Open Brain Surgery

[waterfaller1]

Have any of you had success cutting an open brain in half?
The reason I ask {short version}....I have a small open brain that I believe was damaged by peppermints...it kept getting worse,getting algae on the skeleton..I tried to clean it off..it still got worse.So I cut it in half this morning.The main portion is open and looks pretty good.A little gaping of the mouth...but half of it is gone,so my guess is that's to be expected.
I don't hold much hope for the second half..there is very little tissue left at this point.
I have moved both halves into 2 different tanks...w/ no pepp's.
What do you think guys?:(

[waterfaller1]

Looky what I found....HOPE!:)

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=688187

[Zoalander]

How is a brain damaged by peppermints? I'm ask because I have one and I also have an open brain.

[waterfaller1]

Well something sliced it open...my guess is the peppermints as it's the only thing in this tank that would actually.
Peppermints can be damaging to corals..they will also eat feather dusters and as we all know aiptasia.

[ri]

Thanks for the link!

No question in my mind, corals are much more hardy than most give credit. I have an open brain that came back from an almost certain death. Took a while but you would never know that is was an (almost) bare skeleton. (Coral was given to me because it was almost dead and the guy did not want to bother with it.)

I've found my cleaner shrimp would tear into corals to pull out food. It would not surprise me that your shrimp did the same. Needless to say, I no longer keep shrimp in my tank.

ri

[llamart]

I had peppermints that tore apart my Scoly. If the scoly grabbed some food from eating the tank, they would go after it. The shrimp tore its mouth and some of the tissue on the side. Eventually it was too much stress and it died. I now stick with Joes Juice to attack aiptasia and the shimp are long gone...

[Vinny73]

If you want to attack aptasia and be successful IMO, all you need is a joes juice sized bottle filled half with di water and half kalk mix. I believe that's all that joe's juice is. My mix is much stronger but if you target dose with no circulation for at least 20 mins, 2 or 3 times is all it takes. I did 2 doses in a two day span and they are gone. I was propogating them because I thought they were cool. Now I know better!

[gastone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6565140#post6565140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vinny73
If you want to attack aptasia and be successful IMO, all you need is a joes juice sized bottle filled half with di water and half kalk mix. I believe that's all that joe's juice is. My mix is much stronger but if you target dose with no circulation for at least 20 mins, 2 or 3 times is all it takes. I did 2 doses in a two day span and they are gone. I was propogating them because I thought they were cool. Now I know better!

Vinny,

Joes Juice is one thing... works great with good long term success, but kalk isn't very effective in the long run, IMO. I've tried the kalk method and two weeks later the aptasia would regrow/repair itself. I've even heated the mixture and used vinegar in place of water. I don't know what the chemical makeup of Joes Juice is, but I don't believe it is soley kalk and water.

Just my thoughts.

G.

P.S. I agree with the notion that peppermint shrimps can be very destructive in a reef and don't use them anymore for aptasia control.

[Vinny73]

Did you try the treatment repeatedly for 2 or3 days? What works for one may not work for another. It is allways good to know other methods. I killed at least 100 in a matter of a month using this method.

[gastone]

Vinny,

Yeah, I've tried the kalk paste/vinegar/plutonium treatment quite a bit. I had a serious aptasia outbreak and couldn't keep up with it. Ended up just tearing down the tank and tossing all of the rock.

G.

[MiddletonMark]

Feed your brain. IME, these corals like to be fed, and do much better being fed regularly.

I prefer small pieces of meaty food, mysid or chopped shrimp/squid.

[waterfaller1]

Thanks Mark..I do feed all my LPS,I think that's where the problem began.Someone was thieving food probably.:( I am hopeful,but neither piece looks real good..all I see is a slight bit of white tissue left.It has lost all of it's color.

[MiddletonMark]

If without color, IMO feeding is more important [as it's probably expelled some zooxanthellae + is stressed].

I'd consider something like a little `box' made of eggcrate/light diffuser to place over the coral when feeding. Should keep shrimp off, give the open brain the 10-15 minutes mine needs to ingest the food.

[Vinny73]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6572861#post6572861 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gastone
Vinny,

Yeah, I've tried the kalk paste/vinegar/plutonium treatment quite a bit. I had a serious aptasia outbreak and couldn't keep up with it. Ended up just tearing down the tank and tossing all of the rock.

G. What a shame. All that rock just being thrown away! That's all right. Mother nature will just grow it back in a matter of years. Maybe such a Joe's juice follower should buy stock in the company. If you get one aptasia, more will follow. Better stock up and irradicate at first sighting.:lol:

[gastone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6573156#post6573156 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vinny73
What a shame. All that rock just being thrown away! That's all right. Mother nature will just grow it back in a matter of years. Maybe such a Joe's juice follower should buy stock in the company. If you get one aptasia, more will follow. Better stock up and irradicate at first sighting.:lol:

It was just base rock that was in my fuge. You'll be glad to know that it did not come out of the ocean as live rock. In fact, it was dry rock when it went in and any life was a result from being seeded in my tank. It is now being housed in a rubbermaid tub on my back porch. I'll give it some time to completely die off, scrub it, clean it, and use it once more. Funny how that works.

G.