Trouble with Birdsnest

[IslandLifeReef]

Hello All,

I've been reading this forum for quite some time while trying to decide if I wanted to get back into reefing. I took the plunge about 4 months ago and set up a 40gal tank. The tank has been cycled and has two clown fish, watchman goby, small CUC, frogspawn that has doubled, green mushroom, orange acan that has gone from 4 heads to 12, jedi mind trick, and a birdsnest. Everything is doing well except the birdsnest. My LFS says my tank might be too clean and to cut back on the NoPoX.
ALK 8.6
CAL 430
MAG 1380
SG 1.025
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Here is a picture of the birdsnest. Can anyone help? Thanks

 

[mcarroll]

My LFS says my tank might be too clean and to cut back on the NoPoX.

They are correct....it's something that should be used only as-needed. Maybe never in the case of a new tank. Stop completely.

Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0

Nothing to eat – he's starving!

In the short term I'd use some plant fertilizers like Seachem or Brightwell phostphate and nitrate additives. They are (afaik) potassium nitrate and potassium phosphate solutions, so if you're familiar with plant fertilizers, they're the same thing. 0.10 ppm PO4 and 5-10 ppm NO3 would be reasonable targets to shoot for.

Feeding "food" like fish eggs that are small and float well would also be good....use in moderation though.

Once things normalize and the coral starts growing you should be able to SLOWLY increase feedings and phase out liquid fertilizers, at least for the most part.

Going forward you do not want N or P to run out under most circumstances, so keep an eye on things. Use an auto-feeder on the tank for at least a small percentage of the tank's feedings – there's nothing more consistent than an auto-feeder, so the fish and the tank both like it!!! Again, use in moderation....start by using it to replace only a small part of what you feed manually and slow increase the amount it feeds as needed. (If needed.)

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Thanks. I've been dosing reef energy and increased the dosage to help bring back the nutrients and stopped the NoPoX. I'll leave the birdsnest alone and get those nutrients up. I was worried that I was going to have to do something more drastic to the birdsnest.

 

[Mal11224]

I used to use NOPOX and have stopped for the last month and have seen good results in my mixed reef. Although my NO3 and was about 10, my PO4 was always zero. I realized that I didn't need NOPOX. I definitely think that the birds nest is not getting any nutrients, causing it to be stressed and looks like STN is occurring. Stopping the NOPOX will not hurt anything and is worth a try. Hopefully lighting is not an issue

 

[GoVols]

Hello All,

I've been reading this forum for quite some time while trying to decide if I wanted to get back into reefing. I took the plunge about 4 months ago and set up a 40gal tank. The tank has been cycled and has two clown fish, watchman goby, small CUC, frogspawn that has doubled, green mushroom, orange acan that has gone from 4 heads to 12, jedi mind trick, and a birdsnest. Everything is doing well except the birdsnest. My LFS says my tank might be too clean and to cut back on the NoPoX.
ALK 8.6
CAL 430
MAG 1380
SG 1.025
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Here is a picture of the birdsnest. Can anyone help? Thanks

Welcome to Reef 2 Reef.

Your phos. and nitrates are too low.

Here's a water parameter guide line for you and the birdnest is an easy SPS but it's still a SPS.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Hope this helps.

Regards, GoVols

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Thank you for the replies. Should I consider fragging off the parts that have lost tissue or just leave it. The tissue loss has only been happening for about a week. My Acan was retracted for about two days, but seems much happier since I stopped the NOPOX last Friday.

 

[Mal11224]

I wouldn't frag it unless it is getting worse. It is stressed and may not make it if you frag it right now. Looks like the bleaching is on multiple branches. Just let it be and see how it does since you've made adjustments and perhaps frag it later.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Well, it seems to be getting worse. It is definitely losing tissue. I would say about 50% of the birdsnest has lost all of its tissue. I have noticed that a smaller piece of birdsnest in a different part of the tank has just started to lose a little tissue as well. Is there anything that I can or should do? Should I cut back all of the pieces to were there is only good tissue and polyp extension.

 

[Hogan]

If it were me, I'd cut it.