Rookie mistake.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

So I bought a Birdsnest over the weekend. I placed it in high linear flow thinking “spa needs high flow”. Well I effectively blew all the polyps off one side of the coral.

My question is will it recover? Or will one side be bleached for life?

Doctorgori · Feb 9, 2022

are the polyps retracted or did you see flesh actually tear off?
FWIW I’ve had so many bird nest colonies grow fast then die it’s sad… never figured out what’s up,

olonmv · Feb 9, 2022

How old is the tank and how stable are the parameters?

I once bought a birdsnest just to watch it stn because the tank I thought was ready, wasn’t lol.

Dburr1014 · Feb 9, 2022

Doctorgori said:
are the polyps retracted or did you see flesh actually tear off?
FWIW I’ve had so many bird nest colonies grow fast then die it’s sad… never figured out what’s up,

Ditto

Screwgunner · Feb 9, 2022

I just battled cyano and gha and dinos ya my bird didn't make it either.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

Doctorgori said:
are the polyps retracted or did you see flesh actually tear off?
FWIW I’ve had so many bird nest colonies grow fast then die it’s sad… never figured out what’s up,

Oh I seen it blow off. And all of the removed flesh is the side towards the pump. The opposite side is looking super strong.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

Doctorgori said:
are the polyps retracted or did you see flesh actually tear off?
FWIW I’ve had so many bird nest colonies grow fast then die it’s sad… never figured out what’s up,

Oh I seen it blow off. And all of the removed flesh is the side towards the pump. The opposite side is looking super

olonmv said:
How old is the tank and how stable are the parameters?

I once bought a birdsnest just to watch it stn because the tank I thought was ready, wasn’t lol.

the tank is about 3 months old. I’ve got ALOT of growth out of my cloves and my Anthelia. My Nems look crazy good.
Stability. Well it is a 6.6 gallon

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

Screwgunner said:
I just battled cyano and gha and dinos ya my bird didn't make it either.

I’m thinking this one may be a goner. Battling Dino’s as well

Lavey29 · Feb 9, 2022

Ain't gonna work in a 3 month old tank for SPS.

olonmv · Feb 9, 2022

WinterHarkins said:
the tank is about 3 months old. I’ve got ALOT of growth out of my cloves and my Anthelia. My Nems look crazy good.
Stability. Well it is a 6.6 gallon

This sounds very familiar. Stay on top of testing.

I have a nano (13.5) . Everything was peachy for the first 10 months. Made it through the uglies cyano dinos…..all that stuff. Religious water changes kept everything happy….until wc wasn’t enough and my tank got away from me. Lost some coral n such. I can’t stress enough. Stable water parameters and testing. I got comfortable and thought “I got this” thinking water changes were enough. Nanos swing fast. Consistency is key.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

olonmv said:
This sounds very familiar. Stay on top of testing.

I have a nano (13.5) . Everything was peachy for the first 10 months. Made it through the uglies cyano dinos…..all that stuff. Religious water changes kept everything happy….until wc wasn’t enough and my tank got away from me. Lost some coral n such. I can’t stress enough. Stable water parameters and testing. I got comfortable and though “I got this” thinking water changes were enough. Nanos swing fast. Consistency is key.

So far I’ve been testing everyother day and WC twice a week.

parameters have been stable for 3weeks before getting the Bird.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Ain't gonna work in a 3 month old tank for SPS.

Yeah. Learning the hard way.

olonmv · Feb 9, 2022

Keep a close eye on it. Your situation sounds a ton like mine. My birdsnest was in what I thought perfect conditions. There’s a ton that plays into stability. Nutrients play a huge role and those parameters swing hard in the beginning and especially in nano tanks.

you testing all parameters? Primarily alk, calcium, temp, salinity p04 and N03? Those swing fast in small tanks.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

olonmv said:
Keep a close eye on it. Your situation sounds a ton like mine. My birdsnest was in what I thought perfect conditions. There’s a ton that plays into stability. Nutrients play a huge role and those parameters swing hard in the beginning and especially in nano tanks.

you testing all parameters? Primarily alk, calcium, temp, salinity p04 and N03? Those swing fast in small tanks.

Yes sir. I also keep a logbook at home.
I will admit I need to invest in better testing equipment. I do however go to my LFS and have them double check me.

olonmv · Feb 9, 2022

WinterHarkins said:
Yes sir. I also keep a logbook at home.
I will admit I need to invest in better testing equipment. I do however go to my LFS and have them double check me.

I jumped on the Hanna bandwagon. I don’t regret it. Temp, salinity, nitrate, phosphates, calcium, and alk. I can do all those in under 10 minutes. And I don’t have to second guess color wheels!! Win win.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

olonmv said:
I jumped on the Hanna bandwagon. I don’t regret it. Temp, salinity, nitrate, phosphates, calcium, and alk. I can do all those in under 10 minutes. And I don’t have to second guess color wheels!! Win win.

Yeah. I’m going too as well. I’ve got a 25 gallon cube with a 10 gallon sump I’m setting up this weekend and I’m going to have to invest. All the corals I want are expensive as all get out. So I can’t take any chances.
I’ve just been balling on a budget
I’ve got like $350 wrapped into my tank. Everything else was given to me.

Tonycass12 · Feb 9, 2022

Dinos will kill birdsnest faster then anything else ive experienced. Although they are high flow corals you never want them to be getting blasted by a return or powerhead. "Indirect high flow" point your powerheads over or infront of the corals. You want to see the polyps almost constantly moving and swaying but not pinned over away from the flow.

WinterHarkins said:
I’m thinking this one may be a goner. Battling Dino’s as well

olonmv · Feb 9, 2022

I’m just now back to getting back to feeling comfortable to add corals back into my tank.

I’ve learned where I like my parameters and now have a better understanding of what kind of livestock is suited for the parameters I want.

Good testing equipment/kits are definitely high on the need list.

WinterHarkins · Feb 9, 2022

olonmv said:
I’m just now back to getting back to feeling comfortable to add corals back into my tank.

I’ve learned where I like my parameters and now have a better understanding of what kind of livestock is suited for the parameters I want.

Good testing equipment/kits are definitely high on the need list.

Yeah. I mean my basics are killing it. But anything more than that I’m going to steer clear from for a minute.

Lavey29 · Feb 9, 2022

WinterHarkins said:
Yeah. Learning the hard way.

I am right there with you. There is nothing wrong with trying out a tester SPS frag and see how it goes but really even though you have a small tank it has to develop good biodiversity first. Focus on stability and good parameters first and maybe some easy soft or LPS corals. add in good bacteria like PNS probio which really helped my tank. Once you start to see some coraline algae forming in your tank around the 8 month to 1 year mark then you will know you are ready to try some SPS corals to. My tank is 11 months and I just added my first real SPS frags to it. Patience is critical in this hobby.