Folded brain coral not opening up

[Zane24]

I recently added a trachy rad., welso, or folded brain coral to my reef. It's placed on the bottom on my sand just out of reach of my scolymia coral. The scoly along with all my other corals are doing great (other brain corals are an acan lord, lobo, and aussie bowerbanki ). The folded brain has not extended since being placed in my tank almost a week ago. All parameters are great. Is this usually a sign of too much light, not enough, too much flow, etc? Any help figuring out the issue would really be appreciated. I have a reefbreeders photon led light. The tank it came from had led lighting as well not as bright but it was near the top of the tank. So the bottom of mine should be similar.

 

[rt67ghy]

It's hard to say why yours hasn't opened up. Have you tried feeding it? I feed mine pieces of shrimp but they also show a good feeding response to zooplankton which I put in the water. If your is healthy it should respond to feed if you place some on him near the mouth.

 

[Zane24]

It has not responded to food. I've tried spot feeding and did not give any response. It was perfectly happy, open, and eating before it was placed in my tank. I'm just at a lose. I'm going to treat with coral rx and place in my coral qt tank tonight, but without know exactly why it's not opening I'm not sure what else to do

 

[rt67ghy]

I would give it a bit more time. It seams it has not settled in yet. I have had an open brain in my tank for almost a month. At the beginning its mouth used to stay open showing poor health but now I see its mouth is fully closed so I view it as a positive sign.

Also, dipping yours in Coral RX may not be the solution since it is harsh on corals. A dip is only recommended if you think it has a bacterial/ protozoan infection. Coral RX will further stress it. If you still want to dip I'd dip it in iodine for 10 minutes. You may also try moving it to a place with lower flow/light and see how it responds.

 

[Zane24]

Thanks for the advice about the coral rx dip, I literally read your message right before I was planning to do the dip. I did set my lights on cloudy the past two days just to give it less light, and also slowed my pumps down. I'll stay the course and hope it's still getting acclimated. I have iodine but it's to add to the tank, can I use that for a dip and if so at what concentration

 

[scooter31707]

IMO, I think it might be getting too much light. Try shading it a little. How much flow do you have on it? It's recommending low to moderate flow.

 

[rt67ghy]

The iodine should be fine. I put 10 drops in 1 liter or 40 drops in 1 gallon and keep the coral in for 30 minutes. Hopefully it should perk up a bit after that.

 

[Zane24]

Thanks i'll try that dip tonight if i dont see any improvement. I also covered the lid above the coral to give it more shade today. It seems like too much light as well, but like i mentioned it was under a maxspect razor led light, and it was at the top of the tank. My tank is 30" deep, and its at the bottom on the sand. My photon is only maxing at 35% right now (around 4pm).