Birdsnest Coral dying?

[MZReef120]

So I've had this coral for a few months now and I have been adjusting it upwards in my tank(120 gal 48"x24"x24") little by little letting it adjust to my lighting. It's been growing awesome. I'll post some picks of when I first got it and till now. I think I should have stopped around the mid tank area because now the purple polyp areas are almost all white but the weird part is the tips are still a bright neon yellow. My question is with the tips still showing color will the purple come back or is this coral a goner? I have moved it back down to the mid section I originally had it at and hoping for the best. Thanks for any help!

 

[MZReef120]

First purchased!

 

[MZReef120]

Great growth a month or so later!

 

[MZReef120]

And sadly Today!

 

[Pistondog]

Are the polyps out

 

[MZReef120]

Are the polyps out

Yes all the polyps are out.

 

[Pistondog]

Yes all the polyps are out.

Def has a chance then.

 

[MZReef120]

Def has a chance then.

Okay well that's some good news.

 

[Sam816]

its gone imo. did you make any change in water params? birds nest are relatively hardier. it takes at least a week from 2nd pic to last pic unless something went very wrong suddenly.

 

[Pistondog]

Okay well that's some good news.

Had montis bleach white until I moved them back lower. Got color back in 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It is temporarily bleached either by high alk, too much light or too much flow. The zooxanthele which gives it color is not regenerating and is expelled from the coral, causing the coral to lose its color and become white. This can happen because of warmer water temperatures or overexposure to light.

Check your temperature
decrease white intensity
check CA and alk
verify salinity
Verify tank temperature

This also happens if you get direct sunlight hitting the tank from the window

 

[Sam816]

you can try moving it away from light but i think its too late for it. my 1st birds nest went this route. had a spike in phosphates. now i have 4 frags in QT. all except one pink bird's nest doing fine.

 

[MZReef120]

its gone imo. did you make any change in water params? birds nest are relatively hardier. it takes at least a week from 2nd pic to last pic unless something went very wrong suddenly.

My water parameters have been stable except for my alk. It doesn't swing on me but it was low at a 6 so I've been in a slow process of bringing it up in the last week or so.

 

[vetteguy53081]

its gone imo. did you make any change in water params? birds nest are relatively hardier. it takes at least a week from 2nd pic to last pic unless something went very wrong suddenly.

Not gone until it turns brown in most cases. If bleached, it may come back but IME it may take a couple of months before it colors back up. If it still has meat on it, ie polyps, it may just be bleached and is still alive, so keep it and see if it comes back. If the meat is gone and it is a skeleton, from STN its gone

 

[MZReef120]

It is temporarily bleached either by high alk, too much light or too much flow. The zooxanthele which gives it color is not regenerating and is expelled from the coral, causing the coral to lose its color and become white. This can happen because of warmer water temperatures or overexposure to light.

Check your temperature
decrease white intensity
check CA and alk
verify salinity
Verify tank temperature

This also happens if you get direct sunlight hitting the tank from the window

Based off of what your saying i am believing it was the move upwards. This coral had been doing great spite my sorta low alk. So I did move it back down where it was doing great at and I'm adjusting my alk up slowly.

 

[Sam816]

Not gone until it turns brown in most cases. If bleached, it may come back but IME it may take a couple of months before it colors back up. If it still has meat on it, ie polyps, it may just be bleached and is still alive, so keep it and see if it comes back. If the meat is gone and it is a skeleton, from STN its gone

Mine never came back from similar state.
@MZReef120 hope u have better luck than me. best of luck.

 

[MZReef120]

Mine never came back from similar state.
@MZReef120 hope u have better luck than me. best of luck.

Thanks I appreciate it! Thank you to everyone that had also chimed in.