brain not opening

[anamilasti]

ok i have this brain coral.... im not 100% what kind but its skeleton has spines or spikes on it and its pinkish red with blue center and its an open type, anyways it just wont open 100% in my tank... hes in the lower 2/3rd of my tank..... 168 watts of t5 lighting (3 56 watt strips) any ideas.
oh yeah calcium 460
alk 12
ph 8.2
temp 78
salinity 1.024
nitrate 15

 

[cymbal67]

try putting some DT in the tank

 

[bigarn]

is it on the sandbed or rock?

i find they do best on the sandbed with low to medium flow.

 

[anamilasti]

i feed dt's daily.
what about lighting? do they need intense light?

 

[cymbal67]

i have mine on the sandbed of a 30" deep tank with 150w hqi MH and 2 65w actinics. so its not all that much light considering 30"deep. here is a pic of how much this thing opens up.

 

[ci11337]

I had the same problem with mine but I figured out it was getting to much flow, so i angled the powerhead a bit and now it's one of my favs...
Before......and After