coral issiues

[HoCkEyGmC]

my brain isnt doin too good after my incident while i was out of town. it is bleached pretty bad and the edges are browning. also, every now and then my xenia closes up, all the polyps suck in and they close up.
anything i can do for the brain and why does my xenia do that?
Thanks!

 

[Innovator]

Where is your brain located current and light wise? Is it located directly under the halides? If so, I would give it some shade since I recall you stating the lights were left on longer than usual while you were away? When do you notice your xenia closing, time of day? Are you topping off or adding any supplements when they close up?

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

Where is your brain located current and light wise? Is it located directly under the halides? If so, I would give it some shade since I recall you stating the lights were left on longer than usual while you were away? When do you notice your xenia closing, time of day? Are you topping off or adding any supplements when they close up?

brain is basically rite in the center of the tank w/ no shade in a mid-high flow area. xenia closes a few minutes after top offs and randomly sometimes, usuallly a little later in the day like 5-7.

 

[Innovator]

Where is the bleaching, in the center of the brain? You may want to shade it somehow. By the way, what type of brain is it? Sounds quite normal for xenia to close intermittenly throughout the day and especially when topping off or dosing the tank with additives. Most xeniids will mucus a little bit and/or not expand for days when there is a problem, most notingly when bacteria is at play (brown jelly-like appearence).

 

[melosu58]

Also is the brain coral on the rocks or on the substrate?

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

Where is the bleaching, in the center of the brain? You may want to shade it somehow. By the way, what type of brain is it? Sounds quite normal for xenia to close intermittenly throughout the day and especially when topping off or dosing the tank with additives. Most xeniids will mucus a little bit and/or not expand for days when there is a problem, most notingly when bacteria is at play (brown jelly-like appearance).

its a wells brain(welloson or sumthin?). bleaching is everywhere but the outer 1/4 inch of it. might have a pic. ok, good to kno for the xenia. any ideas on how to shade the brain, i only have one small overhang, maybe i could temporary make one with some rubble.
Thanks!

EDIT: found a pic, but its a little old, now it is shrunken and more bleached, browning is a little worse now as well.
2ND EDIT: brain is on the substrate.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

dang frogspawn just shriveled up too. it was fully extended 2 mins ago and i did absolutly nothing to the tank.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

^that^ wuz like 5-10 mins ago and now its back out almost 1/2 way

 

[melosu58]

Let`s start from the beginning. Do some water test results and post them. Let`s rule that out. If you can get some very recent pics that would help too.

 

[Innovator]

Wellsophyllia? As far as I know this is still no longer valid and now Trachyphyllia radiata. Anyways, you can make a makeshift shelter using eggcrate and possibly black plastic mesh ziptied to the top if the eggcrate lets through too much light. All you need is 4 legs, the top, and something to anchor it down. The mesh can either be a plastic like so: Aquatic Eco-Systems: Plastic Mesh Screening (could find at Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) or even new window screening. Try without the mesh first to see how much it shades. Even though this color morph does, stereotypically, prefer bright lighting, it may require some recovery time?....time will tell.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

parameters comming soon, ill try to make a shelter of some sort in a little bit.

 

[melosu58]

Also how long has he been in the tank?

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

it was one of the first corals in the tank so maybe like 3 or 4 months.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

just got done making my light blocker pics cummin asap along w/ parameters

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

so i cant really get a good pic of my interesting setup so ill explain it. i stretched out a hankercheif and closed the hood while it was stretched, it stays stretched under the hood cuz its soo freekin heavy. i pulled it back little by little until it ws just blocking the light from the brain only. had to move a few corals around to get it perfect but now it pretty much is. could me leaving the lights on too long be a problem too. i turn them on when i get up around 6:30 and turn them off before i go to bed, around 10:00-1:00. bad correct? should i turn them on at like 2:30 to 11 or so? was this the root of my problem w/ the brain, i feel so dumb not checking if this was ok.
Thanks!

 

[Innovator]

A decent light cycle for halides is around 8-10hrs on. Actinics should come on about an hour before halides turn on and remain on an hour after halides turn off. I cannot picture your canopy, but as long as it is slightly shaded and not inhibiting water flow you should be fine. This will be a decent test to see if it reacts positively or continues to bleach.

 

[pat8you]

Most people keep about a 8-10 hour photo period and adjust it depending on if they start having algae problems. In an article i read most natural reefs receive between 11-13 hours of sunlight. Not sure how this effects your brain but that should give you a general idea/ place to start.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

A decent light cycle for halides is around 8-10hrs on. Actinics should come on about an hour before halides turn on and remain on an hour after halides turn off. I cannot picture your canopy, but as long as it is slightly shaded and not inhibiting water flow you should be fine. This will be a decent test to see if it reacts positively or continues to bleach.

would the 4 led's be my actinics? i just keep the led's on 24/7 and turn the halides on and off whenever i wake up/go to bed. also i know that the heat of the halides screw me up all the time too. i really need a fan but all of the ones that go on the back in my tight space are like 40 bucks. and im not too sure where to exactly place he fans. ill try as hard as i can to find one.

 

[jonboyb]

I recently built a fan setup for my Nanocube HQI that also has 64w actinics added on. I'll try to get a pic on here for you, but it consists of 4 spare computer fans (like 1.5" DC fans) hooked to an AC convertor. It cost almost nothing to build, fits hidden under the hood, and actually cools too good. It comes on with the halides since the actinics create little heat. I keep my tank at 78.5 and with all 4 fans running with the MH on I've seen it dip to near 77.

And no, your LED's are not actinics.

 

[jonboyb]

Had the wife e-mail a picture and it doesn't really show what I wanted. This is 4, 40mm (I think), 3000RPM DC computer fans. Still not sure how they will last but Nanotuners sell the exact one for their upgrade kits and they've done great so far. I know the cords look bad but I'm not running it under the hood until I decide how many fans I need (certainly not 4....LOL). Like I said, I have (2) 100w heaters set to 78.5-79 and these buggers still drop me to around 77 even when room temp is above 78.

You can't see the fans unless you open the feeding hatch (which I leave open). And the fans take up way less room than the camera angle depicts. I still feed, net, and even re-arrange with the monster tweezers with the fans in-place. The fans are zip-tied to a plastic bracket that is then velcroed to the hood so I can remove easily (although I used industrial velcro and about need a screwdriver to pru it apart)