Green Brain coral not doing well.?

[rob28]

My Brain coral seems to not be doing well.He's been in the tank for a month and the last week he's been not opening and now he seems to be receeding into his skeliton.All is good,Nitrite 0,nitrate 0,amonia 0.Spg 1.026. temp 80.Cal. 420 akl.3, ph8.3...The only thing i change is i turned him and moved him about 4 inches.He's in the sand on the bottom of my tank and gets some flow when my hydor flow diflector rotates over him.But he's pretty far from it.And my gorgonia hasn't been open very much.Oh ya i started feeding some dry Phytoplankton but only 2 times so far.Any ideas?

[HPD Turbo]

What kind of lights do you have?

[rob28]

55 gallon with 4- 55watt T5.2 attinics,a power glow and a life glow

[rob28]

mybe he's STARVING?????I don't know.Should i try moving him?

[benjonesn]

what type of brain? Platygyra? Lobophyllia? Favia?

Mine, a platygyra, loves regular feedings of rather large foods: mysis and F2 pellets.

[rob28]

Im not sure what he is?

[rob28]

ANYONE?

[drummereef]

Can you get a pic so we can ID it?

[sam1174]

Do you feed him? I give mine little pieces of shrimp two or three times a week. Sometimes he doesn't seem to want to take the shrimp, but if I sprinkle some cyclop-eeze in the tank, about 3 minutes later his tiny little feeding tentacle thingys (not sure what they are called) stick out and he will then hold the shrimp. It takes him about 10 minutes to fully injest them.

I've also heard of other people target feeding them by putting a cut off two liter bottle over them and putting some mysis shrimp into the bottle.

[sam1174]

I'm assuming this is what you're talking about, right?

[tmz]

If it's an open brain they don't like a lot of current. A possibility is that something is biting it. I have a regal tang that started doing this after a year of peaceful coexistance. I had to move my trachyaphylia and scolymia to another tank. They had been closed for over a week when I observed him grab a chunk. Eventualy if they stay closed for a long period of time they will start a downward spiral which may be irrreversable.

[1F2FRFBF]

Dunno if you've tried this already, but I'll suggest it anyway...

Get some frozen mysis or krill. Put cube in a cup and add some tank water to thaw. Turn off all your pumps, then take a turkey baster and slowly deposit some of the shrimp directly on to the coral. What should happen is that the coral will sense the food and begin the process of drawing it into its mouth(s). Leave the pumps off for about 15-20 minutes (maybe longer) to give the coral a chance to get a good hold on the food. Try to do this a couple times a week.

Or, you can wait till about an hour or so after lights-out and drop some cyclopeeze into the tank with the pumps still running. Most corals will extend their tentacles or polyps at night to catch whatever might be floating by. Same deal with your gorgonian.

Hope that helps!

[Am4nn]

It's really big!

[rob28]

No he's not too big....He"s like the one thats pictured.I feed him some sinking food last night when the lights were out and put in some phytoplankton...he looks a little better today.I may move him a little as i did move him 3or 4 inches befor he started to go downhill...Maybe he's getting a little more flow than befor...

[rob28]

3.5-4"long

[JPagliai]

They like being in the substrate more than sitting on a rock. I think the skin on the underside is a bit delicate. If you like where he's placed, drizzle some sand on the rock beneath him. Just make sure he's in a shaded area of the tank and in light water flow.

[rob28]

Well i moved him and fed him...Hope it works...He was on the substrate but the only shady area i have there is an anemone there...i'll have to make some shade for him....Thanks for ALL THE SUGGESTIONS...HOPE IT WORKS.......THanks again.