Help with Brain Coral

[pclown]

I have had my Brain Coral going on two weeks now and this week seems to not look as good. My water is:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - between 0 - 2.5
PH - 8.2
Alk - 11 dkh.
Salanity - 1.024
Temp - 80.5
He is showing some green where he was red and he seems to spitting some stuff out of one of his mouths. Whatever he is spitting out the Royal Gramma is eating. He also seems a little smaller than he was when I bought him.
Please Help

 

[pclown]

My Tank:
24g Aquapod
30lbs LR
20lbs LS
150w HQI MH's
I use RO water only
I use Phosban and Purigen in filter.
I have:
Bubble Tip Anemone
Yellow Polyps
Green Star Polyps
Kenya Tree
Zoo's
2 Percula clown and a Royal Gramma
Everthing looks as good as ever accept the Brain Coral.
I dont target feed it but I feed my tank:
Frozen Brine Plus (4 Days a week)
Cyclo-plezee (At night 3 days a week when feeding flake food)
Flake Food (3 Days a week)
I was told by a few that I did not need to target feed.

 

[zensaiyan]

1. yes you should target feed your brain, otherwise they will eventually starve.
2. BTAs are not that good of an idea to mix in a reef tank because they will sting the other corals, especially in such a small tank.
3. is the brain on the sand bed or rocks? what type of brain is it?

 

[team2jndd]

your problem isnt an anemone. second of all you do not have to spot feed your brain because mine is growing and healthy not to mention reproduced several times without ever once being spot fed. not to mention it would not starve to death after a week. Either something is wrong with your water, the placement is wrong or your tank just isnt set up right for that particular species.

 

[team2jndd]

What species of brain is this because the color change could be perfectly normal and the "spitting" might just be the excreting of waste. Most corals do shring while excreting.

 

[pclown]

It is Red or Pink open brain, Right now I have it sitting in the sand. I dont know what could be wrong with my water. Everything else is doing great! Could it be getting to much light?
Thank you for any help

 

[team2jndd]

Its hard to understand exactly whats wrong with it without really seeing it. Can you maybe post a pic?

 

[pclown]

I should be able to tomorrow.

 

[zensaiyan]

brains should be fed. if you read any informative sight they will say the same thing. they will have little tentacles about 1/4" or so that come out when you begin feeding the tank. these are responsive feeding tentacles that have evolved so that the brain can feed. sometimes you have to coax the tentacles out by squirting a little bit of packaging juice towards the specimen and about 15 minutes later out they come. when said above that they will starve, that is over a long period, not a week.
when i said that a bta is a bad idea in a reef, it had nothing to do with the problems with the brain. anemones sting other corals. it was just a helpful tip to (try) keep it away from your corals.

 

[pclown]

Originally Posted by zensaiyan
brains should be fed. if you read any informative sight they will say the same thing. they will have little tentacles about 1/4" or so that come out when you begin feeding the tank. these are responsive feeding tentacles that have evolved so that the brain can feed. sometimes you have to coax the tentacles out by squirting a little bit of packaging juice towards the specimen and about 15 minutes later out they come. when said above that they will starve, that is over a long period, not a week.
when i said that a bta is a bad idea in a reef, it had nothing to do with the problems with the brain. anemones sting other corals. it was just a helpful tip to (try) keep it away from your corals.
You know, I agree with you about that BTA. I bought it when I didnt know any better. Right now it sits in very nice and safe spot and has not moved at all for about a month. It get plently of light and everything and it looks great and I like the thought of having one but I dont think I would have gotton it if I was to do it again just because I am more interested in building my reef and would perfer not to have to worry about my BTA deciding to move.
I am going to target feed my Brain and see how he reacts. I am fraid that he may not have fully adjusted to my lights right now so I may cut back a fews hour for a week and then start increasing them.

 

[misfit]

My brain LOVES shrimp. I cut a small piece and put it right on him and in minutes his tenticles come out and he chows down. I do this once a week. When I first got him ,I didnt do this and he looked like you descibed yours. Since I have started feeding once a weekhe has tripled in size good luck :happyfish

 

[pclown]

Thanks, I plan on feeding him tonight. I also moved the brain away from the light and a little in to the shade. I have been told by many that I may have been bleaching him with my lights. They 150 HQI MH on a 24g Aquapod may be a little much for him
We shall see.
Thanks for the help.

 

[pclown]

I fed it this morning and it seemed to eat the shrimp. It has 2 mouths, should I feed both? I have also cut my lighting back from 10 hrs to 8 hrs for just a little while to see if it can better adjust.

 

[misfit]

No you dont have to feed both. Cutting back on the light is a good idea.I only run my Mh 7 hrs. I found they like this amount of time (in my Tank) the best.Do you have him in a high flow area cause they dont like a lot of current either. And of coarse they like to be on the sand bed.Good luck.Keep us posted

 

[pclown]

Thanks, He is in Sand bed, and where he is there is not that much current so we will see. I hope I didnt give him to much.
How often do you feed you Brain?

 

[pclown]

Oh, just read where you told me once a week. Thank again

 

[misfit]

I feed once a week , a piece of shrimp.I cut about a half to 1/3 of a shrimp and give it to him. It seems like a big chunck but he opens up and its gone in mintues

 

[zensaiyan]

glad to hear he is eating! once a week is alright, but i usually fed 2-3 per week. also, if they have several mouths, feeding one is fine, but i have read on wetwebmedia that they will grow disproportionately if fed this way. it is just natural for the side of the brain who is receiving food more often to expand that direction in an attempt to get more food. i have a brain with about 8 mouths all the way around i try to feed all of them, but who knows if i get them all. i would feed both if possible if i were you. also, brains do not like to be moved a lot. good luck.

 

[misfit]

you dont have to feed both mouths at each feeding but alternate mouths each feeding . mine has 4 mouths. Some thing that has 8 mouths would need to be fed 2-3 times a week but a smaller one would be fine with just once a week.

 

[pclown]

Thanks everyone, He looks much better.