Open brain

[allan]

I got home today and my brain appears to be dieing. Sad face. It's pulling back from the mouths, the outer ring is intact. But thin.

I noticed the file fish hanging around it, could that be the culprit?

Everything else is rocking, and I even have another rbta (rbta4). All the sps is good.

[Kristy]

Filefish might be the culprit, hard to say for sure.

Just here to offer encouragement that brains can bounce back A LOT and recover. Try moving it to a new place and keeping a close eye on it in case it's being harassed by a fish until you decide what needs to be done.

[edshas2]

i have an an open brain for about 2 weeks it got really skinny and shriveled up and just recently it started opening back up like normal, it seems to do this every 3 to 4 months so not sure if normal or not but it always comes back to normal, maybee yours is doing the same thing. good luck with the brain

[jrsatx20]

Mine always shrivled up when my tank need calcium. Within a couple of hours of dosing it would inflate again.

[Gseclipse02]

did u dose recently ??? i remember you telling me your dosing ways lol

[allan]

Well, I was out of town but my dosed is still working.

I moved the brain forward so it would get a little more light. Where the mouths are, or were, is straight bone material. The pink flesh that runs around the perimeter is still there and intact.

I just don't know what to make of it. It was fine Monday morning before I left. One of the little branch sps things was near it.

I've had it since early last summer and it's never done anything like this.

[allan]

Here's an image as of this morning.

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/alaviers/1a1cdff4.jpg

[hobogato]

sure looks like something has been munching on it.

[allan]

sure looks like something has been munching on it.

It's that stupid file fish! I've caught it sniffing around the center. I can't even begin to catch it either. Stupid fish!

[Aqua-Dome]

Don't be so quick to blame the filefish. How long have you had the brain coral? This particular brain, which I believe to be a symphyllia species rather than a lobophyllia, will exhibit this same center-out degredation if exposed to inadequate light (more sensitive to old bulbs/ lower wattages than many brains such as acans)or simply due to damage in shipping which tends to manifest itself within weeks after importation (why i ask how new it is). Fish that nip at brains causing them to close often nip at the fleshy outer lobes, not usually the mouth/ inner area. Because the fish would be likely to pick at damaged/ and or dying tissue, and the fact that this appears to be a common appearance to an unhealthy symphyllia, in my opinion factors other than the file may be to blame. Not to say this can't be reversed with a little tlc. good luck, hunter

[allan]

The brain's been in my tank since about june of last year. I got it from a fellow reefer up in Schertz when he tore down his tank. I've always had it nice and fluffy at the bottom of the tank.

I've caugth the file fish nipping at the center where the mouths are (were) and that's one of the reasons I thought it was the fish. Last night I put it up higher in the tank to get it away from the file fish, then if the light is an issue that should remedy the problem.


The change in it was only a few days. I left on Monday and when I returned on Thursday it was in its present condition. The pink rim is still intact, just the center seems to be receding.

[Europhyllia]

I've heard some fish will learn that if they nip at the mouth of LPS corals the coral expels some zooanthalte (spelled, wrong but no time to look it up right now) which some fish find tasty. Could that be the case here?