Brain coral without halides?? Yes or no...

[Larah]

The husband really wanted a trigger.. Nixed that...
Now he's fallen for a brain coral..
What can you tell me about them...

I have compacts.. Not halides....

[demonsp]

Look herer for great coral info.GL.

http://www.asira.org/caresheets

[Joe LoPresti]

I'va had my brain coral for 4 years, all of it under PC's. I might get blasted here for saying it, but I haven't had any problems...

[lewismw]

There is no need for tons of light with brain corals. They enjoy a nice sand bed and flow over the top of them to bring food. Light requirements are minimal.

[demonsp]

OMG OMG OMG PC lighting.I cant believe this.

You can keep many coral under higher PC lighting with no problems. You are missing out on better growth ( in some cases is a plus ) but most is the color you see on the fish and coral. If you ungrade to T-5 ot MH your tank will look completly differant.
Brains also open there poylps at night so some cyclops about 3 hours after lights out a few times a week would help,unless you see the polyps out then just wave some cyclops above then.

[lewismw]

Agreed I just moved to all T5s from metal halides/PC. The color change is more than i could have hoped for.

[tmz]

Open brain croals(Cynarina,Scolymia, and Trachyphylia) do not require very much light and will do very well under pc lighting. In fact some specimens will perish under intense halides. They will become photoinhibited and remain closed for long periods eventually leading to decline it not offered some shade in intensly lit tanks.

Closed brain(favia, favites,etc) corals vary in there need for light based on the specific species and to some extent color.

[Zoophile]

Yup, as stated they'll do fine under PC lights. The LPS forum here at RC has some great info on these corals.

[magic028]

I had a neon green open brain under PC for a couple of years. I just upgraded to a MH/T5 combo. I just moved the brain to the sand. Haven't had any issues with either.

[celano]

We have one on the sand bed in our 75 under pc's with no problems. He's been there for almost a year now and is doing good.:)

[LovinDaReef]

Ooh, a list of corals that do well under PCs would be nice.

[tmz]

A couple of good books which give captive care requirements for many species of corals including li9ghting are; Sprung," Corals a quick reference guide" and Borneman, "Aquarium Corals". Both have good information and plenty of pictures. Most lower to moderate light corals can do well under pcs. I would stay away from most sps and brightly colored leathers particularly yellow toadstools(Sacrophyton elegans) and green neptheas. Green sinularia will live but likely turn more brown athan green.

[Larah]

Well that's a bummer.. the one the hubby fell in love with is bright neon green.. But I suppose if he turns brownish it isn't the end of the world....
How about flow? Moderate? High? Aim the Koralia #2 or #3 at it?

[jonbry123]

Larah,

As you can see by all the posts everyone has used something different with good success. My first one was under VHO, mix of white and actinic and at the bottom of the tank. Is a beautiful green, purple and red combo. Remember your dealing with a living organism and each is unique. I will agree with some of the posts that lighting such as T5 will give you better coloring in fact I'm switching to that shortly, but these corals are mid to low level light loving corals so whether PC's, VHO or T5's their all time tested lighting fictures and work. I personally believe now that T5's and possibly the new LED systems coming out are the way to go but haven't choosen LEDs yet do to the cost. I think though you would find the color rendition on your corals more appealing using another type of system. The PC's tend to wash out the color on your animals as apposed to other lighting systems. But again as with others this IMO.

[MalHavoc]

I've kept open brain corals (green and red varieties) under regular output fluorescents, then VHO bulbs, then single ended MH, ,and now I have one under a double ended 150w HQI. The corals did well in all cases, but brain corals do benefit from supplemental feedings once a week or so. They don't like direct, blasted flow - they prefer gentle currents. They are delicate from a flow point of view because they are a single, large polyp. Too much flow can rip the tissue.

Do some reading - your current tank sounds fine for light and current. Water quality is an issue with brain corals - they tend to be indicators of poor water quality. Maintain adequate calcium and alkalinity levels, since they are stony corals.

[Larah]

Jason,

thanks for the info! I appreciate it!
I need to get my calcium up and stable before I put any corals in the tank. And I need to read read read!
Just wanted to nkow if I had to break the hubby's heart again or not... LOL!
I've told him we can have the coral, just not yet...
He seems molified.... He's just getting over finding out he can't have a trigger.. LOL!

I told him "honey you CAN have that beautiful trigger, just get me a really long tank... Say 6 feet or so..." 200 gallons or so would work really well!