Birdsnest almost completely white, but alive and growing???

Mattie H.

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I have a big birdsnest colony that used to be a good brown color with green tips. It grows really well; I have to constantly "prune" to keep it in check. This tank itself just kind of hangs out. I scrape algae off the glass, do some occasional water tests, but for the most part it's set and forget.

A month or two ago the SPSs in the tank started to lose some of their color. So I checked the levels and everything was perfect, including no nitrate. So I figured the problem was being too clean. I shut off the skimmer and the pump for the reactors. I also started dosing Reef Plus and Reef Trace. Nothing better. Color came back into just about everything within a week or so.

So here's my problem: that big birdsnest didn't regain its color. It's a very light pink with white/green tips. But it's completely alive. Polyps extended, doing just fine. It's even continuing to grow. I'm pretty sure it isn't photosynthesizing well, if at all, so I've started to dose the tank with Seachem zooplankton and phytoplankton. So, I don't know, a month or so and it's still almost white, but functioning. The only other thing in the tank that is out of the ordinary is most of the mushrooms seem angry and less extended than usual. Oh, and I had a mat of star polyps that kind of disintegrated at about the same time.

Attaching some pics. Don't let the color in the close ups fool you. That's just my phone taking bad pics. The actual color is a very light pink, almost completely white. Close ups are just to show they're still alive.

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vetteguy53081

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May be pink birdsnest which is a little paler type but do pay attention to light and water flow which should be moderate. They get their colors from zooxanthelle which is generated through light
 

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