Hi everyone. In a nutshell... I was given a saltwater tank that had been running for around a year or so. This is my first saltwater tank. It had a healthy anemone and two fish and some liverock. I added some coral about a month ago. I put the birdsnest too close to a pump and caused some tissue damage overnight. This was two weeks ago. I moved the pump right away hoping that it will heal. If anything the tissue damage is getting worse. Now im reading about RTN and STN and im worried. I think i had the current orbit marine pro led light too bright as well so i lowered it to a little less than half pwr and everything seems ok except the birdsnest. This pic was taken tonight. Any thoughts? Should i be concerned? Thank you
Birdsnest tissue loss...help!
- Thread starter Gdk414
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This was when i first got it. Notice the color diffrence too? Guy i got it from had it in a frag tank with mid to low power leds. I read that brighter light changes the birdsnest color to pinkish. Is this correct?
ime, a birdsnest will tell you if water quality is off. they can handle a lot of light and need some flow. (not put a coral in front of a powerhead flow).
id suspect phosphate, or lack of lighting.
these things can fall in a crevice between your live rock and live if the parameters are right.
my 2
id suspect phosphate, or lack of lighting.
these things can fall in a crevice between your live rock and live if the parameters are right.
my 2
Thanks everyone:) Before i do anything drastic like fragging i would like to get more advice.
Also I had the orbit marine pro on full pwr. Could that light not be powerfull enough? It is now just under half and things look ok but im brand new to the hobby and kinda dove into this head first.
Water was tested by scabbedwings616 about 3 weeks or a month ago and was good. But brought a water sample to petco to test last week when i was dealing with a cyano outbreak and he said my water was perfect all around.
So a little more on this tank. As ive owned it i have been doing 20% WC every two weeks. And as of this past two weeks ive changed it every wednesday and the cyano has 98% been cured. I still am seeing some brown alge so something is still not right. Here is a pic from two weeks ago with the cyano. And here is a pic from today.
I think its time to buy a test kit lol i should have done that a while ago...smh
Thanks for the fast replys
Also I had the orbit marine pro on full pwr. Could that light not be powerfull enough? It is now just under half and things look ok but im brand new to the hobby and kinda dove into this head first.
Water was tested by scabbedwings616 about 3 weeks or a month ago and was good. But brought a water sample to petco to test last week when i was dealing with a cyano outbreak and he said my water was perfect all around.
So a little more on this tank. As ive owned it i have been doing 20% WC every two weeks. And as of this past two weeks ive changed it every wednesday and the cyano has 98% been cured. I still am seeing some brown alge so something is still not right. Here is a pic from two weeks ago with the cyano. And here is a pic from today.
I think its time to buy a test kit lol i should have done that a while ago...smh
Thanks for the fast replys
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ime cyano usually occurs when doc is out of balance with nitrate and phosphate. a number of reasons why this can occur but a water change generally gets it back in line.
the lack of color in your tank is troubling though.
you have enough light, however i would switch it closer to the blue spectrum.
your phosphates could be sky high with that kind of browning. however if a paling occurs on the brown end, then it would be lack of nutrients and would hurt the coral further.
check phosphates. if they are high then you can easily mediate that.
if your test kits read 0 nitrate and phosphate and you blast your corals with light, they will stress and die.
browning and paling are both very close to each other. i only mention this because of your stocking.
for reference my coloration.
the lack of color in your tank is troubling though.
you have enough light, however i would switch it closer to the blue spectrum.
your phosphates could be sky high with that kind of browning. however if a paling occurs on the brown end, then it would be lack of nutrients and would hurt the coral further.
check phosphates. if they are high then you can easily mediate that.
if your test kits read 0 nitrate and phosphate and you blast your corals with light, they will stress and die.
browning and paling are both very close to each other. i only mention this because of your stocking.
for reference my coloration.
This. You should really get to know the testing, its easy with a little practice, and yes the api work just fine.
Id assume chemical filtration was added to reduce the nutrients to remove the "ugly phase" cyano. Thats likely the problem.
There is no such thing as "perfect" there just numbers that indicate whats goin on in your system. Zero is not perfect IMO.
Keep an eye on it. Rtn and Stn have become a generic term for losung flesh. A sick coral can stn literally in front of your eyes and be gone in hours, but its case to case. If the coral has stabilised dont frag it. if you see progression then clip the live stuff off, a bit of putty and superglue and your done. Probably take less than 3 min, and will save the colony.
Fwiw the largest growth in stony corals Ive had were with very high Po No and high light. Low cal and alk were a result but did not stop growth.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Undoubtedly light shock was among the problems....get at least a lux meter to measure your lights in the future. A free app or a $15 handheld unit is adequate.
That may have been just the straw that broke the camels' back though....I agree with @Russ265 that birdsnests are sensitive. Could have been flow – but again it was the change more than too much or too little. I think birdsnests are pretty adaptable to high or low flow and high or low light as frags, but they don't adapt quickly once mature. And they seem much more sensitive to changes in flow than other corals I've kept.
That may have been just the straw that broke the camels' back though....I agree with @Russ265 that birdsnests are sensitive. Could have been flow – but again it was the change more than too much or too little. I think birdsnests are pretty adaptable to high or low flow and high or low light as frags, but they don't adapt quickly once mature. And they seem much more sensitive to changes in flow than other corals I've kept.
I had it set to 100% white and 100% blue.ime cyano usually occurs when doc is out of balance with nitrate and phosphate. a number of reasons why this can occur but a water change generally gets it back in line.
the lack of color in your tank is troubling though.
you have enough light, however i would switch it closer to the blue spectrum.
your phosphates could be sky high with that kind of browning. however if a paling occurs on the brown end, then it would be lack of nutrients and would hurt the coral further.
check phosphates. if they are high then you can easily mediate that.
if your test kits read 0 nitrate and phosphate and you blast your corals with light, they will stress and die.
browning and paling are both very close to each other. i only mention this because of your stocking.
for reference my coloration.
It is now 33 white 44blue.
What would you suggest. Thank you
the $13 lux meter I use.
https://www.amazon.com/Docooler-Dig...UTF8&qid=1476816102&sr=8-4&keywords=lux+meter
https://www.amazon.com/Docooler-Dig...UTF8&qid=1476816102&sr=8-4&keywords=lux+meter
mcarroll
10K Club member
I believe they make the identical meter with a remote probe too....is there any reason you favor one over the other?
I have only used the meter I have, which is a bit simpler than this, but mine does have a remote (corded) sensor and it seems handy.
It's $13:D.....
So i downloaded the lux meter app. Pretty cool. At 100% my light pushed the lux meter to its mac 30000 and the way i have it set now is around 5000 at the water surface.
I had no idea thoes little leds were so powerful!
And im guessing that bright light combined with being blasted with too much flow that one night is what did the damage.
Still gonna test the water and see what the numbers are.
What do you guys recomend for lux at surface?
I had no idea thoes little leds were so powerful!
And im guessing that bright light combined with being blasted with too much flow that one night is what did the damage.
Still gonna test the water and see what the numbers are.
What do you guys recomend for lux at surface?
I dont recommend the app often, its sometimes wildly inaccurate. For a lower light tank, mushrooms easy birdsnest, probably 25,000 to 35,000 lux. I do acclimation in increments of 2000 to 2500 lux.
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