pink birds nest problem

birch

New member
I have had my pink birds nest coral frag for 6 months now and it has tripled in size. For the past month it has lost some tissue at the base (about 1/2 inch up from the base). All my other sps are doing fine. Is this coral supposed to encrust like all my other frags have done? What could be the problem? It has sprouted new branches and was doing fantastic. Here are some stats for my tank.

75 gallon with tek 6x54 watt t5 - I just repaced my 10 month old bulbs today.
cal - 440
alk - 8.5
mag - 1300
nitrate - 0
phosphate - 0
vortech mp20 - maybe need more flow?
eheim 1262 return


This coral is almost half way up the tank in a medium flow level.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
What is your ph? Birdsnest are delicate and are usually the first to go. Mine bleached on me while all the others where doing great then i realized my ph was low.

Also, probably wont need too much more flow. They like lower light and flow
 
your probably not getting as much light to the base as you were.because of the new growth.i have the same thing on mine.been that way for about 2 years.
 
Thanks for the responses. I forgot to post my ph...it seems to be always steady at 8.3. I test it once a week. I will test it more often for the time being to make sure there are no abnormal drops.

So does this coral not encrust at the base like my other sps frags?
 
My birdnest never encrusted much. Just a tiny bit on the base, and it turned white but still has polyps. I figured it was because of the lack of shade. It grows so fast now, I have to chip it with my mag float everytime I clean the glass because if I don't it will take over the front glass!

I have tiny pieces of birdnest all over the sandbed.. meh, it grows so fast.
 
They don't seem to encrust, they grow alot of branches to grab on to surrounding objects.Mine likes med. to strong light And as much indirect flow as I can give it.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone...based on your responses I believe I have a healthy and growing birds nest.
 
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