Brain Coral bleaching

Question
My brain coral is a Wellsophyllia(trachaphyllia radiata)and I do feed it whenever I feed my sun coral. I have mushrooms, hairy mushrooms, star polyps, botton polyps, a carnation coral, a pearl bubble coral, a donut coral(which hasn't expanded in awhile), and a carpet anemone. I have a 36" 78 watt nova extreme and a 36" 96 watt coralife for lights.  I did cover the brain(placed it under a ledge) but that didn't seem to work.  It gets alot of water flow over it right now.  I have moved it a few times but nothing seems to work.  I'm stumped as to what to do.

Answer
Hi Scott. These corals are neither easy nor are they difficult to keep. Recession and failure to expand as well as bleaching and white-band disease are all common problems with this particular coral. Iodine may be important in maintaining this trachyphyllia corals however care should be taken as iodine can also be toxic to some other corals and is toxic to all corals in very high doses. You may want to get an iodine test kit to see where your water stands as far as iodine goes. You may want to try a coral dip in lugol's solution rather than adding iodine directly to the tank. This coral should be able to tolerate an iodine dip but there is always the possibility of doing more harm then good with some corals and the key to a successful iodine dip is to very closely monitor the coral as it is soaking in the dip. I have used these several times on some corals and have had no ill effect however I can not in good faith tell you that your coral will except this dip 100%. Another consideration is that the corals in the trachyphyllia family are very susceptible to the chemicals released by some soft corals most frequently reported are the leathers in the Sinularia species and the capnella species. Sometimes leather corals and stony corals do not mix well in the confines of an aquarium. You may want to remove your carnation coral and find it a new home to see if that helps with your brain coral as well as your donut coral. I have learned this lesson the hard way and any one who is very experienced with the leathers can tell you that unless your tank is huge it is not always wise to house leathers and stonies in the same tank. The chemicals released by most leathers can be much more toxic then the ones released by most stonies and when on the reef this form of competition is what keeps certain species thriving in a world where space is at a minimum. Other than that you may have to just chalk it up to the fact that for some reason this coral does not do well in your tank. Corals are funny that way and there is still so much we do not yet know. Some tanks despite the fact that all the levels are reading great and despite the fact that all the other corals are doing great just plain old have trouble with certain corals. Sometimes there is no good explanation and there is no fault on your part. It sounds to me like you are doing the best you can and are truly concerned with your corals health. Keep up doing what you are doing and see what happens. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. there are no exact rules in maintaining corals in a tank and what may work for one may not work for another. I know this person (who I can't stand) who does everything wrong as far as the books tell you yet her tank is thriving with corals and all sorts of life even though in fact nothing should even be alive. Then there's the person who does everything right and takes extra special care of their tank and can't seem to catch a break. All tanks have their own personality and it is up to us as marine hobbyists to figure out our own tanks' personality and go with that!