Lobo Question

[supertank]

Hi again everyone,
I have another question for you. A couple days ago, I picked up a rather large Green Branching Lobo Brain from my LFS. It has eight heads/mouths on him.
Unfortunately, he is not doing to well. Apparently the lighting at the fish store is not the greatest, and he has gone pretty pale and doesn't puff up. I knew this before I bought him. I only paid $15 for him, because of the condition. For $15, I figured it would be worth the challenge to try and bring him back to health. I know he is still alive since all the mouths open and close throughout the day.
My question for you is, what would be some things that I need to do in order to bring him back to health? Have any of you ever had experience with reviving brains, and what did you do?
He is in my 75g tank placed about half up on the rock. He is under relatively strong lighting, and a medium flow. My lights are T5 HO, and all my water params are in check. I tried turning off my power heads the other day to feed him, but he wasn't interested. No tenticle extension, and all the mouths remained closed.
Thanks in advance for any help you can put my way.

 

[spanko]

From my reading on the Lobophyllia, not much light, no blasting with flow, put down on sandbed and feed meaty type foods.

 

[supertank]

I Googled care for Lobo's and all the sights said it has higher lighting needs then other brains. Has anybody had any luck with these corals. I understand that they are relatively easy to keep. I'm just hoping to bring mine back to a good condition.
If anyone has any pictures of this type of brain coral, I would love to see some pics. I will get some pics posted of mine as soon as my camera battery charges up, and will also post update pictures along the way as well.

 

[btldreef]

My branching lobo does better in low/medium light and water flow. Every time it's ever been in higher light or flow it does crappy. My will only eat every other week or so, it filter feeds far more than it actually accepts food from me. Try putting it in lower lighting and slowly move it to medium, since it was not used to high lighting to begin with. Try adding zooplankton and some extra calcium to your tank for it to filter feed and help it get stronger. As it gets its health back it should accept food more and you should be able to feed meatier foods. I think it just needs time to adjust and acclimate to the new lighting. My guess is if the LFS's lighting wasn't the best, it's water quality may not have been that great either, so it may need to adjust to all of it's new surroundings. If your water quality is good, it should do fine, they're fairly easy to bring back to life, just acclimate slowly.
Good luck

 

[supertank]

Here are some pictures of my new rescue project. He's been in my tank for about four days now. Hopefully he will come around.

 

[btldreef]

That looks rough! Good luck.
I'd add some zoo plankton, more than likely it's not going to accept larger food until it's healthier.
I'd also make sure that your calcium level stays high so that it can grow strong and healthy. It's skeleton is probably very weak right now.

 

[supertank]

I just tested all my water params, and all looks good. In fact, my calcium is a bit high (550 give or take), but my Alk is comperable according to my LFS. I was told that it would go down slowly anyway as the calcium is used by my corals.
I have been adding zooplankton as well for just that reason. I placed some meaty foods on the Lobo heads, but it wasn't interested.
So far, no real change, although there is some very slight improvement on two of th heads. Two of them are starting to puff up just a little more now. Not really past the skeleton edge, but none the less, they look a little better. However, the other two heads have completely faded away into the skeleton. I think they are gonners. Oh well. Heck, for $15, I'll be thrilled if two of the four heads make it through.
More to come. Thanks again for the responses.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by Supertank
http:///forum/post/3161202
I just tested all my water params, and all looks good. In fact, my calcium is a bit high (550 give or take), but my Alk is comperable according to my LFS. I was told that it would go down slowly anyway as the calcium is used by my corals.
I have been adding zooplankton as well for just that reason. I placed some meaty foods on the Lobo heads, but it wasn't interested.
So far, no real change, although there is some very slight improvement on two of th heads. Two of them are starting to puff up just a little more now. Not really past the skeleton edge, but none the less, they look a little better. However, the other two heads have completely faded away into the skeleton. I think they are gonners. Oh well. Heck, for $15, I'll be thrilled if two of the four heads make it through.
More to come. Thanks again for the responses.
I paid $25 for one tiny head on my lobo so you're in good shape even if you loose two heads. Good luck with it.