Trachphyllia Coral

[Digicop]

I have a brain coral that dramatically changed appearance over the weekend. To me, it looks sick, but I hope it is a natural stage.

This is the coral's appearance on March 2, 2020:

Image on Saturday, March 7, 2020:

And as of this morning:

I have a 50 gallon with the following parameters: 1.026, Nitrates 5-10, Phosphates .5 - .8, Calcium 440, Alk 9, PH 8.1, Amonia 0, Nitrite 0. It is getting about 70-100 PAR where it is at and has been there about two weeks moved up from bed.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ricky

 

[Kjgaeta]

I believe Phosphates should be lower around .03 or under .1. It might also be Hungry.

 

[35ppt]

Phosphates should be around .03-.08, other than that trachys are sand dwelling corals that shouldn't be glued to your rocks.

 

[amps]

Doesn't look great but it could be going through a feeding cycle. Mine balloon out like crazy when they're hungry and then stay shrunk up for a couple days after I give them some pellets.

 

[Kjgaeta]

Here is a picture of my Trachy happy as can be on the sand bed.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I agree with the assessment on phosphates. I hope you're missing a zero in the measurement and the levels are not really that high.

The PAR looks a little low to me. The coral might also benefit from some food. Have you changed flow in the tank recently?

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

The other corals appear to the stretching toward the light which could indicate the need for higher lighting intensity. FWIW.

 

[Kellie in CA]

Put it on the sand and feed it like crazy. Mine go crazy for pellets or mysis.

 

[Digicop]

Okay, I will try moving it to the sand. I do need to get some higher PAR lighting. I had just adjusted the white portion of the light from 25% to 75% on Saturday. I turned it back down after seeing the brain coral thinking that could be part of the problem. Also, I had fed it Mysis shrimp for the first time Saturday, so it may be the response to eating, I didn't know they do that. Thanks for all the help!

RG