QUICK STATS

Care Level: Easy
Coral Type: Soft Coral / Leather Coral / Toadstool Leather
Scientific Name: Sarcophyton sp.
Temperament: Peaceful to Semi-Aggressive by Chemical Competition
Photosynthetic: Yes
Placement: Lower to Middle / Rockwork
Lighting: Low to Moderate / Moderate
Water Flow: Moderate to Strong, Indirect
Approximate Purchase Size: Varies by Frag or Colony Size
Approximate Max Size: Colony Growth Depends on Stability, Nutrients, Lighting, Flow, and Available Space

BLUE TOADSTOOL LEATHER CORAL

The Blue Toadstool Leather Coral is a soft coral known for its mushroom-like cap, leathery stalk, and blue, blue-gray, teal, or steel-toned coloration. Depending on the specimen and lighting, it may show shades of blue, gray-blue, teal, green-blue, lavender-blue, tan, cream, or pale brown across the cap, stalk, and extended polyps.

This coral is best treated as a Toadstool Leather Coral, generally from the genus Sarcophyton. Toadstool leathers grow with a central stalk and broad rounded cap, giving them the classic mushroom or umbrella shape. When open, the cap may extend many small polyps that create a soft, fuzzy texture. In plain English, it is a reef mushroom that is not a mushroom, because coral naming remains a loose collection of aquatic shrugging.

Blue Toadstool Leather Coral is popular because it is hardy, adaptable, visually soft, and beginner-friendly compared with many LPS or SPS corals. It adds movement, texture, and unusual color to reef aquariums without requiring intense lighting, constant target feeding, or fragile skeleton care.

This coral is photosynthetic and receives most of its energy from reef lighting through symbiotic zooxanthellae. It may also absorb dissolved nutrients and fine organic matter from the water column. Direct feeding is usually not necessary, though it may benefit from a healthy, mature reef system with some available nutrients.

Toadstool leather corals are usually peaceful by direct contact, but they can participate in chemical competition with nearby corals. Running activated carbon, maintaining good flow, and performing regular water changes can help reduce potential irritation between soft corals, LPS, and SPS. Basically, it is not throwing punches. It is just quietly leaking opinions into the water, like a soft coral with office politics.

Note: Image is a representation of what to expect. The coral you receive may vary slightly in size, blue coloration, cap shape, stalk thickness, polyp extension, texture, and overall appearance.

AQUARIUM REQUIREMENTS

AQUARIUM SIZE

A minimum aquarium size of 10-20 gallons or larger is recommended for Blue Toadstool Leather Coral, though larger mature reef systems are preferred. Larger aquariums provide better stability, more placement options, and more room for the coral to grow.

Toadstool leathers can become large over time, especially once established. A small frag may eventually develop a broad cap and tall stalk, so placement should allow future expansion. It starts as a cute little leather nub and may eventually become a soft coral patio umbrella. Nature remains committed to inconvenience.

PLACEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Blue Toadstool Leather Coral is best placed on lower to middle rockwork where it receives low to moderate lighting and moderate to strong indirect flow. It should be secured in a stable location where the stalk can attach and the cap has room to expand.

Rock Placement: Place on stable rockwork, a frag plug, or a rubble base where the coral can attach firmly.

Lower Placement: A good option in stronger lighting systems or during acclimation.

Middle Placement: Works well once the coral is settled and showing consistent polyp extension.

Avoid Sand Burial: Do not place where sand will constantly blow onto the cap or stalk.

Growth Space: Leave open space around the cap for expansion.

Spacing: Give room from neighboring corals, especially SPS, LPS, and sensitive soft corals.

Chemical Competition: Use activated carbon and water changes if keeping multiple leathers, soft corals, SPS, or chemical-sensitive corals.

Avoid Aggressive Neighbors: Keep away from torches, hammers, frogspawn, galaxea, chalices, favias, and other corals with strong sweepers or stings.

WATER PARAMETERS

Blue Toadstool Leather Coral is hardy and adaptable, but stable reef conditions are still important. Sudden swings in salinity, temperature, alkalinity, nutrients, or lighting can cause closed polyps, shedding, shrinking, poor extension, or tissue irritation.

Temperature: 75-80°F
pH Level: 8.1-8.4
Salinity: 1.024-1.026 specific gravity
Alkalinity: 8-10 dKH
Calcium: 380-450 ppm
Magnesium: 1250-1350 ppm
Nitrate: 5-20 ppm
Phosphate: 0.03-0.10 ppm

Toadstool leathers often tolerate slightly nutrient-rich reef systems better than many delicate SPS corals. They generally do not need ultra-low nutrient water. The goal is clean, stable, fed reef water, not sterile seawater cosplaying as a laboratory accident.

LIGHTING

Blue Toadstool Leather Coral prefers low to moderate lighting, though it can adapt to a wide range of reef lighting if acclimated slowly.

LIGHTING RECOMMENDATIONS

Low to Moderate PAR: Start around 50-100 PAR if newly added, especially if the coral is freshly shipped or coming from lower light.

Target Range: Once settled, many toadstool leathers do well around 75-150 PAR, with many leather corals also adapting well around 100-200 PAR depending on the system.

Higher Light Adaptation: Some specimens may adapt to stronger lighting, but changes should be gradual.

Gradual Acclimation: Increase light slowly over several days to weeks if moving into brighter placement.

Color Display: Blue or blue-gray coloration may show best under moderate reef lighting with a blue-heavy spectrum.

Color Shift: Blue-toned toadstools may look more gray, tan, teal, or lavender depending on lighting spectrum, nutrients, and camera settings.

Too Much Light: Signs may include closed polyps, pale tissue, shrinking, excessive shedding, or failure to extend.

Too Little Light: Signs may include stretching, dull color, weak polyp extension, or slow growth.

Do not blast a fresh blue toadstool with maximum light because the color looked interesting. That is not coral care. That is photon-based overconfidence with a soft coral victim.

WATER FLOW

Blue Toadstool Leather Coral prefers moderate to strong indirect flow. Flow is especially important because toadstool leathers periodically shed a waxy outer layer, and good flow helps remove that film.

FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS

Ideal Flow: Moderate to strong, indirect, varied flow.

Avoid Direct Blast: Do not aim a pump directly at the coral so hard that the stalk bends constantly or the cap stays irritated.

Shedding Support: Stronger indirect flow helps remove shed film from the cap.

Avoid Dead Spots: Low flow can allow slime, algae, detritus, or shed tissue to sit on the coral surface.

Polyp Movement: Polyps should move gently and naturally when extended.

After Shedding: If the coral remains closed and shiny for several days, improve indirect flow before panicking like a normal reef keeper with internet access.

The goal is enough flow to keep the leather clean, not enough to turn it into a blue windsock with trust issues.

DIET

Blue Toadstool Leather Coral is primarily photosynthetic and usually does not require direct feeding.

PRIMARY DIET

Photosynthesis: Reef lighting provides most of the coral’s energy.

Dissolved Nutrients: Toadstool leathers may absorb dissolved organic matter and nutrients from the water.

Fine Particulate Foods: Very fine coral foods, phytoplankton-style blends, amino acids, and reef nutrition products may be used lightly.

Fish Feeding Benefit: Regular fish feeding often provides enough dissolved and suspended nutrition.

Trace Elements: Regular water changes or balanced supplementation can help maintain trace elements used by soft corals.

FEEDING FREQUENCY

Direct target feeding is usually unnecessary. Broadcast feeding occasionally may be beneficial in very clean systems, but avoid overfeeding.

Toadstool leathers do not need chunks of shrimp shoved at them like they are tiny LPS corals. They are soft corals, not a leather couch with a mouth.

COMPATIBILITY

Blue Toadstool Leather Coral works well in many reef aquariums when given space, flow, and stable conditions.

COMMON TANK MATES

Fish: Reef-safe fish such as clownfish, gobies, blennies, wrasses, cardinalfish, firefish, tangs, rabbitfish, anthias, and other peaceful to semi-peaceful community fish.

Use Caution: Fish known to nip soft corals, including some angelfish, butterflyfish, puffers, filefish, and certain triggers.

Invertebrates: Generally safe with cleaner shrimp, snails, hermit crabs, and common reef invertebrates.

Coral: Compatible with many soft corals, zoanthids, mushrooms, LPS, and SPS if spacing and chemical filtration are managed.

Avoid Direct Contact: Do not allow aggressive LPS or anemones to touch the toadstool.

Chemical Competition: Run activated carbon and maintain good water changes in mixed reefs with leathers and sensitive SPS.

MIXED REEF NOTES

Toadstool leathers can be excellent mixed reef corals, but they may release chemical compounds that irritate other corals. This is especially relevant in smaller systems or heavily stocked soft coral tanks.

Activated carbon, strong flow, protein skimming, and regular water changes help reduce chemical buildup. Soft corals are beautiful, but some of them run the aquarium like a passive-aggressive group chat.

BEHAVIORAL NOTES

Temperament: Peaceful by sting, but potentially semi-aggressive through chemical competition.

Growth Pattern: Develops a stalk and broad mushroom-like cap.

Polyp Extension: Healthy specimens often extend small polyps from the cap, creating a fuzzy appearance.

Shedding: Periodic shedding is normal. The coral may close, look shiny, waxy, or dull, then shed a thin film before reopening.

Closed Periods: Toadstools may close for days during shedding, acclimation, irritation, or parameter changes.

Coloration: May show blue, gray-blue, teal, lavender-blue, green-blue, tan, cream, brown, or pale gray depending on lighting, nutrients, and specimen.

Blue Appearance: Blue coloration may appear stronger under blue-heavy reef lighting and may look more gray, tan, or teal under whiter lighting.

Frag Attachment: Leather frags may take time to attach. They can be secured with rubble cups, rubber bands, toothpicks, bridal veil, or low-pressure fragging methods.

Slime Response: Leathers may produce mucus when handled, irritated, or fragged.

Chemical Defense: Use gloves when handling and wash hands afterward.

Algae Risk: If flow is too low, algae or detritus can settle on the cap and prevent polyp extension.

Pest Awareness: Inspect for nudibranchs, flatworms, algae, aiptasia, and other hitchhikers before placement.

Fragging: Toadstools are commonly fragged, but they may slime heavily and close temporarily afterward.

Trade Name Reality: Blue Toadstool Leather Coral is usually a trade or color-description name rather than a separate species. Exact blue intensity, polyp extension, cap shape, and growth rate can vary between individual specimens and lighting systems.

Placement Reality: This coral can be easy, hardy, and forgiving, but it still needs proper flow. A toadstool in stagnant water is just a soft coral quietly wearing its own dirty raincoat.

ACCLIMATION PROCESS

This acclimation method helps reduce stress by gradually introducing the coral to your aquarium’s temperature, lighting, and water chemistry.

1. DIM THE LIGHTS

Turn down aquarium lights or place the coral in a shaded lower area at first. This helps reduce stress while it adjusts.

2. FLOAT THE BAG

Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 15-20 minutes to allow the temperature in the bag to equalize with the tank.

3. OPEN BAG, ADD CORAL TO CONTAINER

Carefully open the bag and transfer the coral and shipping water into a clean container. Handle the coral gently by the frag plug, rock, or attached base when possible.

4. ACCLIMATE USING TANK WATER

Add small amounts of tank water to the container every few minutes for 20-30 minutes. Avoid rough handling, squeezing, or tearing the soft tissue.

5. CORAL DIP WITH CAUTION

Use a coral-safe dip only according to the product instructions and only if appropriate for soft corals. Leathers may slime heavily when dipped or handled. Inspect carefully for pests, algae, aiptasia, and hitchhikers before placement.

6. TRANSFER CORAL TO AQUARIUM

Place the coral on lower-to-middle rockwork with moderate indirect flow. Discard the shipping and dip water. Do not pour shipping water or dip water into your aquarium.

7. SECURE IF NEEDED

If the coral is loose or freshly cut, secure it gently to rubble or a plug using a low-pressure method. Do not crush the stalk or tie it too tightly.

8. LIGHT ACCLIMATE

Allow the coral to adjust gradually over several days to weeks before moving it into brighter light. Watch for polyp extension, cap expansion, shedding, blue coloration, and signs of irritation before making major placement changes.