First SPS (Birdsnest). Acclimation Advice?

Pigpen17

Pigpen17

New member
Still learning here!

So I ordered my first SPS. A Birdsnest from Divers Den. It will arrive Tuesday. I am so exited. I have been looking at Birdsnests for about a year now, and this one was just too unique to pass up. It's almost black with purple polyps. I just thought I would start this thread to gather advice and opinions to get ready for it's arrival because I have never done this before, and I don't want to kill this guy.

I am not going to QT it, but I do have Coral Dip. It's Seachem brand Reef Dip. Acclimation?

Relevant Tank Info:
56g Column Tank. 24" Tall.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Calcium: 360
Carbonate Hardness: 9
Specific Gravity: 1.024
Temperature: 79*
Light: 24" Reefbreeders Photon on factory Custom Program.
(It Peaks at 30% Blue/Royal and 30% White/Red)
Tank was running for a year then I had to tear it down for new carpets. Back up and running for a few weeks. Same live rock. New Sand. New water. CUC is in tank and I feed the tank once a week.

The spot I have picked for it is about mid tank.

The Calcium is a bit higher than usual right now. Tests in the past have been closer to 200. I don't dose, just use Reef Crystals. Do I look alright?

I am going to Dip on arrival and straight into the tank. I am assuming I should acclimate? Any tips?

Thanks in advance.
 
I think your calcium could be higher...420. What is your alk and mag? Need to get those right, 9dkh for alk and 1200-1350 for mag.

SPS don't need dripping just throw the bag in you sump until the temp matches the tank, take it out of the bag and place it low to start. Once it's looking ok, few weeks, start moving it up to the spot you have picked out. Light acclimation and temp are more important than drip acclimation. In my experience.
 
Dip the coral in your coral dip. You don't want pests. You do need to get a mag and alk test. I would read the stickies in the forum too.
 
Mag test kit. Good to know.

Alk is 9. I’ll hit up the stickies. I am not going for a full out SPS tank. I am going for a simple (haha) tank. I hope I don’t have to start dosing. I swear every hole I jump into is bottomless in the hobby! I was under the impression from a thread I started early last year that I could probably get away with just using Reef Crystals for one Birdsnest. I am of course willing to deviate from that, if necessary.


So as far as when it arrives. I float it for Temp. Fill up my little Gallon container with tank water and add the dip. Dip the guy and then to the bottom of the tank with it. Do I have to go lights out at first?
 
dosing is not a big deal, use a 2 part...it's cheap and effective. i use it, what i learned was that just dosing Cal and Alk is great, but if your salt doesn't provide enough mag then that needs to be dosed too. Look into B-Ionic 2part.

if you're getting an SPS they are picky babies...the parameters have to be pretty tight or they die. You actually will want some nitrate in the tank as well, not a lot just detectable. My growth is noticeably better when the tank is filthed up.
 
ryeguyy84 said:
Mmmm Hmmm, I said the same thing about a year ago. iIm now moving most of my LPS out and moving over to a mostly SPS tank. :lolspin:
Click to expand...
Yup. I'm sure once I dive off this cliff, there is no bottom. :)

JammyBirch said:
dosing is not a big deal, use a 2 part...it's cheap and effective. i use it, what i learned was that just dosing Cal and Alk is great, but if your salt doesn't provide enough mag then that needs to be dosed too. Look into B-Ionic 2part.

if you're getting an SPS they are picky babies...the parameters have to be pretty tight or they die. You actually will want some nitrate in the tank as well, not a lot just detectable. My growth is noticeably better when the tank is filthed up.
Click to expand...

OK. Couldn't find a Mag test kit, but I picked up a 2 part. It's by Seachem.

Tested again tonight.
Calcium: 360
KH: 7

Not sure what happened to my Alk. It was 9 just the other day. I just did a waterchage yesterday, but that has never done that before.

I'm going to use the 2 part tonight. Not much I can do before it arrives tomorrow. I feel so foolish. I have been planning this addition of about 6 months. Maybe more. Got info about it and started testing for Calcim and Alk. Raised my KH, thought I was good with Calcium and then day before it arrives, I feel like I am not ready. Crazy.
 
Dude, don't stress. Pink birdnest is one of the easiest SPS. Having your parameter anywhere in the neighborhood is fine and your coral will grow like crazy.

Just make sure you dip like others have said.
 
It has arrived. Just got home from work and tested the water again. Still the same.
Alk: 7
Cal:360.

I didn't really expect much of a change in one dose. I am going to dose the 2 step again and then float the bag.
 
Dipped and in the tank. I put in on the bottom and have the lights on 10% Ch1, 10% Ch2. The photo of it on Diver Den was almost black, so I'm guessing it's faded due to transport and such.

There was a little hitchiker on it. Maybe a pistol shrimp? I got it out of the Dip as quick as I could, but it died very soon after. Bummer.



 
Sorry, I know to you guys this must seem like a "My baby just spoke it's first word!" thread, but I am a nervous parent. :p


Is there any risk of this guy attaching himself to the rock at the bottom of the tank? I'm taking the advice in this thread and keeping it there for a least a week at my full lighting schedule. It would suck if I went to move him and couldn't.
 
No, birds are notorious for not encrusting. I had a big green bird the size of a soccer ball and it encrusted maybe 1/4 inch on the epoxy I used to attach it to the rock when it was just a couple of stems. :)

I would run the LED's a little brighter. I haven't had many issues acclimating birds, but certainly don't start off full power. If you can borrow a PAR meter you'll be a step ahead of the game. My birds seemed to do best at around 200 PAR under LED, when I ran LED.

So Alk is your important parameter here. In my opinion make sure you are using a quality Alk test kit, I like Salifert, and test daily or every other day at the same time every day to determine what your usage is. It's probably pretty low at the moment and you may not require any dosing, but eventually you will.

So for an example, if you drop .5 KH a day then figure out how much Alk you need daily and dose equal parts A & B of a quality 2 part solution. I use C-Balance, there are many others just as good. I rarely test calcium because it will find it's own balance when using two part, I just make sure to dose equally. Right now I dose 95ml daily part A & B in a 150 gallon. Alk is locked in at 8.1, Calcium 440.

If you use a two part mix that does not include Magnesium then you should test Mg weekly and make sure it stays around 1300 or a little higher. C-Balance keeps my Mg around 1400 so I don't have to dose, at least not right now.

Once you have this routine down then you can start exploring other alternatives for dosing. Kalk, Calcium Reactor, Bulk Reef Supply 3 part, etc.

The little hitchhiker looks cool, but I would not trust it.
 
markalot said:
No, birds are notorious for not encrusting. I had a big green bird the size of a soccer ball and it encrusted maybe 1/4 inch on the epoxy I used to attach it to the rock when it was just a couple of stems. :)

I would run the LED's a little brighter. I haven't had many issues acclimating birds, but certainly don't start off full power. If you can borrow a PAR meter you'll be a step ahead of the game. My birds seemed to do best at around 200 PAR under LED, when I ran LED.

So Alk is your important parameter here. In my opinion make sure you are using a quality Alk test kit, I like Salifert, and test daily or every other day at the same time every day to determine what your usage is. It's probably pretty low at the moment and you may not require any dosing, but eventually you will.

So for an example, if you drop .5 KH a day then figure out how much Alk you need daily and dose equal parts A & B of a quality 2 part solution. I use C-Balance, there are many others just as good. I rarely test calcium because it will find it's own balance when using two part, I just make sure to dose equally. Right now I dose 95ml daily part A & B in a 150 gallon. Alk is locked in at 8.1, Calcium 440.

If you use a two part mix that does not include Magnesium then you should test Mg weekly and make sure it stays around 1300 or a little higher. C-Balance keeps my Mg around 1400 so I don't have to dose, at least not right now.

Once you have this routine down then you can start exploring other alternatives for dosing. Kalk, Calcium Reactor, Bulk Reef Supply 3 part, etc.

The little hitchhiker looks cool, but I would not trust it.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info. I don't have a par meter, but I can look at the manufactures specs or hit them up directly. The two part I bought said it dose raise magnesium as well. I still have no idea why my ALK dropped so low so fast, and it's not coming back up quickly. It usually sits somewhere between 8-9, never below 8. Getting a test result of 7 was really a surprise. I'm working it back up though. I will add a quality ALK test kit in my next Marine Depot order.
 
Pigpen17 said:
Thank you for the info. I don't have a par meter, but I can look at the manufactures specs or hit them up directly. The two part I bought said it dose raise magnesium as well. I still have no idea why my ALK dropped so low so fast, and it's not coming back up quickly. It usually sits somewhere between 8-9, never below 8. Getting a test result of 7 was really a surprise. I'm working it back up though. I will add a quality ALK test kit in my next Marine Depot order.
Click to expand...

Alk is being used up by something in the tank ... corals, coraline algae, etc. Not really important what is using it, just important to track and get it stable. If you are only raising Alk and not calcium then calcium will drop and you can get out of balance. Make sure you read all the Randy Holmes Farley articles available in RK magazine to understand the relationship. :)
 
I was reading that in the sticky, that you only have so much room. If one is too high, than the other will be too low. I'm starting to wrap my head around the concepts.
 
Pigpen17 said:
I was reading that in the sticky, that you only have so much room. If one is too high, than the other will be too low. I'm starting to wrap my head around the concepts.
Click to expand...

Also keep in mind a drop of 2 KH is probably not going to appear to effect calcium at all, with the tolerance of the test kits we use. This is why I think the best advice is to make sure both Alk and Calcium are within reasonable limits and then base all 2 part dosing off of Alk usage only. :)
 
markalot said:
Also keep in mind a drop of 2 KH is probably not going to appear to effect calcium at all, with the tolerance of the test kits we use. This is why I think the best advice is to make sure both Alk and Calcium are within reasonable limits and then base all 2 part dosing off of Alk usage only. :)
Click to expand...

Interesting. I was thinking of just getting my ALK up to 9 then start using the 2 part. Then I was thinking I should bring them up together with it. Maybe I'll go back to getting my ALK back where it was then start the 2 part.

Perhaps I don't understand what this two part is. It's just a replenisher? not used for raising? or you can use it to raise as well?
 
It replaces and raises Alkalinity and Calcium. Calcium + Magnesium and other elements are usually in Part A, while Part B is usually the Alk supplement. Over the years various companies have perfected the two parts with the idea being to replenish the chemicals that are typically used up by corals in a reef tank.

Your tank has a daily usage of Alk and Calcium plus you want to raise it. If your daily usage is, say, 10ml of Alk and you dose 10ml of Alk daily you won't get anywhere.

You need to read those articles, it's critical to understand the balance. You keep saying you lost Alk and you need to get it back up. You in fact lost both Alk and Calcium but you are only noticing the Alk drop because it's easier to see in our tests. Don't dose just one, dose equal parts A & B when raising it up. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Perth_reefer
Temperature fluctuations for SPS
Replies
3
Views
92
Perth_reefer
Perth_reefer
Perth_reefer
Temperature fluctuation for SPS
Replies
3
Views
125
Reefing102
Reefing102
K
SPS Pest?!
Replies
10
Views
979
griss
griss
vlangel
75g Lurking danger and Leafy Seadragons
6 7 8
Replies
141
Views
6K
vlangel
vlangel
K
Help: SPS peeling strangely.
Replies
5
Views
701
griss
griss
Back
Top