help me save my open brain!

[mdcorcoran]

i have a 37 gallon tank, with several soft corals, a very healthy frogspawn, and a slowly shriviling open brain. over the past few months, the brain has slowly been shrinking to its current state, a small section of fleshy tissue with a few small bubbles in the middle of the skeleton. i've tried moving it up in the tank to get more light, which i dont think is much of a difference (130W PC, moved it up about 4"). I've also moved it in areas with different currents, but I can't tell whether it prefers a higher or lower current because it is so shrivled either way. I have also lowered my avg. salinity from 1.023 to 1.021, thinking maybe the brain's tissues were expelling water to maintain a similar concentration gradeint in and outside the brain. I feed the tank daily, i dissolve frozen brine, krill, lettuce, and bloodworms. I'm looking for any suggestions on what to do. I'm considering target feeding with a baster, but what substrate? help please!

michael corcoran.

[mdcorcoran]

some more info on my tank:
i have a CPR BakPak2 skimmer, i regularly clean the powerhead to keep it working. My frogspawn has recently divided one of it's polyps to form 2 polyps, and new coraline algae is growing everywhere in the tank. I do not know how calciummy the tank is, what is that, kh? however, i use well water and i know it is relatively hard. for suppliments, i use iodine and strontium.

[bgaineshunter]

It might be too late for the brain. However, be sure to keep all hard corals upwind from soft corals. Soft corals leach powerful toxins.

[icebear]

i thought brains liked 1.024

have you ever fed it?

(don't know much about brains- i don't have any (a-hem)) but those would be the first things i'd question myself on....

[mdcorcoran]

i'm thinking about getting a refractometer soon. i always thought they would be way too expensive for me, but i saw some on ebay around the $40 area. i don't think it is completely "too late" for the brain because some days, it bubbles up a little more than others. maybe i'm just hopeful.

[dark horge]

Never too late, unless it's sick with an infection or infestation, and your Euphyllia are particularly notorious for succumbing to disease when malnourished. Meaty corals like yours can benefit from direct feeding AND good lighting.

I wouldn't sweat the SG of the water too much. Your corals can take a significant shift in SG, so long as they have the energy reserves towards osmoregulation: energy they can develop from sufficient food and lighting.

When I have to feed corals, I use freshly-killed shrimpmeat. Small bits for starters ---pinhead size scrap dropped near the mouth(s). Your biggest problem will be keeping fish and other nmobile residents from stealing the food. Once a weakened coral learns to recognize the morsel as food, it will react more quickly and reliably to larger morsels: if you blast a weakened coral with a slurry from the git-go, it might react with shock rather than gusto.

Unless it has undergone bleaching (the "zoox-pukes"), improving the lighting will mean more starch and sugar produced for the coral to subsist on.

If you are dosing prophylactics like iodine, etc. you may be killing off beneficial protozoa growing in the coral's mucus. Many corals 'farm' such nasties in their goop, and then reel them in for chowing down. Of course, if i had a sick coral and HAD to medicate, I'd probably do it in a dedicated, isolated treatment tank

hth

[tangcrazy]

i have two beautiful brains, I feed them brine shrimp at least once a week. As soon as the shrimp hits the brain it forms up around the shrimp. Try feeding it.

[mdcorcoran]

i went and got a turkey baster and some frozen mysis shrimp. I let the mysis thaw and made a little pasty solution and squirted it near the brain tonight about 3 hours after lights out. i also ordered a refractometer and a KH test kit, so we'll see where those take me. also, i will lay off the iodine for a little while and see how that goes, what do you think about strontium though?

[mdcorcoran]

ok, i have some major updates on my situation. i just had my water tested by my new favorite reef dealer. pH was 8.2, Ca was 431, everything else all good....but the KH was off the charts! Also, my "open brain" as i've called it for the last 8 months is actually a doughnut coral. so...ta da!