out of the water for a short while and give it a sniff. If it smells like fresh fish, its all good. If not, you could have issues.

What to do if its sick or dying? To be honest, I have no clue. All I can think a person should try is go back to the corals basics: good lighting and a good flow to wash away any dirty or muck. Failing this, some people have fragged a good pice from the coral and started over with the frag. As i have no experience, I can't advise anyone on this. So you will need to trawl the forums for any advice on fragging and how best to revive a dying coral.

As for sulking, these corals have been known to sulk for a couple of days to a couple of weeks. They also tend to sulk often. This by no means that the tank conditions are wrong for it, although you should always maintain good water maintenance. Sarcophyt's sulk when they require a moult. When they moult, they are doing two things. Firstly, its to clean their skin of any dirty. And secondly, its their way of growing. Many aquarist have noticed that the leather looks bigger after a moult. So a moult can also be a good sign.

Another sign of moulting would be the characteristic waxy layer appearance on the corals surface. This waxy layer will require a good flow in order to help remove the layer and return your coral back to its former glory.

By the length of time mine has been sulking, I am hoping i will have a good increase in size.