My Sick Green Brain!

[SeahorseGuyetGal]

Nope, not talking about the feelings about my overpaid drone job!

A while back (about a year now), I got a beautiful green brain lobophyllia.  It sat on a rock crevice up to now (about two months ago) and would happily poof-up in the mornings and settle back down in the evenings when the actinics would go on.  I regularly fed phyto and reef roids.  Then I noticed that it wouldn't open up as much and slowly started to come off of its skeleton.  I tried to move it to the sand bed but by this time, it has totally pulled off its skeletal base and is now sitting on the bed on its own, partially pooffing up every now and again.  It has not disintegrated or oozed anything out. 

Will it survive?  Can it build a base from the substrate or should I clean the base and settle it back on it and hope that it sticks back on.

Funny thing is that a similar fate happened to a red brain Trachyphyllia Geoffroyi.  I thought this may have had more to do with it getting banged about during a major tank re-org and bad interim placement.

My gorgs, rics and shrooms are doing well.

Parameters are all good and along with weekly water changes I have added carbon on a 24/7 basis (just in case my corals want to go to war with each other e.g. my toadstool leather).

Any advice?

Thanks

[JetJumper]

I have a similar issue currently as well with another guy on the forum.  My Brain however is not coming off the skeleton it just is not "puffing" up at all and has not for the past little bit. (10+ days)  Nothing has changed in my tank either.

[Bob P]

I've had a red brain for a few years now.
At one point about a year ago, it shriveled down
to nothing but its colors over the skeleton ridges.
I left it for dead, hermit food.
5 or 6 weeks past by and it came back, better than
it was before, super healthy.
No explination.
What can one do but wait and see.

[SeahorseGuyetGal]

Well, I tried a reef dip thinking there may be some bugs/parasites.  But to no avail.  I also thought it may be some kind of supplement missing - even though I am doing 5 gal weekly water changes on a 35 gal.  Have you moved anything about in your tank?

[SeahorseGuyetGal]

Weird!  Well, it is totally off it's skeleton.  Can they "make" a new structure over time?

[Bob P]

I have no idea, this is a green and purple lobo?
I have one that seems to be creeping off one edge
I read somewhere that single direction waterflow can
cause tissue separation. Don't know how true that is myself.
Mine's in tubulent area.

[jimskoi]

Whats your calcium at?
I have had a few customers who have lost LPS and the problem was their calcium was over 600ppm.

[Hookup]

Whats your calcium at?
I have had a few customers who have lost LPS and the problem was their calcium was over 600ppm.

I can say that ALK at 5.4DKH is also bad... do not attempt

[SeahorseGuyetGal]

Whats your calcium at?
I have had a few customers who have lost LPS and the problem was their calcium was over 600ppm.

Hey Jim,

While I haven't tested the Ca, the only thing I can think of is that I perhaps  overdosed with the Tropic Marin bio-calc.  The thing is, the brain appears happy'ish on the gravel/sandbed (w/o base) for now and is not dying.  Will it be able to generate one on it's own over time?

[SeahorseGuyetGal]

I can say that ALK at 5.4DKH is also bad... do not attempt

Agreed...but is OK.

[RossW]

I used to use Bio-Calc at one point and stopped cause I found it drove my ALK really high.

While I haven't tested the Ca, the only thing I can think of is that I perhaps  overdosed with the Tropic Marin bio-calc.

[jimskoi]

Hey Jim,

While I haven't tested the Ca, the only thing I can think of is that I perhaps  overdosed with the Tropic Marin bio-calc.  The thing is, the brain appears happy'ish on the gravel/sandbed (w/o base) for now and is not dying.  Will it be able to generate one on it's own over time?

I dont know if it will.Most just die.
Was it on the bottom to start with?Did you slid it across the substrate?That will tear up the skin under it and it will eventually die.

[SeahorseGuyetGal]

I dont know if it will.Most just die.
Was it on the bottom to start with?Did you slid it across the substrate?That will tear up the skin under it and it will eventually die.

I didn't slide it accross the substrate- When it fell of its base, I just plopped it down in a quiet corner of the tank.

I was reading other blogs and heard that leathers can be pretty toxic to other corals.  For a long time I wasn't running carbon.  Maybe the leather just got stressed or pissed one time and while the other corals didn't get affected - it got the brains.

Do you think I should try to put it on back on its base or just leave it?