New to SPS, one isn't looking too happy

[Vaesive]

I've just gotten some SPS corals for my nano reef a and they all have acclimated well... except for one. The Purple Polyp Green Birdsnest Coral looked to be one of the quickest to acclimate when I first got him in the DT but now, a week later, he's nearly all white with the majority of his polyps extending throughout the day. At this time, he was at the lower end of the tank to get him acclimated to the light. He slowly got more and more white. Normally, I take this as bleaching from too much light but since he's an SPS I thought he could be not getting enough. I slowly transitioned him to near the top of the tank.

He's still white with very little neon green coming through. I'm not sure how or what I can do to help him recover. Does anyone have experience in recovering an SPS or Birdsnest coral?

My water parameters are all good (0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrates, 0 Nitrites, 0 Phosphates, temp: 78f). My SG got a bit low on Friday (1.020) and I've gotten it back up to 1.025 since then. All the other coral (SPS and LPS) look pretty happy, for the most part (I bumped some when moving rock and coral yesterday and they're in the process of fully opening up today). I also do not see any pests anywhere in the tank or on the Birdsnest itself.

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions!

According to LiveAquaria, it should look something like this.

[Hollywoodxl]

Originally Posted by Vaesive

oes anyone have experience in recovering an SPS or Birdsnest coral?

My water parameters are all good (0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrates, 0 Nitrites, 0 Phosphates, temp: 78f). My SG got a bit low on Friday (1.020) and I've gotten it back up to 1.025 since then. All the other coral (SPS and LPS) look pretty happy, for the most part (I bumped some when moving rock and coral yesterday and they're in the process of fully opening up today). I also do not see any pests anywhere in the tank or on the Birdsnest itself.

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions!

There you go, The water parameters @ 0 aren't good for SPS: birdnests in particular and can cause bleaching.. try getting your PO4 an NO3 up ( app. PO4= 0.04 and NO=0-1)

[Vaesive]

Originally Posted by Hollywoodxl

There you go, The water parameters @ 0 aren't good for SPS: birdnests in particular and can cause bleaching.. try getting your PO4 an NO3 up ( app. PO4= 0.04 and NO=0-1)

Seriously? SPS like a little Phosphate and Nitrate? I would have thought that would affect the other SPS similarly, then.

I may have to get a more sensitive test kit for Nitrates and Phosphates to measure those low of numbers. Do you have a recommendation?

[Radioheadx14]

They need food too. If your water is too sterile, they wont have any nutrients to absorb to grow. You want some low level phosphate and nitrate. That being said, they still need to bee kept low, just not zero.

[Vaesive]

Originally Posted by Radioheadx14

They need food too. If your water is too sterile, they wont have any nutrients to absorb to grow. You want some low level phosphate and nitrate. That being said, they still need to bee kept low, just not zero.

I target feed them Reef Roids and Reef Chili and they seem to like it.

[Vaesive]

Here are a couple pictures of the coral. Forgive the terrible cell phone quality >.< They're still on their plugs because I want to be sure they're going to be happy where they are before I shave them down and glue them to the rock.

[Dendros]

You have them pretty high up. I would say your hitting that birds nest with too much light.

[markalot]

I have that same birdsnest from Live Aquaria purchased 2 years ago. It's a beast and grows amazingly fast when healthy.

Down in very low light it can be a dull green, in moderate light a nice shiny green with the purple polyps, and in bright light it tends to be yellow with clear or pink/purple polyps.

I keep little bits of mine alive and will give it some space from time to time to grow into a colony, then give it to the local LFS.

Here it is up high under a little too much light. See how the shaded branches have more color?



The more food the better and reef roids is a good choice IMO.

In the pics the corals look a little nutrient starved.

[Vaesive]

Originally Posted by markalot

I have that same birdsnest from Live Aquaria purchased 2 years ago. It's a beast and grows amazingly fast when healthy.

Down in very low light it can be a dull green, in moderate light a nice shiny green with the purple polyps, and in bright light it tends to be yellow with clear or pink/purple polyps.

I keep little bits of mine alive and will give it some space from time to time to grow into a colony, then give it to the local LFS.

Here it is up high under a little too much light. See how the shaded branches have more color?



The more food the better and reef roids is a good choice IMO.

In the pics the corals look a little nutrient starved.

wow, thank you so much for that information! I do believe they are nutrient starved as my tank is 'too clean' for them as other members had suggested. I picked up a neon blue goby and halved my filter speed to see if that helps raise some Nitrates and Phosphates. I'll also begin feeding 3 times a week; up from 2. If anyone has any further suggestions I'd love to hear them! I've moved the birdsnest to more moderate light to see what happens but he still is white >.< *fingers crossed*