ORA neon bird nest white tissue spots

[OrthoVet05]

Hey guys have had this in my tank for about 3 weeks now and it has been doing okay. There are about 80% polyp extension but there are some white tissue spots that are forming. Not sure if it’s tissue necrosis or something in my tank chewing on it. What do y’all think ?? With my current lighting, the white spots appear as purple and are sort of hard to see.

 

[DSC reef]

It doesn't look happy in it's current spot. Had good luck with seriatopora in medium light and medium indirect flow.

 

[markalot]

Looks like it's suffering from either an Alk spike or too much light. Has the tank been stable?

 

[OrthoVet05]

Alk has been from 9-10 for the past three weeks with it being pretty stable, I do use randy's two part and everything is solid. I had it in a medium light with medium flow spot for that long also. When I first got it, the bottom was bleached out.

 

[OrthoVet05]

Looks like it's suffering from either an Alk spike or too much light. Has the tank been stable?

Do you think I should put it it lower light for a few weeks and see if that improves?

 

[markalot]

Do you think I should put it it lower light for a few weeks and see if that improves?

It can't hurt. What about Alk, your KH? You won't be able to keep it healthy without fairly stable Alk.

 

[OrthoVet05]

It can't hurt. What about Alk, your KH? You won't be able to keep it healthy without fairly stable Alk.

My alk has been fairly stable with 10 for two-three weeks straight, just checked it last night and it was 9.

Think I should get one of those dosers for alk ?

 

[DSC reef]

My alk has been fairly stable with 10 for two-three weeks straight, just checked it last night and it was 9.

Think I should get one of those dosers for alk ?

Your alk is stable enough, I wouldn't invest in a doser just yet. I would move the coral to a lower light and lower flow area.

 

[markalot]

My alk has been fairly stable with 10 for two-three weeks straight, just checked it last night and it was 9.

Think I should get one of those dosers for alk ?

Lower light first. You don't just dose Alk, you have to dose a two part Alk and Calcium plus keep an eye on Mg which will slowly drop. You're not there yet, good time to research.

My other concern is water changes. If you Alk is at 9 now and you do a significant water change with a high Alk salt mix then you will spike Alk and this will harm the bird, especially these green polyp ones. Start thinking about stability with the water changes, smaller might be better, or switching salts might be the way to go. IF, big if, this is what's causing the stress.

 

[Michael Llabona]

My same birdsnest likes med light and med flow. The polyps will move slightly. I'd say it's at about 200 par since the top of my rock is right under 500

 

[OrthoVet05]

Lower light first. You don't just dose Alk, you have to dose a two part Alk and Calcium plus keep an eye on Mg which will slowly drop. You're not there yet, good time to research.

My other concern is water changes. If you Alk is at 9 now and you do a significant water change with a high Alk salt mix then you will spike Alk and this will harm the bird, especially these green polyp ones. Start thinking about stability with the water changes, smaller might be better, or switching salts might be the way to go. IF, big if, this is what's causing the stress.

Appreciate your concerns. Ca has been at 460 dose that also but having no issues.

 

[reeflife3]

it looks like STN from the bottom up, what is your PO4 level?

 

[DSC reef]

Appreciate your concerns. Ca has been at 460 dose that also but having no issues.

That's a good number. FWIW when dosing alkalinity and calcium it was never equal amounts. Magnesium was rarely dosed as weekly water changes kept it around 1480. We kept alkalinity at 9.5-10ish in a 75 gallon tank. With coral pro salt 15 gallon changes would not spike the alkalinity.

 

[JDtimk]

It's hard to see where on the coral the white spots you mentioned are forming. Birdsnest often lose color, if not tissue also, in areas that are too shaded by the rest of the colony. That is probably the most common cause of spots of discoloration if the spots are appearing in shaded areas. If it's the tips, that is more likely water parameter related.

I can't remember hearing about pests on a birdsnest making spots. I never experienced something like that with any birdsnest I have had so I never really researched it.

As far as the polyp extension, I agree with others. Not a happy coral. If it's not alk or nutrient related it could definitely be light over exposure. my green birdsnest is in medium low flow and medium low light < 200 par.

 

[OrthoVet05]

So I should be around 20 par rn my bb is at 30% whites 60% blues and I actually had just moved the birds nest yesterday to see if this current spot would be better. It’s about 13 in from my light. Would y’all move it lower in my tank with these signs ?

 

[OrthoVet05]

I just don’t want to stress it out too much changing too much at once.

 

[OrthoVet05]

Update... this thing is sort of flaking apart badly. I am pretty upset. Had no idea it was struggling as much until last night.

 

[timrocks311]

Update... this thing is sort of flaking apart badly. I am pretty upset. Had no idea it was struggling as much until last night.

frag the tips if they're still good.

 

[markalot]

Update... this thing is sort of flaking apart badly. I am pretty upset. Had no idea it was struggling as much until last night.

As I mentioned above, you most likely had a pretty big Alk spike. These birds self destruct when that happens. I saved mine by fragging the tips and super gluing to frag plugs. Mine was the size of a softball, a little larger, and I ended up with a couple of small frags.

I would also strongly suggest running at a lower Alk, it simply makes keeping SPS easier.

 

[DSC reef]

If your alk is stable, meaning 0.5 swing, why would alk being lower help? I have to disagree as seriatopora guttatus grew like a weed in our tank along with green slimer, bonsai, red planet, etc, with alk at 9.0-10 dkh. To the OP, IMO I would not make any drastic changes to your tank as that could be consequential to the rest of your coral. Focus on stability with your current numbers. I understand its upsetting to loose a coral but don't let one coral change your entire tank. Stability is key here. Alkalinity, nutrients and par work together with what numbers you can be at. If your nutrients are bottomed out with a lot of light and high alkalinity then that can cause issues as well.