Birdsnest colony dying from middle

[mudskipper1]

Hi, my green birds nest colony recently started dying from the middle. Seems that it started shadowing itself over time and eventually started dying off in the center, which then propagated outwards. I fragged off a whole bunch of pieces, so not a huge deal, but wanted to ask if others have had success avoiding this with birds nests. I had the same thing happen like 5 years ago with a similar coral. I know this could be a result of poor light coverage/spread, but I would have thought the t5s I have would be ideal to avoid that type of problem. The colony grew from a small frag in this location, so it isn't from being moved. Any thoughts? Pic below is after fragging, it was significantly thicker/larger when it started dying.

~140g peninsula system with 2 Gen 5 XR15 Blues and 4x54w t5s. Gyre XF350, XF330, MP40. Pretty SPS dominated, but do have some LPS, polyps, softies too. System has been running for 5-6 years, but I totally revamped rock work (replaced about half that had GSP on it) and started doing SPS again in Nov. 2020. Anyhow, things are going pretty well, happy with growth and color for the most part.

Thanks in advance!

Parameters:
Alk:8.5
Ca:420ppm
Mg: 1480ppm
NO3: 12-15ppm
PO4: 0.15ppm
SG:1.026
Temp: 77-79F

 

[vetteguy53081]

Check for any bugs or critters on the base of it. Other causes can be light shading, low salinity, alk spike or ph imbalance

 

[Arthacker87]

Seems like stn. I've had it happen with mine and it bounced back, but because of bad husbandry I lost mine. Has it been in that spot the whole time?

 

[Arthacker87]

Sorry read it all this time lol.

 

[Isopod80]

You wouldn't happen to have any clown gobies would you. They can get the ball rolling on this sort of thing as well.

 

[Gtinnel]

Maybe it just looks this way in the picture, but it doesn't look like most of the area where the tissue is gone is shaded by the rest of the coral.

 

[mudskipper1]

Check for any bugs or critters on the base of it. Other causes can be light shading, low salinity, alk spike or ph imbalance

No bugs even after dipping. Salinity is fine, I would be surprised that the birds nest would be the only coral to show any signs of issues when all my acropora are fine. Light shading is my suspicion, but if that's the case, is it just not possible to grow bigger colonies without this happening?

 

[mudskipper1]

Maybe it just looks this way in the picture, but it doesn't look like most of the area where the tissue is gone is shaded by the rest of the coral.

Yeah, the pic was after I fragged a whole bunch of pieces off, the middle was definitely shaded pretty well. The dead area now has spread out fairly far from the middle though. I did a Lugols dip and that slowed the spread, so assuming the dead area started an infection the propagated (STN).

 

[mudskipper1]

You wouldn't happen to have any clown gobies would you. They can get the ball rolling on this sort of thing as well.

Nope, no gobies.

 

[Gtinnel]

My birdsnest is that size or a little larger and there is no tissue necrosis on it from shading. The underside doesn't have as much polyp extension or color but still has tissue on it.

 

[mudskipper1]

My birdsnest is that size or a little larger and there is no tissue necrosis on it from shading. The underside doesn't have as much polyp extension or color but still has tissue on it.

Yeah, that was true of mine about a week ago. I was keeping a close eye on it since I had it happen previously. I am guessing it was just a slight change in pH that did it. My parents were staying with us and it was too warm for open windows, so CO2 levels went up and pH dropped a bit. Just frustrating since it was growing so well.

 

[TangReef#1]

Hey guys! Same problem here. All
My Params are good except nitrate got a bit higher then normal (50 ppm) that’s what I think it is. This ORA neon seriatapora (birdsnest) is a beast. I’ve fragged this thing every 2-3 months for over a year and it gets bigger every time. Now it’s dieing from the base. I have a coral crab hitchhiker that protects it with its life. I don’t want to frag it to pieces any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[holdthecoffee]

Birds nest normally grow very fast, get really big and then die off really fast. Reefbuilders talked about the same issue to their bird's nest colony, listen around the seven minute mark.

 

[sculpin01]

Yeah, the pic was after I fragged a whole bunch of pieces off, the middle was definitely shaded pretty well. The dead area now has spread out fairly far from the middle though. I did a Lugols dip and that slowed the spread, so assuming the dead area started an infection the propagated (STN).

If it responded to Lugols, that suggests a bacterial pathogen. Might want to try a 30 minute amoxicillin dip.