Green Brain in trouble!!!

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Alexrd09

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
190
Location
Miami, FL
I recently bought a green brain and unfortunately my yellow angel started making a gourmet meal out of it. I took the angel out and gave it to the store for some store credit but im afraid that the brain will not make it. Is there anything i can do to assist him in its recovery? half of his structure is not attached to his skeleton i put him in an area with minimal water flow to prevent further damage but at the same time he is still relativly well lit. I also have put double the dose of live plankton. Is there anything else i can do?
 
Dont put double the dose of live plankton. This will cause your water parameters to decline. The number one thing you want is pristine water conditions.
 
My levels are as follow:
Alk: 130
Nitate: 0-5
Phosphate: 0
Salinity: 1.026
Calcium: 450
I will be monitoring it closely for the next couple of weeks to make sure they stay at acceptable levels. What do u think the chances are of it not making it?
 
Just dont dose any plankton for a while. I had the same thing happen years ago with two angels destoyed a brain coral and a hammer coral. They like fleshy type corals.
 
Yea so i wake up this morning and the fleshy membrain of my brain coral was floating around i am guessing this means it did not make it. Should i go ahead and take the membrane out or leave it in there?
 
In one of the coral books I have, I read about an instance of a brain coral bailing out of it's skeleton and living... but I think that was a long-shot exception to normal behavior.

Personally, I'd take it out and dispose of it. If you have a QT and are willing to spend the time to try and nurse it back to health, that's always an option - but I'd get it out of the main tank in case it gets a bacterial or brown-jelly infection that could spread to other corals.
 
I agree with Kurt. Nursing it back to health if in fact it has bailed on it's skeleton is a difficult and time consuming process. I went through something similar with my bubble coral. Finally my bubble has started to rebuild it's skeleton but I have to keep it isolated so it doesn't get washed into another coral or turned upside down.
 
With my bubble coral I put it in my frag system in a lower flow area and a lower light area of the tank. I surrounded it with smooth rocks to keep the flesh from being torn or damaged and to keep it from being moved about by a snail or the flow. I do frequent large PWCs to my system (frag and main are plumbed together) to maintain excellent water conditions. I also keep a high CA level. Other then those things I haven't done anything to really "nurse" it. I don't know if something similar will work for your brain or not. Good luck with it I hope it makes it!
 
It seems to be doing ok unfortunately i do not have a QT or Frag tank so i have been forced to rig something that will hopefully help. Let me noe what you think.

My water is a little cloudy because for some reason i keep getting massive amounts of brown debris on the my sand and rocks. i have tested the water and the levels are pristene but i cant seem to get rid of the debris. My filtration system is running perfect and i have two power heads in the tank. I plan to do a water change tommorow morning the tank is a 90gal so i will do about a 15-20 gal water change. If you recognize this problem and have any advice it would be greatly appreciated.
 

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If the brown growing in your stand is like a brown dust kind of a thing that is diatoms which means you have excess nutrients in your tank. If that is the case a few extra water changes and increased flow across your sand bed in those spots will help.
 
That is what i figured it was. I tested my top off water and it all contains Nitrates and phosphates so i will need to try and find some cleaner water. I also just made a refugium and used Chaeto as my micro so hopefully this will take care of the levels along with weekly water changes.

The Green Brain seems to be doing fine in my little QT rig. No sign of any diseases and it still has managed to keep its vibrant green. I have kept calcium levels at 450 and am testing everyother day. Does anyone have any idea how long it will take for it to regrow a skeleton (if ever) or at least begin to?
 
I tested my top off water and it all contains Nitrates and phosphates so i will need to try and find some cleaner water.

With a tank that size an RO/DI unit will be well worth the money. You can buy a nice one on ebay for a little over 100$ and it will ensure that you are starting with clean water when you go to mix. I would guess that it will work wonders on getting rid of those diatoms as well as keeping your levels down and your tank happier in general. IMO a good unit is worth its weight in gold.
 
I agree with Pat that a RO/DI unit will be a great investment. IMO tap water is not good for a reef.
 
I am also wondering if my live stock may be affecting my nitrate levels. i was reading some other threads and saw that some fish are "messy eaters". Here is a list of my fish

Sailfin Tang
Scopas Tank
Blue Hippo Tang
Yelloweye Tang
Foxface
Tomini Tang
Manderin
Neon Goby
Tomato Clown
Bangaii Cardinal
2x Green Chromis
2x Spotted cardinal

My tank is a 90gal I have a custom sump that also has a section converted into a refugium.
 
IMO your bioload is too much. Just the 5 tangs in a 90 is too much let alone the other fish also. I would say that`s affecting your nitrates.
 
They have been in the tank for about 8 months with no problem. What do you recommend i do?

I was thinking about purchasing a phosban canister or inventing something like it so that i can place some different types of filter media to try and stabilize my phosphate and nitrate levels. Is there any specific types of filter media i should look into. I was thinking about Phosban, Nitrate Sponge, and some carbon.
 
Ammonia and nitrites will usually not take long to show problems in your tank. They are lethal and will work quickly. Nitrates are a different story. Nitrates take a while to blossom into a problem. They will take months and even longer and then all of a sudden the tank crashes and you have all types of problems. I know you said you`ve had them for 8 months but without proper removal techniques or a lesser bioload your tankmates might be living on borrowed time. If you are going to keep the fish then I wouls suggest 25% PWC`s every week. I know in my early days I used a denitrator that helped out alot.
 
ok i will start with a 50 percent water change asap and do 20 to 25% weekly to try and prevent a crash. I also plan on investing in some filter media to further help with the nitrates nitrites and ammonia. I will monitor and ajust water changes accordingly
 
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