Is this bird nest bleaching?

[tigresteve09]

I got this birds nest maybe two weeks ago. It’s lost some polyps but the skeleton isn’t turning white. It’s more of a purple color.

Is this bleaching or is it losing polyps for another reason?

 

[smitten with ocean life]

@kevgib67 your the birdnest expert, right??

 

[MajorDad74]

Photo and water chemistry would help.

 

[kevgib67]

I got this birds nest maybe two weeks ago. It’s lost some polyps but the skeleton isn’t turning white. It’s more of a purple color.

Is this bleaching or is it losing polyps for another reason?

Can we see a picture of it under white lights and a full tank shot?

 

[tigresteve09]

Not sure why the photos didn’t load. This is under blue light through an orange lens. I’ll have to take one under white light tomorrow.

 

[tigresteve09]

This was my last testing results

 

[kevgib67]

Not sure why the photos didn’t load. This is under blue light through an orange lens. I’ll have to take one under white light tomorrow.

I’ll wait until tomorrow but I don’t see any bleaching, please take a full tank shot so I can see placement as well.

 

[tigresteve09]

Here’s photos with white lights. Definitely can tell its skeleton showing compared to the blue light photos. Also have full tank pic. The birds nest is on the top right rock. According to my par test this area is around 190 par.

 

[tigresteve09]

Here’s a water test from this morning. I did a water change yesterday morning.

Interesting that my nitrate and phosphate went up after the water change.

 

[kevgib67]

Here’s photos with white lights. Definitely can tell its skeleton showing compared to the blue light photos. Also have full tank pic. The birds nest is on the top right rock. According to my par test this area is around 190 par.

Sorry I’m still not seeing skeleton and I have my bifocals on. I see polyp retraction. They are less light demanding than other sps, I think your par is fine but they can take more. Your parameters are good but I would bump your magnesium up. So the only thing you haven’t addressed is flow, sps require high flow, let me know what you have going on. Low flow can cause polyps retraction and that’s what I’m suspecting.

 

[386reeftrader]

Whenever I see that gunky algae on the back of a tank I'd say it not matured enough for SPS. They may stay alive but will not thrive or grow very well. Generally best to wait for coralline to start popping up. That's the best indicator that nutrients are well balanced and stable.

 

[tigresteve09]

Here’s photos with white lights. Definitely can tell its skeleton showing compared to the blue light photos. Also have full tank pic. The birds nest is on the top right rock. According to my par test this area is around 190 par.

Sorry I’m still not seeing skeleton and I have my bifocals on. I see polyp retraction. They are less light demanding than other sps, I think your par is fine but they can take more. Your parameters are good but I would bump your magnesium up. So the only thing you haven’t addressed is flow, sps require high flow, let me know what you have going on. Low flow can cause polyps retraction and that’s what I’m suspecting.

Got it. Right now, I have the return pump that comes out in the middle at the top of the tank and branches into two pieces that angle towards the corners (hope that makes sense). Then I have 1 DMP-10 on the upper right, that’s set to random at 30%. I have a flow guard from turbulent flow design because I thought the DMP-10 was blowing way to hard and the flow guard slowed it down and angled it out more.

I have another DMP-10 on the way that I plan to set up on the other side of the tank. I haven’t decided whether to put it in front of the rock scape like the current pump or behind the rock scape.

Flow is definitely a work in progress for my tank.

Thank you for your help!!