Dying Birdsnest Coral Frag

[Trenton Henderson]

Hi all!

I had a question regarding a birdsnest frag I’ve had for a couple weeks. It is a $10 frag of green birdsnest, and I put it in lighting that was approximately 140-150 PAR (kinda low looking back) and plenty of flow. My parameters have been:

Salinity: 1.025 sg
pH: 8.0-8.1 (have had issues with abiotic precipitation above this so I keep it here)
Ca: 435 ppm
Alk: 9.3-9.8 dKH (it rose about 0.1 dKH per day due to the addition of new rock; I have dialed in my dose again)
Mg: 1350-1400 ppm
Phosphate: 0.05-0.1 ppm (dropped after a water change)
Nitrate: 5-10 ppm

The frag has had outstanding polyp extension and I have been feeding it daily with Red Sea AB+. The last couple of days, however, the tissue has begun to recede and some polyps have disappeared. The frag is only about an inch long and a couple millimeters thick, so it won’t take long for this to spread.

My question is, what could be the cause of tissue loss? I have heard that they hate Alk swings, but that was a very gradual increase. Lighting was pretty dim for birdsnest, so could that be the issue? I have two Kessil A360x’s, and I moved them closer to the surface to bring the PAR to between 160 and 180 there (this is at 94% intensity, which is run for about 3 hours; the intensity drops off significantly on either end of the hours before and after that). I am working to bring the intensity slowly up to 100%, which should bring the PAR in that spot to 170-200.

Thoughts? Let me know if there is something else you noticed or if you need more information!

 

[blaxsun]

Most SPS like PAR in the 250+ range.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

Most SPS like PAR in the 250+ range.

I know that, but these were being grown in a lower-PAR system similar to mine. But does low light cause tissue loss?

 

[blaxsun]

I know that, but these were being grown in a lower-PAR system similar to mine. But does low light cause tissue loss?

There are too many factors to say A led to B which led to C. It's always a combination of water parameters, flow/filtration and lighting.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

Additional question: my photoperiod is only about 5 hours. Would it benefit me to increase that to 8 hours over the next few weeks?

 

[Rmckoy]

With the lower par. .and short photo period one would want to assume the frag was how getting enough food through photosynthesis to maintain its health . And resulted in receding tissue .

Perhaps I’m not 100% correct but partially believe it’s a contributing factor

 

[DeeBee]

I can grow Birdsnests coral all day long at 150 PAR. I seriously doubt that is your issue and it wouldn't cause such a sudden change if it was previously looking good as you say. Your photoperiod is short and should gradually be extended, but once again, light wouldn't cause it to look good one day and bad the next.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

I can grow Birdsnests coral all day long at 150 PAR. I seriously doubt that is your issue and it wouldn't cause such a sudden change if it was previously looking good as you say. Your photoperiod is short and should gradually be extended, but once again, light wouldn't cause it to look good one day and bad the next.

That’s kind of what I was thinking. I’m sure it was a number of factors. How long should I take to extend the photoperiod? Add an hour or two and wait a few weeks?

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

I keep some sps and have a 12hr pp w hour ramp and decline. So 10hr max intensity. Ab+ how much depends on corals u have already

 

[Trenton Henderson]

I keep some sps and have a 12hr pp w hour ramp and decline. So 10hr max intensity. Ab+ how much depends on corals u have already

What’s your opinion on time between making lighting adjustments, such as extending my photoperiod?

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Tbh I don’t light acclimate and always ran a 10-12 hour pp. 8 hours even back in the day w halides.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

U could add a few hours and chk for the response over. Few weeks and keep bumping from there.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

i have a colony I’m growing out atm. Had a few before. Always have a ponape. Also like the pink w the greenish glow tips too.

 

[apb03]

Maybe you have a naughty fish, or something bumped the coral?

 

[DeeBee]

That’s kind of what I was thinking. I’m sure it was a number of factors. How long should I take to extend the photoperiod? Add an hour or two and wait a few weeks?

There isn't an exact science, but personally I wouldn't extend more than 15 minutes per week if the rest of your tank is used to 5 hours. Instantly increasing by a couple of hours would be a dramatic change.

It's probably not hurting anything, but I don't know that dosing ReefEnergy daily is all that advantageous, especially at the levels Red Sea recommends unless your tank is packed with coral. A happy Birdsnest will grow like a weed if it is happy, without aminos.

My Ponape and Pink birdnests spawned a little over a year ago. Now I have Birdnests all over my tank, in every nook and cranny. It was cool at first and now kind of a pain.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How old is your tank? I'm guessing this is your first coral? Birds nest is not easy coral IME

 

[Trenton Henderson]

How old is your tank? I'm guessing this is your first coral? Birds nest is not easy coral IME

The tank is 9 months old and it is one of the first, but not the first.

There isn't an exact science, but personally I wouldn't extend more than 15 minutes per week if the rest of your tank is used to 5 hours. Instantly increasing by a couple of hours would be a dramatic change.

It's probably not hurting anything, but I don't know that dosing ReefEnergy daily is all that advantageous, especially at the levels Red Sea recommends unless your tank is packed with coral. A happy Birdsnest will grow like a weed if it is happy, without aminos.

My Ponape and Pink birdnests spawned a little over a year ago. Now I have Birdnests all over my tank, in every nook and cranny. It was cool at first and now kind of a pain.

I don’t have many corals, and those that are in there have not been there long, so they aren’t extremely established to my 5 hour schedule.

 

[dadnjesse]

SPS need light and stable water parameter's. Low par and only 5 hours isn't helping. It might not be the sole reason.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

Not to resurrect this thread, but I realized that over the course of a week, my alkalinity raised 0.7 dKH, or about 0.1 dKH per day. I noticed that my green slimer frag has a bit of white showing on its top as well. Could that be the source of irritation and tissue loss for them?

It’s been increasing, I believe anyway, because of the new dry rock I added recently. I backed my dose off of two part to stabilize it.