cabbage coral

Question
Hi, I noticed a white stringy slime coming off my coral and wondered what was going on. It was fine and larger than life a week ago, then I noticed it has not changed in size the last few days when the lights are on. By the way my hammer and others are doing fine.

Answer
Hi Don. Your leather coral is simply going through its natural shedding process. These corals will often close up for a day or two while they work at shedding off a layer of tissue from their surface. This does not mean that it is a reaction to growth like you may think, but most likely caused from debris accumulating on the surface. All leather corals will do this from time to time and it doesn't mean that you are doing something wrong. It should not be doing it on a weekly basis though and if it does then there may be a problem with water flow. Once a month or less is completely normal and usually when it is done shedding off this layer of old tissue it will open up a little bigger and looking healthier than it did before it started shedding. Just let it go and it should open up and be done in a day or two. Sometimes it may close up for an extended period of time while shedding and in that case you may have to intervene. Otherwise just let it be and you will see!