Help!!! Whats with my birdsnest?!?!

FloatinBy · May 7, 2018

1st pics are a month ago last 3 are of today. It use to ooen uo and have nice color, but now barly any polops are ooen and theres some bleaching towards bottom. Have had it for 3+months. I was battling a hair algae break out and was using api algaefix marine and did a couole of lights out days. Did 3 days lights out but sis not cover tank so still got indirect sun light from big picture windows in room thru curtains. Did that about twice with about 10 days in between. I alao started running gfo bc my phosphates were high. I just notices this yesterday ans its been a week since last light out period. All other corals are doing great. I habe a green slimmer and a blueberry something or another that are doing great as well as a kenya tree, 5 acons, frog spawn, torch and my hammer is starting to come back. (Hammer hasnt been doing great since upgraded to leds a couple months back). Could i have just shocked it with turning lights back out to normal length and intensity after lights out period? I have not dosed algaefix (yesterday would have been day to dose bc its every 3 days). I also took gfo of line for now. I did increase flow by a lot. Like doubled return pump flow and wave maker in tank to help with gha. ANy ideas?

happyhourhero · May 7, 2018

Birdsnest will do that where there is shade, lower flow and contact with sand/rock.

Tahoe61 · May 7, 2018

You did a great job of presenting the possible causes and good interventions, taking the GFO off line, you increased flow.

I do not see a lot of algae in the images?

Interruption in lighting cycle and rapid reduction of nutrients seems like a likely cause. It should come back around since the other sps are doing well.

jda · May 7, 2018

Looks like a new, mostly sterile tank that was probably a dry-rock setup? It is hard to do SPS in a tank like this... even easier SPS like a birdsnest. If so, do not be too hard on yourself... there is growth there and that is a very good sign.

GFO might be necessary to get the all of the phosphate out of the dry/dead rock, but make sure that you go slow and leave some in there. Snails and rabbitfish (if your tank is large enough) are better than chemicals for algae.

OriginalUserName · May 7, 2018

Mine was in a similar situation. Granted it was fairly new to the tank, but I had stripped my nutrients too low. Now that my nutrients are ticking back up it is coloring up again.

FloatinBy · May 7, 2018

Yeah i did dry rock. Tank is 100 gal and there was a lot of algae prior to treatment amd it was getting snagged on some corals at times. My back glass was nothing but gha at the time as well. Should i lower the flows back or leave them up? Return pump is probably doing 700-800gal (its a DC pump rated to 1500gal/hr with a 4ft head so) no i dont have a flow meter. And wave pump is rated to 1050 and is DC as well and have it at like 90%.

FloatinBy · May 7, 2018

I also have a tang in DT and a foxface in QT coming out thursday

FloatinBy · May 7, 2018

Ill post pics of whole tank in morning. Plus i could use help IDing some of my corals

FloatinBy · May 8, 2018

As stated heres pics of today first few are just whites with some red and green and 2nd is how i have lights normally set. Lights just finished ramp up as well. Pic 9 is a bluberry something or another (i kno im ashamed i dnt remember all the names. 10 and 11 i dont rember either. I think i went overboard on getting rid of all the dang gha. But on upside my birdsnest looks better today then yesterday so maybe hes not a gonner. And my long spine urchin is getting huge fast and his colors on his body are brighter then ever. He does have a ton of white spines too which now that im use to it looks cool.

OriginalUserName · May 8, 2018

Doesn't that urchin poke the crap out of your corals? I've never had one, just seems so spikey.

What kind of lights are you running?

FloatinBy · May 9, 2018

nah every once in awhile he knocks one down. I need to secure my corals but am unsure and what to do. I am running 2 XTC DIY kit lights from reefledlights.com. have blues at 40% and whites at 20% for 6.5hrs/day currently. I Have the RGB channels at like 30% for color blending. Have had the lights for 2+months now and birdsnest was doing great up until maybe a week ago. Like I said I just noticed when I started this thread.