Brain coral gone

[Galvan]

I have/had a brain coral for about 12 months in my 75 gallon tank. about 2 weeks ago I noticed that coral changed to an off white color, let it go as is until today I picked it up and it is hard as a rock. how long should a brain coral last? appreciate comments as to why he has died. Should I remove it from the tank..

 

[pwj1286]

if you are not seeing exposed skeleton (more than 50% of its body) then it has a chance. have you placed it under strong lighting? my maze brain did the same thing as yours when i placed it 20 inches under 175 watt MH with 440 watts of vho as supplemental/main lighting.

it has taken about 6 months for mine the recover and it is not all the way there. place it away from halides. give it a little shade, but allow it to get light. just no direct halide.
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[Len]

Brain corals can live indefinitely. I've known specimens that have been in captivity for decades. If your specimen is now all skeleton, then it's dead. But if there is tissue on it and it is simply closed up and bleached, it may be savable.

It's hard to diagnose what happened to yours. There's simply too many possibilities. Have you made any changes to the tank lately?

 

[Galvan]

Hello to all,

have 75 gallon tank with about 70lbs of LR. have 4 fish and 5 corals. about 4-5 weeks somethng went wrong and started to see my polyps wither away. The major thing that I see is this bubble algae it is on the sand bed in a few locations. I have never had any problem with this bubble algae. Can someone let me know how this is treatable and what could have caused in to come into my tank. Is this bubble algae a major problem??

 

[Anonymous]

Hello to all,

have 75 gallon tank with about 70lbs of LR. have 4 fish and 5 corals. about 4-5 weeks somethng went wrong and started to see my polyps wither away. The major thing that I see is this bubble algae it is on the sand bed in a few locations. I have never had any problem with this bubble algae. Can someone let me know how this is treatable and what could have caused in to come into my tank. Is this bubble algae a major problem??

Bubble algae is bad, but are you referring to VALONIA or DIATOMS/CYANOBACTERIA with locked in bubbles.

Sounds like excess nutrients. What are your parameters? I find that low pH and alk only make matters worse, and will also cause the coral to die.

 

[Galvan]

Hello,

I'm still having some trouble with my tank where I have Valonia or Diatoms/cyanobacteria with locked in bubbles. It seems to be getting better but seems to still be there. What I notice is my protein skimmer has been really working hard for the last 4 weeks, in my 3 years with the tank I have not seen it work this much it definitely removing quite a bit of junk. The puzzling part if I check my water parameters they are all O.K.
I have put in new actinic and new 10K as of 2 weeks ago. I have made two water changes within last 4 weeks. Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Len]

Are you having problems with green bubble algae (Valonia ... the stuff that looks like little emerald sacks) or slime algae with bubble trapped in them (cyano or dino)?

Keep up with your water changes. Two to four 25+% water changes can help. Make sure you're using RO water to make your saltwater, and reduce feedings. If it's cyano or dinos, you can try to raise pH by dripping kalkwasser. At above 8.5, these blooms usually die. They're return later on, however, if you don't have your nutrient problem under control.

For Valonia, try Mithrax "Emerald" crabs.

 

[Galvan]

Hello, changed the subject, still working on getting my tank cleaned up from the cyano but it is clearing up. One question I have white sand in my tank from the very beginning approx 3 years old. Can I use the vacuum tube to move the sand around to clean it up some.

 

[kevindub]

I would suck out as much of it as possible. Cyano doesn't fall apart like brown slime. You can get a lot of it with siphoning.