Is this birdsnest a goner?

[ssunthar]

hanna and salifert

Thanks, started with Salifert for some of my tests.

 

[ssunthar]

Not sure who grandis is but having two 14" colonies of birdnest , while lighting Does consist of various UV and spectrums, blue contains whites but at low levels whereas white is capable of burning various coral, blue rarely will.
In general, when people think of keeping SPS corals, they assume they need high lighting requirements. And it’s true. The most important thing that these corals depend on is lighting.
However, when it comes to the Birds Nest Coral, the lighting mostly depends on the type of these corals. Different varieties come from different regions of the reef. And they all have different lighting requirements, even though they are the same species.
In general, the Birds Nest coral is disease resistant. However, it won’t tolerate poor water conditions, like any other SPS coral. If you’ve noticed any changes different than usual, check your water parameters first.
If everything is on point as it should be, start looking into other things such as lighting and water flow. Sometimes too much light can result in coral bleaching. Other kinds of stress such as the change in temperature, low salinity or not enough nutrients can also cause bleaching.
Beginners tend to rush things out, oftentimes introducing SPS corals in a sterile tank that’s only a couple of months old. Even though the Bird’s Nest is the hardiest among them, it will be under stress in that environment. That’s why is so important to have a mature and well-established reef tank before you even consider buying these types of corals.
Another mistake that can lead to bleaching and dying of these beautiful corals is poor acclimation. Always acclimate properly to avoid such problems at the start of your reefing journey. As I said, the lights will be probably the most common problem that results in bleaching.

Thanks for sharing... very insightful. And that is a lovely Birdsnest

 

[ssunthar]

Do you by chance hang out with Grandis ?

Cool white LEDs in reef lights are mostly composed of *blue* light. So you are adding in what you are subtracting. White is not a spectrum. It's a composite of spectrums. This is not lighting issue.

Birdsnests are incredibly fickle about nutrient levels and the abundance of algae here tells me nutrients are likely pretty unstable. They like a little bit of phosphate but not zero or they will stop growing. I have a sour apple that refused to grow a millimeter until I got my phosphate over .03 for over 6 months, then as soon as I started dosing phosphate to get it a bit higher is grows like a weed. Nitrate levels also need to be stable, and with all that algae they aren't.

Wow... I didn't know that people actually dose phosphate. Thanks.

 

[ssunthar]

Great. Thanks for the suggestions... doing wc today and hope to manage the parameters.. I'm using API test kit currently.

A quick update... did a wc 2 days ago and here are my levels now:
Temp 25.8 - 26.3°C
ph 8.0
salinity 1.025
nitrate 0
phos 1
Ammonia 0
mG 1290-1320 (Salifert)
Alk 11
CA 500 (Salifert)

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wow... I didn't know that people actually dose phosphate. Thanks.

Yes. Brightwell products sells it - I believe neophos is the product

 

[ssunthar]

Hi everyone, a quick update.. finally managing to reduce my phosphate level slowly with your suggestions above but I lost my coral in the process. A valuable lesson learnt. Thanks for all your help.