Birdsnest RTN

[jasonrusso]

When I got up this morning, one branch of my rainbow birdsnest was white. At lunch it looked like this. Now it is worse so it is definitely RTN. Any idea why this happened? This was doing SO well. I could see daily growth (even with the bright light settings) and it just died. Nothing else seems affected like this. No major swings in either direction.

Should I remove it? Is it catchy?

 

[Grelby]

My green nest did that when I first got it. So I fragged it off and it is growing faster than ever. I would do that as a last resort.

 

[jasonrusso]

My green nest did that when I first got it. So I fragged it off and it is growing faster than ever. I would do that as a last resort.

At this rate it will be all dead in the morning.

 

[hafer12]

Frag whats still alive, rtn doesnt give much warning. If u catch stn early, I've had great success with covering the dead tissue with super glue

 

[jasonrusso]

Frag whats still alive, rtn doesnt give much warning. If u catch stn early, I've had great success with covering the dead tissue with super glue

Will this spread to other corals?

 

[Jwheld]

Could be too close to that acan. Sometime lps filaments can get pretty long. I had a lobo attack a button scoly 3 inches away and killed half over night.

No saying it’s the definite cause, but potential.

 

[hafer12]

Will this spread to other corals?

No, but a dying coral is a key indicator that something isn't right. Check ur parameters and let's figure out why this birdsnest is dying

 

[jasonrusso]

Could be too close to that acan. Sometime lps filaments can get pretty long. I had a lobo attack a button scoly 3 inches away and killed half over night.

No saying it’s the definite cause, but potential.

I don't think so, the acan tentacles are very small and around the mouth (unless they get very long after I go to bed). My war coral and favia have really long tentacles so I have seen them.

No, but a dying coral is a key indicator that something isn't right. Check ur parameters and let's figure out why this birdsnest is dying

I DID have a light setting issue that was burning some corals, but that was 3 weeks ago. Even with the light setting, this birdsnest was thriving!!

As far as parameters go, everything is normal:

Alk: low 8s
Cal: 420-430
Nitrate 5-10
Phosphate: 0.36 (could be the issue??)


If anything was of concern it would be the phosphate. My tank is about 5 months old and I have been battling a bit of GHA. About 2 weeks ago, I bought a bag of pods and some live phytoplankton. I was trying to seed the tank and thought that the pods would assist my cleanup crew and maybe feed the corals. The live phyto was supposed to help supplement the pods. This is where I think I went wrong. My research tells me that the phyto raises phosphate.

After a couple weeks of adding the phyto after lights out, I noticed that the algae was getting worse and today the birdsnest was dying (my red digi isn't dead, but doesn't have full PE right now). I tested the nitrate and phosphate today (to be honest, I don't religiously check those) and I found the phosphate to be 0.36. I did two 5 gallon water changes (32 gallon red sea max) about 6 hours apart (my salt matches very closely) and now the phosphate is 0.16. I also stopped the phytoplankton.

Now, can high phosphate cause RTN? I don't think this is a sting from another coral. It started on one branch and is spreading backwards to the rear. Can a sting do that? I'm still new at corals. I have an anemone, but he found his spot and stays put.

 

[hafer12]

The issue with testing for nitrates and phosphates is the algae u have growing in the tank is consuming it, and in turn your getting a false negative result. Meaning if u have algae and u test for po4 and no3 more than likely your actually paameters are higher

Normally a coral sting dosent spread and kill the entire colony

 

[hafer12]

With sps coral u need to have a good grasp on your tanks calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. That being said, don't try to chase numbers. Pick where u want the tank to be and keep it stable.

 

[jasonrusso]

The issue with testing for nitrates and phosphates is the algae u have growing in the tank is consuming it, and in turn your getting a false negative result. Meaning if u have algae and u test for po4 and no3 more than likely your actually paameters are higher

Normally a coral sting dosent spread and kill the entire colony

I've read that statement several times before, and I don't really agree with it.

Explain the difference between someone with GHA consuming Phosphate and someone with a refugium growing chaeto. Would you say that someone growing chaeto is getting a false test?

 

[jasonrusso]

With sps coral u need to have a good grasp on your tanks calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. That being said, don't try to chase numbers. Pick where u want the tank to be and keep it stable.

Mag is around 1350, I forgot to list that

 

[hafer12]

Well from my experience I had a gha bloom and using red sea test kits I would have 0 no3 and .03 po4.... however I was running cheato in my fuge... speaking of cheato if my corals are happy and i have no algae in the display. I'm not gonna be testing for no3 &po4

 

[hafer12]

I aim for 1350 in my tank. Alkalinity need to be checked daily. Depending on how much coral u have in your tank, u might be able to get away with weekly or biweekly water changes without have to dose daily

 

[hafer12]

@jasonrusso I don't think .36 po4 would hurt that birdsnest. What salt are u using. Is it possible you had a temp swing, was your w/c temp matching the tank?
Is that algae in the skeleton?

 

[North Borders]

If your water column test returns a certain phos level...then that's the level in your water column. There's no "hidden" phos. The phos that's NOT in the water column has already been incorporated into the tissues of the animals(coral) and algae in the aquarium. This incorporated("hidden") phos stays put for the most part if it's in a coral or algae until they die and release it back to the water column. Hence why you'll see people talk about needing to run GFO after a couple of days of killing bryopsis with fluconazole as their phosphate levels went high from the dying bryopsis releasing what it had used to grow back into the water column.

 

[jasonrusso]

If your water column test returns a certain phos level...then that's the level in your water column. There's no "hidden" phos. The phos that's NOT in the water column has already been incorporated into the tissues of the animals(coral) and algae in the aquarium. This incorporated("hidden") phos stays put for the most part if it's in a coral or algae until they die and release it back to the water column. Hence why you'll see people talk about needing to run GFO after a couple of days of killing bryopsis with fluconazole as their phosphate levels went high from the dying bryopsis releasing what it had used to grow back into the water column.

This was my point.

 

[hafer12]

I don't think a slightly elevated phosphate is going to make a birdsnest rtn. Was there gha irritating or growing near the base, or did that come after it died?

 

[scobeyra]

If it changed from one day to the next I would assume it got stung. It does look very close to that acan in the picture. Even if the tentacles can't reach, they can still do chemical warfare.

 

[jasonrusso]

@jasonrusso I don't think .36 po4 would hurt that birdsnest. What salt are u using. Is it possible you had a temp swing, was your w/c temp matching the tank?
Is that algae in the skeleton?

This started before the WC.

I use the foster and Smith pro salt. The kH is 8.4 and that's right around where I keep the tank. I do dose 2 part reef fusion. My temp is usually 79 in the morning and 80-81 in the evening. The heater comes on at 78.5 and the fan comes on at 81.5.

Yes, there is always some rogue gha in the coral. It doesn't grow in there, it gets stuck.

I checked on it before bed and it looks like the dying stopped. I'll reevaluate tomorrow. I'll probably pull it out and cut off the dead part. I am starting to think that maybe it is the acan (previously suggested). I guess they have defensive tentacles and eating tentacles.