Brain Fade! (kinda long)

[DennisW]

This is my post from another board. Do you guyz/gals have any ideas about what may be causing this brain fading? Keep in mind that it only happens to the open brain corals and I've only had two of them thus far. Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!

I also have had a problem with open brains "fading" in my care. The first brain I had faded from a deep colored green to a faded, translucent green. The latest "brain fade" has really been tough. I bought this open brain from a fellow reefer who had it in almost the exact setup as mine. Over the course of about 2 months, the colors have faded BAD! I cant explain it! Other LPS's do fine in my care; frogspawn, branching hammer, etc. I also have several SPS and other various leathers. I have had this fading problem basicly since I started three years ago!!!!! The color's on this latest brain were AWSOME!!!! in this other guyz tank. The purple and greens were very rich and dark and vivid. Now, they are rather translucent. In my tank the brain has NEVER presented feeder tenticals. Thus I have never fed it. The previous owner said that it presented feeders in his tank but he never fed it either. The last brain I had never presented feeders either. So this leads me to believe that lack of feeding might be the answer. However I have never been able to get the brain to take any food. It just floats off it. I will have to try the tube and shrimp pellet thing. Any advise would be welcome!!!! Thanx!
Tank specs:100gal Tenecor acrylic tank (48x24x20)
20gal Rubbermaid Sump
Single 1" built in overflow
Iwaki md40rlxt (japaneese) return pump doing ~1000gph split
between two returns.
Turbofloater 1000 skimmer with a Rio 2500HP (~700gph) and a
Rio 800 feeding it.
Overflow tube runs into a 100 micron filter bag in sump. Skimmer
return also goes into bag. This reduces LOTS of bubbles!
Precesion Marine 4" calcium reactor filled with A.R.M. media. I have
a 5lb CO2 tank and a metering valve for fine adjustment.
2 175W German True10k's. 4 110W VHO bulbs which are 3 Actinic
and 1 50/50. All bulbs are URI and they are run off an
electronic VHO ballast from LampsNow (Hello Lights). I also
have a 25W, blue party light bulb as a moon light. It stays
on for 1 hour after all lights out. The Vho's are on for 14.5
hours and the halides are on for 9.5 hours.
I also use all RO/DI water for top off and monthly, 20% water
changes. I also run Kent brand carbon 24/7. I dose Tahitian Blend phyto plankton occasionally. I add four caps of DT's phytoplankton three days per week. I also add Kent brand Iodine once weekly. The fish eat once daily and they get BioPure frozen brine shrimp and Marine Cuisene. I feed the tang a large piece of Nori twice daily. I occasionally feed VibroGrow to all the fish. I also feed the sun polyps and any other coral that eats, with brine. Live brine is also occasionally used as well.

Dennis

[dark horge]

Just some thoughts, Dennis:

Weak lights can force the zooxanthellae in coral tissue to migrate up to just under the tissue surface, and their light-brown-ness can then obscure any native color of the coral tissue. Of course, stronger lighting can nudge the brown zooxanthellae into hiding behind the coral's tiny pigment bundles, and because they're now in the 'background', this can sometimes ring out those bright greens and reds.

Also, Dana Riddle was one of those who noted a correlation between alkalinity of the saltwater and coral color some years back.

Of course there's also diet to consider.



hth
horge

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi Dennis! I also have a open green brain coral and seem to be having similiar problems as well.
I fed it once when the tentacles were out and it ate just fine! Then came the little purple goby who decided the brain would make a nice host! So the brain did not send out its tentacles after that!
The color was fading as well being under 2 55wwPC's and 4-40ww NO lighting. I now have dual 175MH 10,000k and the color seems to be coming back quite well. It is in an area of good moving current and the goby seems to have found another coral more to its liking so hopefully the brain will begin to open up more for feeding! Fun Time in a Reef! Johnny

[beach bum]

I feed using sliversides and also brine (when extended). It does not need to be extended to eat, just turn off the tank flow (I believe they should be in a low flow area anyway) and place the food on/near their mouth. Sometimes I have to beat back the shrimps and crabs until it has gotten the food partially swallowed. Once it has a grip and has begun to swallow it, turn back on the circulation.
works for me, chris


"FEED ME!!!"

[DennisW]

GREAT info! Thanx!

Do you think moving it up off the sand bed is a good idea? I mean, if I wanted to get it more light. I thought they dont do as well off the sandbed?????????

Chris...you say that it dosent need it's feeder tentacles out to eat? Interesting. I'll have to try that!

Thanks again,
Dennis

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by DennisW
Do you think moving it up off the sand bed is a good idea? I mean, if I wanted to get it more light. I thought they dont do as well off the sandbed?????????

Many of the photoprotective pigments that occur in these corals are in response to the intensity of the lighting. In a 100 gal tank, the depth from the surface to the substrate is a little too much to stimulate the protective pigmentation that occurs in Trachyphyllia spp. when using 175 watt MH bulbs. I would not doubt that this is part of the cause for the blanching, but as far as the feeding responses, I don't think that the reduced lighting would be a causal factor. You could move the specimens up higher in the tank, or you could convert to 250 watt MH just over the locations you want to keep creatures on the substrate.

Chris...you say that it dosent need it's feeder tentacles out to eat? Interesting...

In some spp. of Trach. high or moderate current will stifle the extension of the feeders, but turning off the current, then stimulating the coral with a little "chum" will have the coral expanding and extending it's feeder tentacles. I have to do this frequently to get them to feed. It helps to put a weighted plastic fruit basket over the specimen after feeding it to keep any fishes or cleanup crew from taking the offered feedings. I just use the same meaty slurry that I feed the anemone and the other large polyped corals and gently drop some on the oral plane with the turkey baster.

[DaveJ]

Hi Dennis,

When I purchased my open brain it was faded to begin with. I had no idea that wasn't a healthy coral I purchased. About 3 months after I had it in the tank, it started to go brown on me a bit. I freaking, thinking cyno or something had taken over. Turned out, it was repopulating its zoo(whateveryoucallit). This happened shortly after I started feeding it chopped scallops from the store. Since then, it has steadily grown deeper in color and the green flourencence has accented and highlighted its features. It sits about halfway up the rockwork. To feed it, I do it in the afternoon and put a cube of scallop onto its mouth area (it has 3 that I can tell) and then fend off the shrimp. Once its swallowed it, I leave it be. It has spit out food if I feed it late in the day and the lights go off. No idea why that is, but that is why I switched to an earlier feeding.

I would suggest moving it up a bit in the tank and keep feeding it. As long as it accepts food, you should be okay and it will eventually come around. Just be patient and dont make any drastic changes.

[Doug1]

Dennis you might try using the carbon only 3-4 days a month. It loses its ability to adsorb soon and can leach stuff back as well as being another nitrate producer. Also some corals reportedly dont do as well with constant carbon, whether this from adsorbing trace elements or what I dont know, but its a cheap experiment

[DennisW]

WOW!! Such AWSOME help!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankyou!!!!!

Doug, I always suspected that. You are right. A cheap expermint!! I have tried to quit carbon on several occasions. It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ADDICTIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont know. I just think the water looks less clear the moment I remove it! Although I'm sure it is the same!!!!!

Must quit carbon! Must quit carbon! must quit carbon!

TD: Thanks for all the info! As usual, I sincerely appriciate your advise. I think I will do the, "shut the pumps off" thing and try to get the brain to eat. I also will move it up into the light a little more. I recently created the PERFECT ledge for it. I was reserving it for a maxima clam but hey......first things first! I guess I should make sure that all the other animals are healthy before adding another!

Thanks everyone! I'll keep ya posted!

Dennis