Corals

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi: Practically Perfect Open Brain Coral

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  1. Jeff Kurtz says:

    Hi Ryan! Is the specimen usually nicely expanded as in the photos above, or does it tend to stay contracted much of the time?

    To encourage it to extend its feeding tentacles, you might try the following (even in the daytime):
    1) Thaw some frozen food (e.g. mysids) in a small amount of aquarium water.
    2) Shut off powerheads, pumps, and any other source of water movement in the tank.
    3) Using a baster or pipette, draw up a small amount of the water used to thaw the food (just the water, not the food itself).
    4) Very gently (and without touching the coral with the baster or pipette tip) squirt some of the liquid onto the specimen.
    5) Watch to see if the tentacles emerge in response. If/when they do, you can then then deliver the food itself directly to the tentacles. Don’t waste your time trying to feed if the tentacles remain withdrawn or the food will just drift away.

  2. Ryan Trinh says:

    I have a green trachyphyllia but ive never seen it open its tentacles or open its mouth much so i cant feed it, can you give me some feedback on how to feed and care for it? I have the light off for some hours a day but it just contracts, (not too tightly) up. I am really confused about this.

  3. Alex says:

    My Wellso radiate has black stringy stuff coming from its mouths. It is positioned on the substrate about 30″ under my Maxspect LEDs. Is it dying ?

    1. Jeff Kurtz says:

      Hi Alex! Open brains expel waste as well as excess zooxanthellae through their oral openings in this manner. How is the specimen looking/behaving otherwise? Any signs of bleaching, tissue detachment/recession from the skeleton, tissues remaining tightly contracted, etc.?

  4. m.jackson says:

    whats proper amount of lighting i have a 120 gallon thats 30 inches deep

    1. Jeff Kurtz says:

      Chris and I were just discussing your question, and we both agree that your 30-inch-deep-tank necessitates lighting that can punch down fairly deep into the water column, so we think your best bet would be metal halides or LEDs.
      The intensity of the lighting you’ll need depends on exactly what you plan to keep in addition to T. geoffroyi. For example, if your goal is a mixed reef with SPS in the upper half of the tank, 250-watt MH or an LED equivalent should have the necessary oomph. But if you’re thinking an SPS-dominated system, you might want to step up to 400-watt MH or LED equivalent.

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