Green birds nest question

[jfenton954]

I just got this green birds nest coral. It's the only hard coral(sps or lps) in my 75g tank right now. I have a reef breeder photon light that doesn't go above 50%. I just did a 20% water change and all the parameters are good. When I first got it the polyps stuck out further even at the lfs. So I just moved it to a less brighter and flow area to see if that will help. What do you guys think?

 

[Rob.D]

I just got this green birds nest coral. It's the only hard coral(sps or lps) in my 75g tank right now. I have a reef breeder photon light that doesn't go above 50%. I just did a 20% water change and all the parameters are good. When I first got it the polyps stuck out further even at the lfs. So I just moved it to a less brighter and flow area to see if that will help. What do you guys think?

How long have you had it, some corals take a week or so to acclimate to your tank parameters/lighting. Also, can you be more specific about you parameters, salinity,alkalinity, nitrate.....

 

[jfenton954]

It's been about a week.
Sal. 1.026
Alk. 8
Nit. 0.5
Pho. 0.25
Cal. 450
Ph. 8.1

 

[Rob.D]

Well with that said, I would glue it down in med light/med flow and wait it out.

 

[Stephanie11]

Low to med flow and light.

 

[jfenton954]

Ok thanks guys

 

[ReefBum]

Mine were always happiest near the bottom of my tank. Just wondering......have any fish nipped at it?

 

[AdamNC]

2 of mine started as 1-2" frags. Both are now the size of a baseball. I have them at the top of the rocks about 12" from a 160watt R420R at Ch1 65% white / Ch2 80% blue (high light). Both are in med-high intermittent flow. I gave them about 2 weeks of acclimation on the sand then up to the top they went. Keep yours on the sand for another week or so but if you can bump up your flow some.

 

[jfenton954]

I seen my foxface nip at it once but I think he was just checking it out I've watched closely and haven't seen him pay any more attention

 

[mcarroll]

Try to find a good spot in the rocks where it's unlikely to get bumped or blown off and will get good light and flow (nothing too extreme) and try to leave it alone for a week or two. He should be comfortable by then.

Definitely keep an eye on pests like your fish.

 

[NanaReefer]

Crazy! I have mine up high under 15%W and 60%B, high flow.

 

[kevindo123]

The green bird's nest is one of the fastest growing sps in my tank. It's polyps are usually always extended 24 hours a day. It does well with some current but not too much, you will know once you see it when its polyps are extended. My best guess is your birds nest is stressed and has not fully acclimate to your tank parameters. Give it some time and it will open up again.

I had a similar issue with my shortcake, I got it for a great deal at LFS but it had alot of pest (non AEFW) on it and was in very bad shape. Not risking it, I dipped it with bayer twice and even dipped the entire plug into calcium hydroxide (Kalkwasser). When I first put into my tank the **** thing was dark brown and lost all of its color and the plug turned black from all the dead algae. I thought I killed it but luckily it did not TN and has fully recovered and coloring up nicely. It took about 2 weeks until I noticed its polyps coming out and tissue starts to color back up again.


Attached are two pics I took ~6weeks apart. It grew ~4x it original size when I got it. This type of birds nest sps is easy to keep and grows very fast... IMHO

 

[jfenton954]

Mine is about a little below half way in my tank with my LED lights stepping throughout the day 50% w 45% b for the max the lights go for one hour at peak then go down. It has turned white with small polyps that are light brown. Not at home now will post s pic when I get home.

 

[jfenton954]

It actually still looks like the pics above

 

[jfenton954]

Here is a recent pic.