Help with Red Brain Coral

[ben310135]

So here is the story about two weeks ago I bought some aquacultured live rock with some red brain corals. Of course I put them in they were not to happy but the color seems to be dull for lack of a better word. after a few days the color seemed to be picking up however I am still thinking that they are not doing that great because it looks like it is almost drying out. I know the pic attached isn't that great but it was what I have at the moment and was wondering if someone could give suggestions. So here is what I have done thus far. I feed about 2 tbs of phytoplankton every day. Lights are on from 7a.m. till 9:30 p.m. The tank is a 75 gallon just fyi. I have 4 Mexican turbo snails 10 hermit crabs 5 coral snails and two blue reef chromis. My water perimeters are ph 8.2, ammonia 0, Nitrate and Nitrite 0, Calcium 430 salinity 1.023. Also I have been adding Calcium, Strontium, Trace Elements as directed. I don't know what else I could do I also dump the phytoplankton in just with the measuring spoon should I get a syringe and feed them that way ? I may be missing some more info but that is all I could think about at the moment. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions.
.

 

[ben310135]

Forgot pic sorry also this was before the lights were on I will try to get a better pic later today if that will help.

 

[Tab28]

Really need a better picture. Can not tell which coral type it is. Brain coral has become almost a generic word for several corals of different families and care type.

You did not list your alk. That is one of the very important ones, second to PH. Your salinity is a bit low, should be 1.025 to 1.026. When you added the live rock did you add coral at same time? Was your tank cycled? How much live rock did you add and was it live rock or dry rock?

How did you acclimate the coral? Is the coral attached to live rock as a hitch hiker or is it a separate piece?

 

[x3m_coral]

You did right so far. When the brain is acclimated to your tank condition it will start to color back up.
What kind of lighting do you have?

 

[ben310135]

Tab I can't remember my alk but I will test it when I get home. The coral is attached to the live rock so yes I added them at the same time. I have a 3 bulb t5 light system two actinic one 14k white.

 

[ben310135]

Also tab yes my tank went through the complete nitrogen cycle before adding anything to the tank.

 

[juggalogentry]

do you test for EVERYTHING that you dose? if your tank is new and has little bio volume coral wise, you probably shouldnt even dose trace elements, unless you can closely track them. Your salt usually takes care of everything on that note, and with that being said, what type of lights do you use i didnt catch that info but i know a 14 hour photo period is on the long side

 

[juggalogentry]

the only reason i suspect its a new(ish) tank is because your nitrate level you quoted at zero, especially with how often you feed, assuming you feed the fish as well and something entirely different than the plankton

 

[ben310135]

Juggal so the lights are t5's I can't remember the brand of the light fixture but I can get that if that is important. Yes this tank is a new setup. I have been dosing with beneficial bacteria to keep the water perimeters happy I do this every time I do a water change about once a week. I feed my fish once a day what I feed them is ocn Brine shrimp plus flake.

 

[Tab28]

It is good your tank is cycled. But since the coral is part of the live rock you probably could not acclimate it. If it is a hardy coral it may need some time to adjust. It may have gone through a water shock.

Also be aware when adding more live rock if the proportion of new live rock is more than an existing system can handle you will have some nitrate issues. If your tank has a well established bio bed there will be minor rise. If system is too new or rock too much. It will basically be like a mini tank cycle again.

 

[ben310135]

Ok thanks for the fyi...so while I understand there is no standard about how long if it is just a water shock until I see some improvement ? A month a few months....just wondering when I should be seeing some change.

 

[Tab28]

It depends on the type of coral. It is an LPS, depending on which one could be weeks to months. Some never recover and become a piece of the life rock. But if you bought it as a live rock and it was a hitch hiker. It has already gone through several water shocks. So it may be a hardy coral. You may not know how long the LFS had it in more than likely poor lighting, as they normally keep life rock. So it will have another thing of shock, lighting.

If the LFS had it in tank with other corals it may recover a lot faster. It all depends on coral type and how it was treated in trade before you got it.

 

[juggalogentry]

It depends on the type of coral. It is an LPS, depending on which one could be weeks to months. Some never recover and become a piece of the life rock. But if you bought it as a live rock and it was a hitch hiker. It has already gone through several water shocks. So it may be a hardy coral. You may not know how long the LFS had it in more than likely poor lighting, as they normally keep life rock. So it will have another thing of shock, lighting.

If the LFS had it in tank with other corals it may recover a lot faster. It all depends on coral type and how it was treated in trade before you got it.

+1,
so basically as of this point all you can do is give it the optimal conditions, and track its progress. let us know how it turns out.

 

[ben310135]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]So basicly the KH test was at 10 drops which is between 140-200ppm[/FONT]

 

[ben310135]

Also here is a better pic of the coral

 

[Tab28]

Looks like it is a trachphyllia probably the radiata. You can google to determine if you think that is what you have.

It is brown so the lighting it was kept at was sub par. It looks ok but needs to color up. Keep it in low light and over weeks bring it to med to indirect high. But keep low to med until it gets some color. Until color gets back it will need to be fed a few times a week, brine, mysis or other meaty foods.

 

[ben310135]

This may sound dumb but do i just buy say San Francisco Bay Freeze Dried Mysis Shrimp and then place them in the coral with of course gloves on. Or do you have a specific product you order to direct feed them. I am putting in photoplankton once every other day right now. Just wondering how I go about feeding them the things you listed.

 

[Tab28]

Photoplakton is basically algae needed and a good food lacks what protein foods contain. Yes brine shrimp can be used but mysis or any type of frozen foods even dry sinking pellets can be used. For the pellets just take s few and let them sink onto the mouth area. Frozen let it thaw. Using a turkey baster draw it up at gently put it on the mouth area.

If you have fish or shrimp they will try and steal the food. Drop some in am area of tank to keep them occupied until the coral sends out its feeder tentacles and opens its mouths. Also best to turn off pumps until feeding is done.

 

[juggalogentry]

and maybe try to either raise your lights or lower the trach, brown is an excess of zoo

 

[ben310135]

ok again kind of new what does Trach and zoo mean ???