When do I need to trim a coral?

[Hemmbone20]

I noticed this week that my birdnest coral started to die at the base. It was clearly due to lack of light reaching the bottom of the colony. Water parameters are good.. acros and other SPS are all happy..

The dead part then started to creep up.
When a part of a colony starts to die, is it important to cut off that portion before the dead part continues to spread? If I leave this alone will it die all the way out to the tips?

I ended up cutting off that one branch, but I was curious what others do.

 

[Jekyl]

Supplemental lighting might be another course of action.

 

[Hemmbone20]

Supplemental lighting might be another course of action.

Well… ya.. someday I’ll replace my light with some radions and LED bars to get better coverage… but this particular colony I use to fill up a corner spot. So the part that died faces the back wall.
If I was trying to ensure this colony had optimal lighting I’d probably just relocate it, but it’s more about filling a space that I can’t keep other SPS in.

 

[Dburr1014]

Did it still have polyps?
It happens a lot, no light at the base, losses color, still has polyps, still healthy.

 

[Troylee]

Coral looks fine the flesh fades out due to lack of light.. I don’t see a distinct line where it’s peeling from Stn or rtn.

 

[Biff0rz]

Agree with others - I only trim when it's needed or when I want to. Needed is when it's touching another coral (warfare) or it's dying (stn/rtn). When I want to is when I want a frag or need room. I have some corals that fade just as bad as your example, can't do much about it unless you turn them to hit more light or add light.

 

[X-37B]

Trim when needed to keep corals apart.
That is normal.
This is my current birdsnest.
The first pic was covered by the second pic. I went to trim a piece away from the stylo and it snapped off.
I would just put it back.