Dying Brain coral

[Nate0712]

I bought a moonstone coral from the LFS two days ago and Im starting to see its skeleton, what could be causing it to die so quickly and I have seen no feeding tentacles since i bought it. And at what point do I take it out? Thanks

 

[daugherty]

what kinda lights do you have on your tank and what are the prams of your tank

 

[Nate0712]

i have a t5 fixture with two 10k lights and two actinic bulbs, I also added a led stunner strip a while ago. Ammonia and Nitrite are both 0 and nitrate is anywhere from 0-15 on a weekly bases.

 

[daugherty]

well it was prob already dieing at the pet store. move it down to the bottom of the tank and maybe shade it a bit if you can it may be getting to much light from the t5's

 

[Smitty]

+1 James...place it on the sand bed and watch for any tentacles at night.

 

[Nate0712]

I have been watching at night and it's been on the sand since I got it. Still no tentacles weird right.?

 

[daugherty]

not always they dont always send there feeders out. some of them never send them out.

 

[Bifferwine]

What kind of lighting condition did it come from? Many brains do not extend any tentacles. I had a pineapple brain for years that never did. I've had other brains that put their tentacles out every night. It doesn't seem to have any bearing on the health of the coral.

 

[Northstar24]

Nitrates of 15 could definitely be effecting the coral

 

[Nate0712]

So at what point do I take it out I don't want it to pollute my tank

 

[daugherty]

i really dont think its the nitrates. just keep an eye on it and if it starts to degrade very quickly i would take it out.

 

[Brian_G]

check your salinity. about 6 months ago I mine dropped off to 1.022 and my lps in general started looking sad. very low alkalinity(lower than 7 dkh or so) could have an effect on it too

 

[phastroh]

That is strange, brains are typically easy to care for because you don't have to do anything. Even low lighting is ok for them in my experience.

Moving that coral closer to the light is not going to solve anything but you could try a few inches higher.

Most of them like the bottom with a light flow to where they bobble lightly and very occasionally.