Moving of the Rose Open Brain Coral

The Trachyphyllia geoffroyi was at his very smallest when I got home from work today and it definitely concerned me. Since I have learned he is a lagoon dweller normally found on sand or muddy bottoms and we have him on a rock (same as previous owner), I’ve been meaning to do some more research on him. One of the first sites I found seems well-informed and starts with the advice that T. geoffroyi should never be put on rocks:

We begin first with a bit of history and general information on Trachyphyllia for improved care in reef aquariology. T. geoffroyi is a free-living animal at maturity and can be found in lagoons and protected margins of the reef buried in sand or muddy substrates. They should always be maintained as such in display. The conical skeleton of this species has evolved to serve this very orientation specifically. Placement of these animals upon rocky substrates can sometimes lead to abraded tissue from daily polyp cycles (expansion and contraction) or displacement when an inflated animal becomes imbalanced.

Based on this information, I made some space in a sandy portion of the bottom of our tank and I moved him there… I’ll try to follow up with photos soon.

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi Eating a Shrimp

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

This picture was taken while he was in the middle of eating a small shrimp. I need to work on my underwater photo quality, but the interesting part is that you can see the ridges that formed with tentacles. The entire inside opened up at this point in order to bring the shrimp into his mouth. It was very cool to watch.

Rose Open Brain

Open Brain, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

The Trachyphyllia geoffroyi can sting other corals, so I need to be careful with this guy.

Most interesting is that he has finally started eating after a month or so of very little activity. His top has also curled tremendously to adjust to his position on the rock.

His method of eating is very impressive as a row of tentacles popped out at the boundary between the rose colored section and the inner white circle. The tentacles grabbed the shrimp and passed it to an enlarged center. Very cool to watch.

I’m so glad he is acting healthy.