Help with my Tracaphilia

[Shnabbles]

I know i probally spelled that wrong lol.

I have 546 watts of T5 lighting over my tank.. its 6 feet long 2 feet deep...

When i first got my trac it was nice and fleshy... now 3 months later it doesnt open anywhere near as much... Its not showing skeleton its just not near as open..

It will feed at night, and I dont have any fish that are pecking at it (angels)...

It is currently on the sand and in full light.

Temp is 81
Salt is 1.025
Ca 400
ALK 9.8 meq

[Shnabbles]

here is a pic
http://www.gamedaysportscards.com/tank/trac.jpg

[ERB82]

mine started to open up HUGE when I got the flow right. Low flow did it :) What kind of flow do you have over them?

[Adamc1303]

Is the middle full of sand? can't tell from the pic. If it is fan it off, that would be a start. brains are also very finiky with temp fluctuations are you having issues with that this summer?

[Shnabbles]

No the middle is a light green there is no sand on it... temp was up around 82... but i cut the heaters back a few days ago...

Is it possibly getting to much light?

[Trigeek]

Mine did better when it was placed in slightly lower flow. Also, I started feeding it small pieces of krill a couple times of week. I don't know which helped it more, as both interventions were done at the same time. It may have been neither. However, following these changes, the coral really "fluffed up."

I also agree with Adamc1303. If there is sand on the coral, the coral will shift the sand off of itself, but it will be quite an energy demand on the coral.

[elegance coral]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10451807#post10451807 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shnabbles
No the middle is a light green there is no sand on it... temp was up around 82... but i cut the heaters back a few days ago...

Is it possibly getting to much light?

Yes, and this is most likely your problem. If you are not blasting it with to much flow and feeding it, I would just move it to a more shaded area and see if it improves over the next few days.

[Wrench]

Mine went downhill for a while until I finally found a spot it liked. It bleached out a bit, showed very little extension and never extended it's tentacles. Once I put it in the right spot it perked up in 2 or 3 days. They can be very picky about their placement in the tank. Mine seems to like lower flow, direct light (but not too bright) and very stable parameters. If my tank sees a temp change or salinity drop the Trach. will close up for a while. It seems to be happy at the bottom corner of my 18" deep tank under 175w halides.