Why cant i keep birdsnest alive...

[JMLewis]

Its pretty frustrating to me, it seems like the only coral i cant keep alive is birdsnest...pink to be more specific.

I purchased a mini colony at RAP in October and about a week ago i started noticing tissue receding around the polyps and it looks like its got about a week to go before its done for.

Also i have a new ponape birdsnest thats about a month old and isnt dying but still hasnt started to encrust. Ive tried moving it from bottom to mid to top and it still doesnt look happy.

EVERYTHING else is doing amazing, millepora has tripled in size in the past 6 months, all of my acros are encrusted and growing VERY fast. Ive even started buying cheap browned out acros for fun just to see what i get. One of em happened to end up being a tricolor poclipora and is beautiful now...so i just dont get it.

I have around 20 different types of sps and a few lps and everything else looks great.

Parameters:
CA 420
ALK 9.6
MG 1380
Po4 0.0 according to hanna tester
PH 8.0 - 8.25 varries throughout the day

I run bio-pellets, carbon and gfo. I run 2 x 250w radiums 9.5 hours a day. Alk and cal are dosed via dosing pumps 8 times a day. All topoff water is via RO/DI unit with ATO unit.

Im begining to think im just cursed with this type of coral which is a shame since its one of my favorites. Any insight on this would be great.

 

[pusanpa]

Have you had problem with dosing pump before? Birdsnest don't like Alk swing IME.
Another factor could be getting stung by other coral.

 

[matt888]

This doesn't help you much but I can't seem to keep a birdsnest either. Other SPS encrust and grow with nice polyp extension etc. Green birdsnest grows for a while but the neon green disappears, followed by poor polyp extension, and browning with even some bleaching mixed in. Supposed to be the easiest to keep, yet the hardest for me! I run 250w radiums, dosing pumps for Alk and Ca, RO/DI also! I'm about to write a green birdsnest off the list forever!!!

 

[MBIETZ]

I have had my ponape birdsnest for about a year and it has never encrusted but it still doing great and growing fast.

 

[Leena2674]

Where have you been placing the birdsnest in your tank? Mine does best a bit lower than other SPS, or with some shade (my large green birdsnest is under the overflow box). I have a 55g and only run T5 HOs, with high flow and a LOT of LR. Everything I have is doing very well (acros, montis, seriatopora, pocillopora, as well as LPS), with the exception of a couple chalices that I am slowly bringing back to the land of the living.

 

[daveonbass]

Under my t5s the birdsnests I have grow amazingly...the best in the tank. The other corals however are very slow to show and positive growth

 

[Finland]

In my tank, b-nest is down low. It is a pink w/purple polyp and is almost the size of a soccer ball. I had it higher and ran into problems with bleaching. I also have a shorter photoperiod than you do. Maybe it is getting too much light?

 

[Reef Bass]

IME, birdsnest can be the canary in a coal mine. They can grow quickly and easily when they're happy, but if something is off, they tend to be the first to go. And they go quickly.

I have noticed that low magnesium can upset them. A stable alk is important as always.

 

[daveonbass]

Again, that's odd to me. My tank has gone through so many fluctuations lately and where every other coral has suffered, the birdsnests have been growing strong...I just assumed that it meant that they were the easiest sps to keep.

 

[cobra9]

9.5 hours of halides is a lot.

I only run my halides like 6 hours.

 

[am3gross]

Maybemyou are over qualified to keep birdsnest!! Lol.. I have no help for you really. I just bought 2 birdsnests my self.. Middle of the tank.. 250s for 6 hours and power compacts the rest..NI have one pretty close to flow and the other is in the middle of the tank...

 

[Allmost]

Mine don't encrusted neither, but grow from the tips fairly fast.

Any monties in the tank? How are they doing ? I would suggest testing for k+ as well, when it's low, my birds nest and monties are first to show stress signs.

 

[DaveG99]

I have the same problem. Green birds nest is fine but the pink dies. I have tried two different frags and both died. Its very frustrating

 

[frontosa14]

Same problem here as well, but with both pink and green. Acros and montis grow quickly, same for lps. I always assumed it was tied to low magnesium, but it's possible that a long halide photoperiod (10 hours) could be a contributing factor.

 

[Alex T.]

Where have you been placing the birdsnest in your tank? Mine does best a bit lower than other SPS, or with some shade (my large green birdsnest is under the overflow box). I have a 55g and only run T5 HOs, with high flow and a LOT of LR. Everything I have is doing very well (acros, montis, seriatopora, pocillopora, as well as LPS), with the exception of a couple chalices that I am slowly bringing back to the land of the living.

+1. I almost had to hide it from the light to get it to show its' pink colors and nice polyp extension. It grew well for me (to about the size of a volleyball) but I never had a pink or green birdsnest encrust. I think most just grow without putting down a stalk.

 

[kaserpick]

I never had a BN encrust either. In my 65g, my green BN grew to about twice the size of a softball, but it still wobbled in the flow. Like others have mentioned, I'd drop 'em low and keep 'em low.

 

[bwig333]

I can't help determine the problem but am eager to keep up with this, because I have the same problem. I have green right now and have noticed, what I want to call some sort of tissue necrosis(not sure RTN/STN). I am not sure though It could be bleaching, although it is starting from the base of the coral and is moving up. The top half of this coral looks beautiful but the bottom is another story. Anyways anxious to see replies you get

 

[Allmost]

they are very sensitive to nippers and crabs too, make sure nothing it stressing it.