Leathers

Leather Corals for Sale

Leathers are the big, soft, slow-swaying corals that make a tank look full. They are tough, but they are not passive: they shed, and they fight with chemistry. This page has toadstool leathers, including a WYSIWYG 6-inch long tentacle toadstool, and a WYSIWYG XL devil’s hand leather. Everything is photographed in our Key West systems.

The common leathers

• Toadstool (Sarcophyton): a stalk topped by a wide cap covered in polyps. Some grow past 3 feet across.
• Devil’s hand (Lobophytum): thick, lobed fingers. Also sold as “finger leather,” a name that overlaps with Sinularia.
• Finger leathers (Sinularia): softer, branching fingers.

Leather care, in numbers

• Light: toadstools do well around 100 to 200 PAR. Devil’s hand takes anywhere from about 30 to 150 or more. Acclimate slowly.
• Flow: moderate to strong and indirect.
• Feeding: mostly lives on light. Optional light feeding once or twice a week.

Shedding is normal

A leather will close up for days and grow a waxy film over its surface, then shed it. The film clears off algae and debris. Devil’s hand sheds about monthly. If a leather stays closed well past a shed, change the flow around it. The shed film can irritate other corals it lands on, so siphon it off if you can.

Chemical warfare

Leathers release compounds that harm stony corals nearby, even without touching them. In field trials, a Lobophytum killed Porites it never touched, and lab work found these compounds made hard corals bleach at low concentrations. Give leathers distance from SPS and LPS. Many keepers also run activated carbon, though sources disagree on how much it helps.

How it ships from Key West

Leathers ship UPS Next Day Air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only, so no box sits in a hub over a weekend. We ship to the lower 48. We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii.

• Shipping charge: $30 for qualifying Florida livestock orders under 6 lb, and $50 elsewhere in the lower 48. The shipping charge is per order.
• Free livestock transportation: on qualifying livestock subtotals of $299 or more. WYSIWYG pieces count toward the $299. Dry goods do not.
• Box & Handling Fee: $10 per livestock box, and it still applies on orders with free livestock transportation. A box carries up to 6 lb of packed livestock. Heavier orders go out in additional boxes, each with its own $10 fee.
• Live arrival: if something arrives dead, photograph the animal inside the unopened bag within 4 hours of UPS delivery confirmation and send it with your order number.

Keep reading

• Classic Soft Corals: Leathers, Cloves and Pipe Organ
• Reactors Explained: GFO, Carbon, Biopellet and Calcium Reactors
• Clove polyps · All soft corals · WYSIWYG corals