[cindys1676]

I have a 120 gal saltwater tank that contains plate corals, colony polyps, mushrooms, and a brain coral along with a few fish. A few months ago, I wasn't having very good luck with most of my corals but my brain coral was doing great. I started adding coral accel,coral-vite, strontium & molybdenum, and essential elements. My mushrooms and colony polyps have been multiplying nicely, but now my brain coral is only 1/4 of the size it used to be. My calcium level runs in the 450 range. Can anyony offer suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong or what I need to test for?

[e_baer]

it most likely needs to eat meaty items. there is only one kind that doesnt. what sort exactly do you have?

[blind1993]

yea adn can u post a pic

[jimw369]

What kind is it?
What are you using for light?
Where is it in the tank in relation to the light and the amount of water flow it gets?
Are you feeding it and w/what. Brains like meat!
Has its color changed since you had it? Lighter or darker or less color?
Is it near any other animals that might bother it?

[e_baer]

im not trying to steal her post, but my brain is a favites i think, or a worm, but either way, when i got it, it was a bright green, now its more of a puirple color. also, the outside is a little soft, calcium level is good, and its growing onto other rocks. my question is, why is it soft? its not the kind of brian that puffs up, it has the sweeper tenticles that liik like long tube worm kinda things. i have it all the wway at the top of my tank, with 4.5wpg and hgih flow.

[ReefKing24]

hey e_baer, why you stealing her post man? just playing, move your brain further down, i have a 90 gallon tank with 3 brain corals all the way at the bottom my watts per gallon is 5.5, but my brain corals are on the sand bed, one is even under an over hang just a bit, they don't need a crazy amount of light, and the other thing is I don't feed them meety foods, they may get a bit of the brine shrimp i feed my fish, but other than that i feed, cyclopes twice a week, i have had one over a year and a half the other 8 months and the newest member is roughly 2 months old. Just thought it was worth passing on.

[e_baer]

yeah, i dont feed mine either, but ill defintely move it down overthe course of the next few weeks. thanks for the info!

[cindys1676]

I looked it up and it is a Trachyphyllia. I have 2 different references and they both say different things as far as feeding. One source says it does not require additional food but will feed on micro-plancton and food for filter feeding inverterbrates. The other says to feed meat. Would this be considered something like mysis shrimp? I have it place at mid-level in a medium current. I have 240 watts of lighting. (180 is blue actinic). It has been in the same placement since I got in last Sept. and was doing great up till March. I am dosing the additives as 3 tsp. once a week. I dont know if I should be doing more of one supplement and less of something else. Any idea how I can tell?

[jimw369]

Dose only what you can test for.

I can only speak from my experience which is from 1 brain coral (swollen Brain) I have had for 2 mos. It was smaller than a base ball when I got it and now it normally expands to 6-7 inches in diameter. If I want, I can shut off a powerhead that washes down the front glass of the tank and the brain will even get considerably bigger. I keep good water flow on it just to keep it smaller so it fits where it is. Someday it will have to be moved. Its a great coral!

Your shrooms are doing good so your water must be good. I think that brain needs a little help with some meat. Place some meat on or near its mouth with the pumps off and see if it eats it. If its hungry it will eat. Mine is a pig!

[SweeTang22]

feeding forceps and freeze dried krill. you could do frozen if its big enough but otherwise freeze dried is good enough. turn off you powerheads or filters and just hold it their. if its hungry it will open its mouth and then you can gently place it in its mouth, it should do the rest. my brain eats 16 pieces of krill every two days and is about 8 inches in diameter.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Cyndi if you only have 240 watts over a 120 gallon tank that might just be the problem.The old rule is 5 to 6 watts per gallon (not a good rule but its a place to start).But by anyones standards 2 watts per gallon is way to low.You really need to at least double that.

[cindys1676]

Thank you all so much for your help. My coral has started eating frozen plankton. I am feeding it every other day. Should I be trying to feed it every day until it gets bigger? I don't want to overfeed. As far as lighting goes, I have two 36" double strip lights. I know for sure that the 2 blue actinic bulbs I have are 90 watts each. The other two I'm not positive of the make, but know they are at least 45 watts each. I could really use some suggestions on what to add to those or replace them with. Thanks again. Cindy

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Two more of those 2x90 watt strips will get you close.Three more would put you right on the money. But it may be that a good fixture would be cheaper.

[c-c]

The trachyphyllidae may not do as well now, since you added more food for the other corals that need higher concentrations of dissolved nutrients, as it demands excellent water quality. Do you have a protein skimmer on board?

Since it contains symbiotic algae, moderate to high intensity lighting is good, but be careful to green algae invading the skeleton.
Did your books mention the water circulation requirements? Jimw369 had an interesting observation about his brain swelling more in good circulation.
Have you tried any other foods besides plankton, like cyclopes? Feeding occasionally...minimal twice weekly?
Check out with a flashlight if it is being bothered by anything at night...hermit crabs, shrimp, something irritating it? Too close to mushroom polyps, other corals?

[Lightsluvr]

How far away should an open brain coral be positioned from a plate coral on the sand bed?

Are they likely to start a war?

LL

[ncdiablo]

I know this is a costly fix for your lighting. But I am going to suggest it anyway. When I got my 72 inch 100g tank. I decided to get this light for it. It's the Aquatinics Constellation 72" T-5 VHO lights. It's amazing. 14 39 watt 36" bulbs. 3 Light switches to control different sets of lights to come on or off. Will cost around 750 bucks and then the light bulbs will kick in an extra 180 dollars but they last about a year to a year and a half.

That's for a total of 546 watts of T-5 VHO bulbs. The nice thing is the lights don't heat up your tank a ton. They have an incredible reflector set in there that really boosts the lighting so it's going to be even better than 546 watts. My corals will actually have to wear shades.

We no longer use any lighting in the room since the Constellation keeps the room lit up easily.