Brain Coral

[munitions]

I just got a new favite brain coral, and I'm not sure how its doing. I ordered it from liveaquaria.com, and it came with the bag popped. By the time I got home and opened it the coral was sitting out of the water for at least a half hour. I attached a picture of the coral can anyone give me their opinion on it? Should I just send it back for a replacement?

 

[Innovator]

Looks recessed, which is normal, but fine altogether. Give it time. There are those who do ship coral, mainly sps, via dry-method and do just fine.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Make sure you call LiveAquaria and let them know of the condition - if it happened during shipment. With how many bags they ship coral in, you must've had a brute of a FedEx person to pop all 67 layers of plastic. (OK... it's not 67 layers, but seems like they used at least 3 double bags.) I had an issue with their shipment one time when they didn't ship with a heat pack and the water was pretty cold. They ended up extending my "arrive alive" guarantee out longer than normal. (Happy ending... the coral survived and is thriving.)

 

[thincat]

Good point Kurt. A phone call will protect you in case the coral does not make it.

 

[munitions]

I called them and they took note of the arrival condition. They said if I had any problems to just give them a call.

 

[melosu58]

They are a very reputable company. They will do the right thing.

 

[munitions]

The coral has lost most of its color now and is turning white is this supposed to happen?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

No... that shouldn't happen. But trying to pin it on the shipping issue is a tough call. What type of lighting do you have? What are your water parameters? (pH, salinity, temp, nitrates)

 

[munitions]

I have a T-5 fixture with 2 10000K bulbs and 2 actinic 420nm bulbs.
pH-8.3
salinity-1.023
temp-76
nitrates- about 10 ppm

 

[thincat]

Looks Okay... SG is a little low and Temp. is also low.