2 days of dark and blue birdsnest die off??!!

[cmacld]

So i wanted to get some of your thoughts on this....

I have had a slight algae bloom as of recent and decided to kill the lights for a couple of days in order to just kill it all off..

I have a 180 that is pretty well stocked with both lps and sps.

<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/cmacld/tank/?action=view&current=IMG_0483.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/cmacld/tank/IMG_0483.jpg" border="0" alt="Left ISO"></a>

when i pulled back the black garbage bag that i had the tank glass covered with...

I was super suprised (and equally unimpressed) to see this !!!!!

<a href="http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/cmacld/tank/?action=view&current=IMG_0583.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c171/cmacld/tank/IMG_0583.jpg" border="0" alt="coral die off"></a>

im not sure i understand... this is one of the fastest growers in my tank!
Has anyone else ever had an sps that was this sensitive to light this bad?

Everything else in my tank is fine :hmm4:
I even have some green birdsnet near it that is fine....
In fact, oddly enough i have noticed quite a growth on the sps while it was dark !

Any thoughts or input would be great!

 

[werdlone]

Having the lights off can lower your pH. Maybe it was just sensitive to the pH swing??? Either way, it sucks you lost a nice colony. Did it take care of your algae problem? I did it for Dinoflagellates a few years back and ended up bleaching quite a few corals. They came back, but it took a while.

 

[ghostman]

Is that an anemone or an Elegance coral directly underneath it? My guess would be that it was stung. If it is an anemone, did it move due to the absence of light? The pattern of burn doesn't look like RTN or STN IMO. Whatever it was, sorry for your loss. It's a beautiful colony.

 

[cmacld]

it is a sebae that is beneth it... it has been there longer than any of the corals... didnt notice any movement... i do know that it has been stinging some of the polyps on the lower side of the colony.. but i dont see how it could have killed soo much ...

as for the ph swing... it didnt change at all.. i have an apex and monitored it the whole time..

very odd...

 

[cmacld]

oh and as for the algae... its still there.. =( and im afraid to keep going with darkness... i dont want to loose any more coral !!!

 

[cmacld]

so this morning i went to look at the tank again... after turning the lights back on... and i have lost 3/4 of this colony..
it almost looks like dead algae is covering lots of it... or maybe my idaho grape decided to put up a serious fight?

 

[cmacld]

so from what i have read today it seems that my sps have decieded to RTN...
what should i be worried about here?
do i need to remove any pieces showing sign of this?
i am seeing signs on my pink BN now and one of my acro colonies!

 

[joshrules123456]

cut frags and quarentine them/ give them to friends for safe keeping.

 

[reefsahoy]

how bad was the algae? if you got alot of die off you would get toxins in the tank. i did lights off for 3 days and had no issues with birds nest or any other corals for that matter.

 

[cjtice]

I recently had an ORA Green BN do this too for no apparent reason. I just cut some good off of it and threw the dead away, never treated it or anything and now the part that was still living is doing great.

Good luck and sorry to hear about this.
Chris

 

[reefsic]

Dark periods with SPS dominant (or any SPS) tanks can be really tricky. Usually this method is only recommended for tanks that get a little natural light from a window so the tank isn't completely blacked out. SPS can be very sensitive to no light at all.

Sorry for the loss and GL!