Brain coral troubles

[Playdope]

My open brain has been shriveled up recently sometimes during the day. It was never like this before. I'm almost sure it's due to the lack of a skimmer, which I'm waiting to have returned from Euroreef (warranty repair). How often should I be doing water changes if I dont have a skimmer on the tank? I have no fish yet, only crabs and snails. It's a 100 gal tank plus 30 gal sump.

Thanks for any advise.. I really love this brain, and I want to make sure it does well.

Here is a picture.. that shows it is spewing out some dark brown stuff (2nd time Ive seen it do this). What is it?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

It looks fine to me. How are your water perams?

 

[Anonymous]

Looks fine. It appears to be using the bathroom.

 

[K9coral]

Cool looking. What seems to be the problem?

 

[Playdope]

Sorry - I'm new to the whole coral pooping thing I didn't realize it was brain poop. I notice it poofs up and shrinks up throughout the day too, thats normal also? Sometimes it seems pretty random. Anything in particular to look out for with brains in the way of disease, fungus, things they hate..etc..?

 

[Anonymous]

Jon, When I had my ob, it was under pc lights. I know everyone says that you can do it. But impo, they need stronger mh lighting. I watched mine slowly die down next to nothing. Now, I have 3 little chunks of it left that seem to be growing slowly under the new lights.

I think a little hitch hiking crab picked at it, so keep an eye out for those. Sometimes I think hermits irritate them as well. Make sure to feed it some chunky foods. That is the coolest thing to see. Mine also seemed to like good flow over it. I could be wrong, but that's when it was inflated the nicest.

 

[Playdope]

Its sitting on the substrate under 432 watts of an 8 bulb t5 setup. The skimmer still isn't on the tank, and I think it also may be due to a water quality change after the skimmer came off the tank. I am still waiting for it to be shipped back from Robert at Euroreef. Hopefully soon, because this has been dragged out for long enough.

The coral actually got shaded by some reaquascaping about 2 weeks ago. Then I noticed the shrinking up and spewing of brown (either from the skimmer removal or light change), and yesterday I unshaded the coral a bit, and it is getting more light. Someone else mentioned that it could be spewing out zooxanthellae. One thing that has me a bit concerned is that the corals colors are not quite as bright.


One thing I have been noticing is that it has had its tenticles/polyps extended quite a bit now (not just when I open the canopy). I'm not sure why... maybe there is more in the water for it to try to grab without the skimmer on the tank?

Here are some comparison pictures of how it was before:

And now:

There is more "cracking" in the color, and it is definitely not as bright red and green. I'm getting pretty concerned about this.

 

[Anonymous]

How often should I be doing water changes if I dont have a skimmer on the tank?

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but having a skimmer and water changes aren't mutually exclusive. I'd do a 10% water change weekly whether the skimmer is there or being fixed!

 

[Playdope]

I do a 10% water change weekly when the skimmer is in there, but now I have been doing it more often because the skimmer is not there.

 

[Anonymous]

Good man.

 

[Playdope]

bump...

do you guys think the color loss is because of the absence of the skimmer? Or light??

Thanks

 

[Playdope]

Can somebody please help me figure out why the brain is losing color?? Can it get the color back?

 

[Ben1]

Loss of color IME is because of lighting. Many corals after you get them and the get situated to your lights they with fade or brighten. IME brighter light usually leads to brighter colors. Lower light more faded colors. This may be caused by zooxanthellea reproducing in the tissue to make up for less light and darkening the apperance. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong here.

 

[Playdope]

The thing is... the brain was added on January 6th, and I first started noticing this happen just over a week ago. How can I solve this problem?? Should I give it more light? Can I do anything?

 

[Ben1]

Have you tried feeding it chopped silversides or chopped krill at night when its feeding polyps are expanding? This could help is a bit but I wouldn't move it as it looks ok.

 

[Playdope]

I haven't been feeding it. I was told it didn't need it. Could color loss be due to lack of feeding (not just light)?

 

[fishfanatic2]

It can't hurt to try feeding it. Yes the color loss could be partly due to lack of feeding I believe, maybe not wholly, but at least partly. Not many corals actually NEED feeding other than what's in the tank, but it can certainly help.

 

[Playdope]

So, I've had a few mixed opinions about light. If something loses color... does that mean a lack of light or? Should I move it higher in the tank?

Thanks

 

[Playdope]

I just tried feeding it some chunks of krill for the first time since I got it (Jan 2), and it took them right in and inflated up. I dont know if feeding will have any impact on the color... but I really want it to get its color back!

 

[Playdope]

Is this type of brain uncommon, because I never see it anywhere. Does anyone have any source to info on it... I haven't had luck finding anything. I'd love to find more info. If I remember before getting this coral, there were two or three types of brains in my coral book, but I never saw a picture of one like mine.

BTW - how often do most of you feed yours?