My Open Brain is not looking too good.... any ideas?

[MeuserReef]

My Open Brain has started looking pretty rough lately. My water params are OK and all other tank inhabitants (LPS, SPS, Fish) are all doing fine.

This started about 2 weeks ago when a part of the OB started bleaching out.... and I noticed that its mouth appeared wide open. I thought this looked weird and the only thing I could think was that it was too close to the light (about 9" from a 150W MH)

Then the skeleton became visible in a small spot....

Today, It appears that the entire side is sort of disentegrating! It almost appears that its liquifying itself? Is this thing a goner? Could it hurt the rest of my system by dying in my tank? Im already running carbon so this should help.

Any thoughts as to why this occured? Please pardon the crappy pic. You can see that the entire right side of this thing looks bad.

 

[elegance coral]

It probably got cooked. I would give it an iodine dip and gently flush away any dead tissue. Moving it to a dimer location like you did should help.

 

[MeuserReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10454268#post10454268 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elegance coral
It probably got cooked. I would give it an iodine dip and gently flush away any dead tissue. Moving it to a dimer location like you did should help.

How strong of an iodine dip should I use and how long should I soak it? I have a bottle of Kent Iodine. Would that work?

Its weird, Ive had this coral under MH since Nov. last year and it had never really opened like it did under PC lighting. Then, just all of a sudden, within the last couple of weeks, it started to get sick. Really weird.

Thanks for you help

 

[elegance coral]

I use a cap full of kent Iodine in about a quart of tank water and soak the coral for 2 or 3 minutes. It is probably much safer to buy a product that is designed for dipping corals and fallow the directions.

 

[Serioussnaps]

Any lugols would be good..I use TMPCC. It looks as though it has had too much light. Also, it looks as if the tissue could have been abraded by a rock or something rough or sharp. I would dip it in a lugols solution per directions on the bottle you get, put it in a lower lighting, and feed it well.

 

[rogergolf66]

I am new to LPS but I asked this question a long time ago. Is it posible to have to much light and I was told "you can never have to much light"

Roger

 

[elegance coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10460424#post10460424 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rogergolf66
I am new to LPS but I asked this question a long time ago. Is it posible to have to much light and I was told "you can never have to much light"

Roger

I don't know who told you this, but I would try to get my advice from someone else. It is very easy to have to much light. Especially with corals like open brains.

 

[rogergolf66]

well that is disapointing. I have two 250W MH and I just ordered a 400W MH for my tank. Is that going to be to much light for my open brain? it is doing fine now with the 250W but adding a 400W?

Roger

 

[MeuserReef]

My open brain gave up its fight yesterday and died. I removed it from my tank and put fresh carbon in my sump just in case it was releasing toxins into the water that could have harmed my tanks other inhabitants. I really dont think that it was the lighting that killed it but at this point, it doesnt really matter. Everything else in the tank is doing fine so I think it just gave up.

I will say that mine enjoyed the "softer" light of power compacts much more than the MH. It used to open way up and almost flow with the water. It really never expanded under the MH. The odd part is that I have had the MH since November 2006.

It eventually just desintegrated. It was covered in a white-ish film that slowly spred over its entire surface. All of the tissue under the film just dissolved, leaving skeleton behind. Almost like RTN on an SPS.

Any-who... not really sure what the tru cause of death was. I believe that the light may have played a part in it but I think it was possibly just "holding on" for a while. I noticed about a month ago that it seemed like it had its mouth stuck open. I thought it to be odd... but really wasnt concerned. I guess hind-sight is always 20/20.

Thanks for all of your help.