unhappy open brain coral

[Kx03]

 iv had it for about 9 mouths now it dose not look like what it did when i first got it. it is much weight in colour now and less green.

please any help on why its this way and how i can get it back to its former colour is much welcomed 

[BOnaqua]

For start, try moving it away from that anemone.
Try some hand feeding.
What are your water parameters?

[Kx03]

the water parameters are have been the same at ph 8.3, Ammonia 0, Nitrite and Nitrate 0, Phosphate < .1ppm, Calcium 375ppm, Magnesium 1350ppm. all of my other corals are looking good and growing good to :S

[kole18]

I used coral-vite essential elements and coral accel along with bio-cal, dkh buffer and magnisium my acans like the coral-vite and my corals I mean lps likes this vitamins I've seen my lps coloration really change a lot some of my sps frag had brown out when I bought now color starting to get back this is really works for me of using this essential elements as well good for long term not changing water like I don monthly basis some they do by every 2-3 weeks its just basically helps to keep all your essential element that needs in your water rather than doing changing water every 2-3 weeks man this is a lot waste of money buying salt

[Hookup]

Could be your system is too clean...  My LPS do much better with a bit of nitrate 3-5ppm in the water... 

What's changed?

What is your Alk?  IMO alkalinity changes faster than Ca or Mg and needs to be closely monitored on ,y tank.

[dan2x38]

Is that an anemone right beside it? Maybe it is extending at night to feed and stinging the brain? Try moving the brain to another local. How old are your lights? Could be dropping off too.

[Darth]

how long has it been since it starting going downhill? In my findings things can go from bad to worse rather quickly I had a donut that was looking off one day next day the skeleton was all that was left. anything in there picking at it? I can't see the skeleton exposed in the pics, the color does look un appealing do you spot feed it?.what kind of lights are you using how big is the tank? I find they do better under a bit if lower light prehaps moving him to a shadier area, no matter what moving him is key right now

[Kx03]

i will try moving him or the anemone ( or get rid of the anemone all together dont like it much clowns dont either ) i tryed feeding it last night. it did look a bit better
its a 28 gallon bio cube but i have a 250 watt MH 14k on it

[az]

how long do you run your light, 8 months at 8hrs a day and bulbs should be changed, looks like either its not getting enough light or its getting too much light, water quality is not the problem here.

[dan2x38]

that is why I asked how old is the bulb... I think it is getting stung! in the pick the nem is right beside it...

I got rid of my nem that my clown loved it got to big in a 75... I picked up a nice torch 4 heads and my clown hosts with it like a nem... it is easier to control, grows way slower and stays put plus can sell new heads as frags when it grows out. Not all clowns will host with one I guess?

[Darth]

I have 2 clowns and 8 bta's one clown hosts in the nems, the other in my open brain

[Kx03]

the bulb is a little over 3 mouths it started to go down hill about 5 mouth it started off that it would not even open for days ( thought it was dead ) but now it looks fine just no colour to it :S

i have 3 anemone and my clowns dont go nere any of them 2 long tip like in the pick and one weight short tip. my 2 clowns "play with" my zoanthid and my other lps 

[Hookup]

what has changed? 

and, what is your alk.  while i agree it's not likely water quality, you didn't post it...

what are your readings on your water from today?

What is your water temp at?  does it swing over night?


coloration in corals is often related to trace elements within your system.  Lacking, or too much... etc...  I know a bit more about coloring SPS than I do LPS and I know almost nothing about coloring SPS..

That said, and as said above, in my experience, LPS like nutrients in the system.  They do not do well, they color down etc, when the system has 0 nutrients...

Do you feed your system anything?  You said you fed it the other day, what did it eat?  what did you feed?

IME, green is noticeably enhanced, as well as yellows, when dosing UltraOrganic

[Kx03]

i do not have a alk test i am going in to ottawa latter so i will pick up one and i will also bring a water sample for them to double check it to to be safe.

i have not feed it before so i was not really sure i feed it some frozen food and some small pieces of squid :/ it eat them i think/hope