How big do open brains get?

[Jaybird]

I got an open brain from a fellow reefer and it was about 1/3 of the size in his tank. I've moved it into an area that's more open but it just keeps on expanding. The thing is probably 6 to 7 inches across when lights are on. It's got three mouths, but if it keeps expanding I won't have anywhere else to keep it without it pushing against the live rock.

 

[jcmelski]

hey, at least you know your water and lighting are better than his.

 

[Jaybird]

hard to beat, really. He has no skimmer, never done a water change, and does top-ups directly from the tap. Still, it's very impressive that his tank is as good as it is. The fish are doing well, and the corals are not thriving but not dying either. Mind you, he has a LOT of experience.

I'm just wondering how big this thing will get. I'm not sure if it will get another head, but if it keeps expanding it could start irritating itself against the live rock.

 

[melosu58]

He has no skimmer, never done a water change, and does top-ups directly from the tap. Still, it's very impressive that his tank is as good as it is. The fish are doing well, and the corals are not thriving but not dying either. Mind you, he has a LOT of experience.

You can have all the experience in the world but if you are not doing PWC`s and using tap it will catch up with you one day. I have a friend that had a nice tank for a few yrs that did the same but all of a sudden we get the "why is everything in my tank dead" thread. There comes a time when new tanks reach an imbalance because of heavy metals and other stuff that comes from tap and from not replenishing trace elements and diluting excessive nutrients from PWC`s. Just something to think about and just sharing my experience.
Is this brain coral in the 90 gallon you mentioned in the my tank link. You might need to move some rock around to accomadate the brain coral. How about a pic of him in the tank.

 

[Jaybird]

It's a little contracted in this shot (from my iphone). I just put a little flake food into the tank and some landed on it and it was trying to shovel it down one of the mouths before the skunk cleaner could steal the food

please excuse the nasty putty job on the orange ricordia. The putty I bought just will not stick when damp, so I needed a fair bit to keep the mushroom in place

 

[melosu58]

Looks pretty good size. Is there any way of moving the rock around in that area?

 

[Jaybird]

I can probably move the rock that the orange ricordia is on, but then it may be too close the the gree star polyps.