Birdsnest bleaching

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

Hello all!

Got this birdsnest that seems to be bleaching on one of the branches, not sure why.. its been good up until now.. Could this be something eating it? I do have a CB but I have not seen him nip at corals in the 2+ years I've had it.. I did also relocate the birdsnest like 6 inches to the left due to my frogspawn getting too big..

Anything helps! If need parameters, last I checked

Amm: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:10
Ph:8.4
Pho: 0.10
Alk: 8.9
Temp: 76-78
Salinity: 34.8

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

Janet Belanger · Jul 20, 2023

Is it possible it got stung by the frogspawn?

tbrown · Jul 20, 2023

That's not bleaching unfortunately, it's RTN more than likely. Seemingly healthy Birdsnest can RTN overnight.

tbrown · Jul 20, 2023

Any recent alk, pH, or temperature swings?

As mentioned above is there any possibility that the frogspawn stung it? They can have some longerish sweepers.

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

Janet Belanger said:
Is it possible it got stung by the frogspawn?

Not sure to be honest, It could've once it fully expands.. it was maybe like 1/4 inch away from constantly touching it

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

tbrown said:
That's not bleaching unfortunately, it's RTN more than likely. Seemingly healthy Birdsnest can RTN overnight.

Run is what exactly?

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

Yahdiel91 said:
Run is what exactly?

Rtn*

tbrown · Jul 20, 2023

Yahdiel91 said:
Run is what exactly?

RTN is Rapid Tissue Necrosis. The tissue just dies and starts falling off. You can often smell it, slightly rancid smelling.

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

tbrown said:
Any recent alk, pH, or temperature swings?

As mentioned above is there any possibility that the frogspawn stung it? They can have some longerish sweepers.

No swings as of late, maybe just the alk going from 8 to 8.9 with my last water change.

Could be a possibility but im not sure, it doesn't really touch it but it comes close

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

tbrown said:
RTN is Rapid Tissue Necrosis. The tissue just dies and starts falling off. You can often smell it, slightly rancid smelling.

Is there any saving to this? What would be the cause of this?

tbrown · Jul 20, 2023

Birdsnest are finicky like that. You may be able to frag some of the not infected portions just make sure and cut above the necrotic portion. Sometimes they stop dying and will recover without fragging, sometimes they won't.

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

tbrown said:
Birdsnest are finicky like that. You may be able to frag some of the not infected portions just make sure and cut above the necrotic portion. Sometimes they stop dying and will recover without fragging, sometimes they won't.

Uff that's tough, I've never cut or frag corals.. I would have to attempt it I guess

Is this something that spreads to others or just that coral?

tbrown · Jul 20, 2023

Yahdiel91 said:
Uff that's tough, I've never cut or frag corals.. I would have to attempt it I guess

Is this something that spreads to others or just that coral?

It all depends on what caused it I suppose. I've never had it spread to others but I know others that have.

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

tbrown said:
It all depends on what caused it I suppose. I've never had it spread to others but I know others that have.

Sorry for all the questions but is this a sps thing or does this also happen to lps and softies?

Mr. Mojo Rising · Jul 20, 2023

Yahdiel91 said:
Sorry for all the questions but is this a sps thing or does this also happen to lps and softies?

its dying because it doesn't agree with something in your tank or water. Any coral can die if it is not happy in the tank. Corals can die for any reason at all, we can only do our best to prepare our tanks, but sometimes they die and we never know why.

With that said, birds nest is not an easy coral, any change in water parameters or lighting or flow can have negative affect on it.

Yahdiel91 · Jul 20, 2023

LordofCinder said:
its dying because it doesn't agree with something in your tank or water. Any coral can die if it is not happy in the tank. Corals can die for any reason at all, we can only do our best to prepare our tanks, but sometimes they die and we never know why.

With that said, birds nest is not an easy coral, any change in water parameters or lighting or flow can have negative affect on it.

Dang that sucks mate! I got it so small and its grown so much in a span of 6 months.. im curious on what the issue is but I haven't had any changes in my water, my flow and lights been the same..

So I did have an incident with the coral a few months ago, one of my turbos broke it off the frag, I don't carry frags so I tried putting it back on the same plug but it wasn't holding very well, I ended up gluing it to the live rock.. could this have affected it somehow? Maybe the way I handled it or the way I glued it? I was holding it on the lower part and that's the part that looks kinda rotten and that never looked like that

Dburr1014 · Jul 20, 2023

Is this possibly shading?

tbrown · Jul 20, 2023

Yahdiel91 said:
Sorry for all the questions but is this a sps thing or does this also happen to lps and softies?

LPS can have similar deaths. Brown Jelly Disease (BJD) is one LPS death where the polyps just sort of melt into a brownish goo.

As mentioned above, Birdsnest isn't really an easy coral (even though they're often sold as easy SPS). They have a tendency to do good for months or even years and then something changes and they go white overnight. They're fairly finicky when they decide to be - kinda the divas of SPS I guess?