Open Brain Coral not Openning

[Dyngoe]

Hi all,

I have a large brain coral that used to be the center piece of my tank. Since moving it to a new tank ~2.5 months ago it does not "puff" up like it once did. In fact it only puffs up at night and no where near as much as it once did. In it's previous tank it was on a rock but I read it likes sand so I moved it to my new oolite bed. Could this be causing my problem? I'd really like to get this monster to puff up again.

Thanks in adavance for the help,
D

[amcarrig]

What are your water parameters at? Is there more/less water flow and/or light in the new tank?

[Dyngoe]

The parameters are "perfect"? I maintain a stable 9-10DKH with 1.024 salinity. My refugium is huge and I never have any nitrates. Throw in a 1/4 HP chiller on a 46 Gal tank and my temp is also stable. The brain has slightly lower light than it had before because it is ~4" deeper in the tank and the flow is low-moderate. I think the flow was higher before but not substantially.

[amcarrig]

Could be that the sand is irritating the flesh when it puffs up but I'm not too sure about that. Try placing it back on a rock and see if that works. When it puffs up during lights out, are the feeding tentacles out? Do you ever feed the coral?

[jtReef]

I recently moved mine about 3 months ago and it also took about 6-8 weeks to open. Now it opens more than ever.
It may just need to get used to the new setup.
I found that mine prefers as little flow as possible.

[coral reefer]

Stress, I believe, is the culprit! Change in light/water flow could be causing stress...the other thing is it may be affected from a neighboring corals toxic warfare!

[Radiography14]

usually chemical warfare or time is the best answer. If someone moved you and your faimly from a 4 room home to a apartment it would take time to adjust too. With brains at night with a red light you can feed them some brine with a turkey baster (small one)...Keep it fed