Brain Problems. *More problem critters found....sigh*

zum14 · #1 09-23-2010, 10:24 PM

So after a water change and I raised the metal halides up from 14" above the tank to 24" above the tank(did that tues night) things seem to be much happier. I think i was nuking it with all the light.(superman monti seems to be going blue finally, candycanes happier, other brain I got is happier) Ive got plans to build a new fixture that wont have reflectors in it to hopefully knock the intensity down on the lights instead of putting out more money for 250's but thats another thread. Anyways this was taken today. Seems to be inflating around better and starting to color back up. Also saw some feeder tentacles out this morning which I havent seen since all this started so heres hoping. Please forgive me for the hair algae, had a bit of an outbreak when i first set up the tank but seems to be dyeing off fast now.

reefwars · #2 09-23-2010, 10:31 PM

Yup with 400w it's too much light , instead of raising your light try placing it somewhere it gets light but not diectly underneath

also if it's feeding there's a good chance of recovery , get it in a place it likes and finds comfortable and don't pick at it It should come back in time

zum14 · #3 09-23-2010, 10:38 PM

I tried moving it under a rock ledge but either my tiger tail pushed it out or it moved itself. Did some weird major inflation thing when it was under there. Blew up like a balloon. Will try it here for a bit. Im hoping its feeding. I saw the tentacles this morning but last night it didnt seem to take anything. We will see how it goes tonight. By the looks of it even the sps seem to find the lower light a bit better as the end polyps are coming out now and the one sps I have was only growing at the base like a bush so maybe itll start branching now. Thanks.

reefwars · #4 09-23-2010, 10:48 PM

Feeder tentacles and inflation are great signs and it looks like your on your way to a full recovery

beautiful piece btw

ScubaSteve · #5 09-23-2010, 11:10 PM

If there is skeleton showing, try to keep it clean so you don't get algae growth. It'll heal much faster. Also, if it is starting to bleach make sure you try to feed it once it starts putting the tentacles back out again. The zooxanthellae feed off of the corals metabolic wastes, so if it starts to starve because of low zooxanthellae levels, the zooxanthellae will start to die off bleaching the coral further, which cause the coral to starve more and... you get where I'm going with this. It's a vicious circle and why bleaching can be so hard to recover from. Supplemental feeding will help keep its metabolism up and it will recover faster. DON'T FORCE FEED IT THOUGH!

zum14 · #6 09-24-2010, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefwars

Feeder tentacles and inflation are great signs and it looks like your on your way to a full recovery

beautiful piece btw

Thanks, you should have seen it when I got it from whatcaneyedo. Super nice. I hope it gets there again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

If there is skeleton showing, try to keep it clean so you don't get algae growth. It'll heal much faster. Also, if it is starting to bleach make sure you try to feed it once it starts putting the tentacles back out again. The zooxanthellae feed off of the corals metabolic wastes, so if it starts to starve because of low zooxanthellae levels, the zooxanthellae will start to die off bleaching the coral further, which cause the coral to starve more and... you get where I'm going with this. It's a vicious circle and why bleaching can be so hard to recover from. Supplemental feeding will help keep its metabolism up and it will recover faster. DON'T FORCE FEED IT THOUGH!

I will do that. Thanks very much. How do you force feed it? I sort of just use a large opening turkey baster and let the food casually drop out of it and float across the coral?? Usually it snags it with a tenticle then.

MrGoodbytes · #7 09-24-2010, 04:51 AM

It looks like it would be a gorgeous piece when fully coloured up. I agree that lower light and more food would help. Good luck bringing it back and keep us updated

.

ScubaSteve · #8 09-24-2010, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zum14

I will do that. Thanks very much. How do you force feed it? I sort of just use a large opening turkey baster and let the food casually drop out of it and float across the coral?? Usually it snags it with a tenticle then.

What I mean by force feeding it is overfeeding. Once it starts to grab food, only give it little bits at eat feeding until it gets healthy, then start giving it more. It takes energy for it to digest food; if you over feed it, it cannot properly digest it all and ends up spitting it out having now wasted energy and not eaten. That's a bad thing for an already weak coral.