green birdsnest not so green anymore

[saltySamurai]

I have a healthy green birdsnest - I believe it is a seriatapora caliendrum - about a softball in size. I've had it for about a year, towards the top of my tank, under a 14k 250 MH, 2 T5 actinics, and 1 T5 super actinic. It's had a nice light / pale green color. lately, it is started to turn mostly brown. I have done 2 things to lighting lately - 1 of the actinics is now closer to it and the overall actinic cycle is longer. Of course, the bulbs are still aging. And water hasn't been as stable as it had been in the past (pH is swinging a little more and is generally lower 8.0-8.1 instead of 8.15-8.25, Ca has gone down - 320 - but is now back up - 420). Any ideas what would make this guy happy again (and not so brown!)?

 

[chuckreef]

Lower it. Probably getting too much light.

 

[adambirk]

i think it is the lack of stability that is browning it not the light. it is under the same lighting as before just a little closer to 1 attinic bulb right. i dont see that making a huge difference and if it was light i would expect to see a bleaching or lightening of the coral.

birds nest are famous for not handling swings and changes well. in fact i use my pink birdsnest as my indicator coral in my tank. it is very sensitive and will react faster than any other coral if something is a little out of wack.

also what is your nutrients? browning is usually from high nutrients ie..p04 and no3.

any p04 over .04 in my tank and my pink birdsnest will take on a slight brown tint. nothing that anyone else would probably notice but when i see what it looks like with 0 po4(HANNA) and .04 it is a difference.

this would be my first guess but without any info dont know. but unstable perameters deffinently dont help either.

 

[twon8]

what about alkalinity? you mention bringing up calcium, how? did you bring up the alkalinity equally?

 

[dirland]

+1 what is you alkalinity levels. Did you add fast or slow?

 

[saltySamurai]

po4 and nitrate are undetectable - always have been. My anemone has usually been my PO4 indicator - when he starts moving, usually the PO4 is high.

alk swing is another thing. if birdsnest are sensitive to alk swings, this is probably the problem. I started mid-Dec at 10, and then it inched slowly down over 2 weeks to an all time low of 7 on Dec 31. I finally did something about it and added a KH buffer to get it back to 10 in one dosing. since then, the alk is been between 9 and 11 (once going to 12). once the Ca reactor was running (Jan 26), alk has been between 9-10. I also had low Mg around the same time (1200), and brought it back up (1330) over the course of 3 weeks.

If it was the alk, I assume the color will come back after time (and stabilization)?

 

[twon8]

Alkalinity is the single most important parameter when dealing with sps this side of salinity. Yes, the color should return with some stability of alkalinity.