LPS brain emergency

okay, so I've had this brain for probably a little more then 2 years. but recently I broke down the tank he was living in and moved it into my 90 gallon dominantly lps tank. I had him on the frag rack witch really wasn't very high at first but he showed signs that he was getting to much light so I moved him back down to the floor. for about 3-4 days he looked great and really liked the spot, but then one morning I woke up to find what you can see in the picture. the top half of the coral's coloration is gone. I'm not sure what is going on at all, it doesn't seem that he is getting worse, but there really hasn't been any progression of getting better either. I fed the brain just yesterday and he accepted the food just as always, but I'm really stressed out, does someone know what is going on?

 

That doesn't look anything like my brain LPS. Maybe mine is a closed maze brain I'm told.

Good luck with yours.

 

yea, this is an open brain, I'm guessing, I was never given the specific name. so you wouldn't know anything?

 

It's bleached from too much light. It takes more than a few days to know if a coral is in a happy spot. It's a good sign that its eating. With time and lower light it should color back up.

 

okay, thank you, I was really worried!
should I keep feeding it regularly, 1-2 a week? or should I just let the coral be and heal itself?

 

IMO continuing to feed it would be a good idea
as the bleaching has restricted the number of symbiotic algae present in its flesh
which reduces the amount of foods it can get as a by product of their presence

one other thing I have experienced with this type of LPS coral is they seem to do better / expand more fully when placed on the sand bed ( rockwork may be a bit uncomfortable on the expanded flesh)
so a partially shaded area of the sand bed, may create a better all round enviroment for it

Steve

 

yea, once I move him back into my new tank he will be back on the sandbed, but my dad's 90 gallon has multiple sand sifters and when I had him on the sandbed the brain just got covered by the sand constantly. thanks for the tip though, I'll continue feeding him weekly.