Why is my Bird'snest dying?

[Drndoc]

Can someone please help me understand why my Bird'snest is dying like this. It's been slowly getting worse for last week and half. I've had it for a couple months and it was very lush and full of life before. Water parameters all seem to be stable. Mag is at 1400 and calc is at 450.

 

[Duffer]

can you tell us what yor alk is?, is the alk have a big swing. What is you PO4 and nitrates at?

 

[moz71]

Also what else is in tank? Looks a lot like preset or bites to me!!

 

[moz71]

Sorry meant predator bites

 

[Drndoc]

Alk is 11-12
Po4 is .25
Nitrate is 5.0

Yellow Tang, scopas Tang, lawnmower blenny, dottyback, blue chromis, two pajama cardinals, and a couple clowns.

 

[Flippers4pups]

It looks like RTN. How old is the tank?
Do you use coral dip for your corals?

 

[Duffer]

I would say your phosphate is on the high side. I would agree it looks like rtn.

 

[Drndoc]

I use seachem reef dip. Tank is around 5 months Is there a better way of avoiding this sort of thing, also do I have to worry about my other corals now?

 

[nereefpat]

Alk at either 11 or 12 is pretty high. And a 1 point swing may not be the end of the world, but it's not ideal.

How often do you test, and what do you do for dosing?

 

[ReeferWarrant]

Might be a water flow issue too, especially with that algae growing in that area.

 

[Drndoc]

I use Nyos tests. Testing weekly. No dosing as the number never seem to drop.
Would that mean too much or too little flow?

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@Drndoc too little, I just got some birdsnest as well and it started to deteriorate until I put it into a higher flow area. I only say higher because it looks like you have a Paly/Zoa next to it and they require almost opposite spectrums of flow.

 

[nereefpat]

If the tank is only 5 months old, and alk is 10-11 and not consuming any alk, then it could be that the tank just isn't ready for SPS yet.
It might be worth waiting a couple months, or until coraline really takes off, and trying again.

For now, I would cut off the healthy parts and remount them.