open brain help

[sw_addicted]

we received an open brain about 2 months ago when we purchased another reefers tank. I wanted to get rid of it as soon as it was placed in our tank but it attached itself to a chunk of lr, and after asking a few questions on a few forums decided that it would be allright in our tank. now after all this time it is receding up the skeleton under it. I am somewhat sure that it is not the light, all of our water parameters are where they need to be, everything else in the tank is doing well. our phosphate level went up a touch when I introduced the corals from the other tank into our 120g but after a few months with phos-ban it is down to .02ppm. well as long as I have the log book out here are the other paramaters as of 06-17-04
ph 8.2
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
amonia .25
salininty 34ppm
calcium 450ppm
alk. 9.8
temp. 79.8f
has this shrinking brain thing happened to anyone else?
does anyone know what could be causing it?

[fidojoe]

It could be the ammonia, you're supposed to have 0, unless your test kit only reads a min of >.25

[middletonmark]

What kind of light / flow regimen do you have it under?

Placed on the rocks or on the sandbed?

[ScottT1980]

What happened to my brain

Here is a thread discussing my brain. It started to get necrotic towards the base and for some reason, just never came around. I wish you better success...

Take er easy
Scott T.

[Travis]

middletonmark asked a good question... open brains (I assume we're talking about a trachphyllia?) need to be on the sand bed. However, If you have something that kicks up a lot of sand or detritus onto the tissue of the open brain, you need to blow it off daily. The sand irritates the tissue of the brain, causing it to shed excess mucus to remove the sand itself, meanwhile stressing the coral.

You might try some supplemental feedings to help the brain get back on track. You should see feeders come out after lights-out. They're slow eaters, so you may need to keep fish/shrimp at bay for 10 minutes or so after feeding.

If the recession is bad, it may be time to look into dipping it. Any signs of brown jelly infection?

T

[Brucey]

SW_A. Just another thought. You say you have introduced other corals .... are any of these nearby the brain. They are not very agressive stingers and a more aggressive coral could be damaging it .... you might not see this happening as a lot of corals send out "stingers" at night when we're not watching.
Anyway good luck
Brucey

Trav .... just for info, I have a BB tank now and my brain is doing just as well as before.

[Travis]

Good point Brucey... I should have said "not in the rockwork" or "on the bottom."

Cheers

T

[middletonmark]

IME, lights are a big deal with Open Brains. They acclimate really slow, seem sensitive to high light.

Given you moved this tank ... did the coral move up more towards the light? Into more flow? Just a few inches can radically change PAR ... meaning 4" higher might actually cause problems.

Just a thought. Wishing you luck

[Mebigloser]

Do you have a picture of it, I would like to see it....

[sw_addicted]

fidojoe my test does go down to zero as matter of fact thats what is down to tonight when I tested before it was inbetween colors so I went high.
middletonmark it is 9 inches under 260w pc it was placed the exact distance from the same lighting in both tanks and was stuck to a big chunk of lr, the flow is hard to determine with wave timers ph's and canister filters but I noticed that a canister output was pointed torwards the brain could this be the problem?
scottT1980 I am sorry about what happened with your brain thanks for the reading.
Travis the brain was attached to a big chunk of lr now that it has receded it let go of the rock and has been located to the bottom of the tank.
Mebigloser I don't have a pic of what it looks like now but when I wake up later today and the lights are on I will try to get a pic and post it then if there is anything left when I wake up its to the point where it looks like a mans hairline receding very quick.

Thanks for the replys everyone, one more thing theres no brown jelly stuff and what kind of dip may help this poor guy out?

[middletonmark]

I wouldn't dip it, any dip would just kill all bacteria - good and bad. IMO, unless treating for a definite, defined problem ... don't play doctor randomly.

The flow might cause it `unhappiness' ... I'd keep it somewhat sheltered from much flow.

Anyway - good luck

[Travis]

I would agree with that. I'd redirect the flow and again, keep an eye out for brown jelly. If it appears, you need to dip the coral ASAP or it could be a goner within hours.

[ScottT1980]

One thing, have you taken it out of your tank to inspect it? If you have, did you notice how it smelled? Sounds crazy, but if it smells a bit unusual or like it is rotting, then personally, I would dip it in lugols or some sort of betadine/iodine based solution (a LFS should have it). Also, have you tried feeding it? See if it will eat anything?

FWIW, I agree with middleton in that dipping should probably be a last resort. It can cause more stress and perpetuate the problem in certain situations.

Take er easy
Scott T.

[ReefLady]

One other question -- what kind of fish in the tank? Dwarf angels are notorious for nipping at Open Brains until the shrivel and die.

Also, what kind of current/flow? When we changed to the 180g, we had to sell our beloved (9" diameter) brain, as it just could not take the high flow.

Here is a good article:

>Open-Brain, Rose Coral, Family Trachyphylliidae<

They're slow eaters, so you may need to keep fish/shrimp at bay for 10 minutes or so after feeding.

Inverted plastic berry baskets (from the grocery store) work great for this.


Good luck!!

[Brucey]

RL .... great link. I've just inherited an open brain that had completely retracted into it's skelaton and was about to die. Poor thing had been in a fish dominated system, I'm guessing with high phosphates and nitrates. The temp had also recently hit 36' .... I'm hoping I can bring it back to life but we'll see. Good info, thanks