Care for brain coral?

[janet29]

I have a 29 gal nano and just got this coral a few days ago and at the store was labeled as a brain. Doesn't seem to be doing so well in my tank but it might just be that my lights aren't strong enough any thoughts?

 

[LoveTheReef]

What kind of lights do you have? And how are the parameters in the tank?

Also if you don't mind me asking, how did you acclimate it and for how long?

Just wondering if it went into shock for some reason... has it been deteriorating over time? Or its pretty stable now?

The answers to above will help others give some insights and recommendations..


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[s_kelley]

Looks like a lobo nice colors too. They retract like that when unhappy . As long as it doesn't get worse like the flesh starts coming off I would give a week to get settled in. You can also try n put it up higher in the water column where ther is more light. What do you have for lights?

 

[lex_lutha111384]

I had one do the same thing, and my parameters were perfect. It ended up bulking up and its color came back. It looked great for a while. Then i think i sold it, but i think it will be ok. Maybe moving him would help.

 

[dz6t]

It is a wellso brain, a very nice one. The red one command high price and they are around $200 from Liveaquaria if they have one.
It does not like strong water flow and strong light. Make sure it is not under strong current.

It looks stress but otherwise OK.

Great find.

 

[janet29]

I have compact fluorescents that came with the tank. Parameters seemed good last time I checked a week ago. And I didn't really acclimate it well :/

I put it under lower light to see if that would help. Sorry if my info isn't that great I'm still pretty new lol

 

[LoveTheReef]

I have compact fluorescents that came with the tank. Parameters seemed good last time I checked a week ago. And I didn't really acclimate it well :/

I put it under lower light to see if that would help. Sorry if my info isn't that great I'm still pretty new lol

No worries -- how long have you had the tank setup?

As for the brain coral, I'm thinking a few things:

1) If your tank is too new, it might not be fully cycled, and nitrate/nitrite/ammonia levels might be fluctuating left and right ... which can be pretty harmful to corals.
2) As you mentioned, you didn't acclimate the coral -- it's in shock from being in a new environment, new water, at new temperature, all of a sudden. Please search for coral acclimatization threads, or feel free to PM me if you need detailed help.
3) The brain corals do not need too much light or flow; so most probably too much light is not an issue since you are using stock fixtures. Just make sure it's in a slight shaded area, and relatively low flow.

I'm sure others will chime in soon

 

[highpower9979]

How long has tank been setup ....any fish picking at it. When i add new things to my tank my fish pick at it for a couple of days.

 

[janet29]

Thanks for the really helpful info! My tank has been set up for a little over 2
Months

 

[LoveTheReef]

Thanks for the really helpful info! My tank has been set up for a little over 2
Months

Your system is still pretty young, and unfortunately you can expect to have some more problems in the near future but it should all stabilize pretty soon. If the brain is already in low light and low flow, then you've pretty much done what you can; just keep an eye on all the parameters, and do water changes to fix any drastic fluctuations as necessary. Keep an eye out -- if the brain fluffs up, and starts showing tentacles, it might help to feed him a few mysis shrimp or something (as long as your fish and clean up crew don't try to steal it.

If he keeps deteriorating, you might want to give him to someone temporarily to heal him back to health ... (if that's do-able).

Good luck and keep the chin up! Few casualties, especially when you're just starting out and learning about them are pretty much a given. We've all been through it and learned from our mistakes / experiences.

 

[dannyp02908]

last brain i had in that shape didnt really bounce back. hopefully yours does. I agree with the others about flow. Try to put it someplace where its getting a little indirect flow. Also, make sure it has room to open up and not have the flesh hit rocks. That brain can nearly double in size just by opening.

 

[kingfish62]

It looks like Trachyphyllia geoffroyi (Open Brain) to me. I have two varieties and they do fine in my 28g biocube.

Just give it time with low flow and low light as mentioned. You should start to see it expand more and more every day till it is fully acclimated.

 

[janet29]

It looks like Trachyphyllia geoffroyi (Open Brain) to me. I have two varieties and they do fine in my 28g biocube.

Just give it time with low flow and low light as mentioned. You should start to see it expand more and more every day till it is fully acclimated.

Your tank looks pretty sweet!

 

[kingfish62]

Thank You!

Is the brain showing any signs of expansion yet?

 

[janet29]

No I think it's deteriorating further :-( i moved it one more time to see if it would be happier but might have to accept this one as a loss.

 

[kingfish62]

Why, is it showing signs of necrosis or tissue decay?

 

[janet29]

Looks like it just completely bleached
This is what it looks like now.
It happened really fast

 

[s_kelley]

Oh yeah it looks gone just skeleton left

 

[frank180reef]

what is ur alk , calc and mag?

 

[CaptainHook]

I just learned today. Don't throw it away. Give it some time and little baby corals may grow out of it.