Green Open Brain Coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi)

Description:The Trachyphyllia Brain Coral is also referred to as a Folded Brain. It is a large polyp stony (LPS) coral. It may have a flattened, folded, or figure-eight shape. T. geoffroyi is easily collected from the reef because it prefers to attach itself to a piece of shell or dead coral, and may be found washed into the shallow waters lying on the sand bed. Trachyphyllia Brain Corals fluoresce brightly under actinic lighting.
Diet Requirements:They do best in a well established reef aquarium that incorporates moderate to strong lighting with a moderate water current, along with the addition of calcium, strontium, and other trace elements to the water. Allow ample space between it and other corals, as it will sometimes sting its neighbors. It does not require additional food to maintain its health in the reef aquarium, but it will feed on micro-plankton or foods designed for filter feeding invertebrates.

Aiptasia Free

Seems I'm winning the battle against aiptasia -- primarily thanks to Aiptasia-X and a few peppermint shrimp.

Here's a picture of the same coral with the aiptasia gone.

I have new, much improved, lighting in the tank.  The difference is remarkable.  The PPE is actually purple now!

Unwanted Guest

I meant to get to all the fish in the tank before posting shots of the corals, but something new to me came up this weekend.  The coral (zoa) pictured below has always had the "guest" protruding from the left side.  As a novice, I never knew what it was.  I just assumed it was a different form of the same coral.  Over the last couple days, I started noticing more of those growths popping up around the tank.  Turns out it's an aiptasia anenome -- a typically unwanted guest in reef tanks.  They're extremely hardy and aggressive in expansion.  Left unchecked, I understand, they'll take over a tank and crowd out (physically and chemically) desired corals.


There's a variety of opinion on how to deal with these: you can add livestock to the tank that has an affinity for eating the aiptasia, chemically burn them with a variety of substances, quarantine the rock and treat them in a separate tank, and so on.


I've decided a dual approach of peppermint shrimp to deal with the small ones and Aiptasia-X to burn the large.  Four peppermint shrimp were added to the tank today.  I'll try chemicals in a day or two.