Birdsnest prob.

[Dhayden]

OK so I have a pile of frags. This particular one has never really polyped out. Now it has a brownish alage growing on the top left tip. I am wondering most on placement. It is literally the clost of any to a 250w 14k se MH. The MH is about 10" above the water in a mini stealth. I have a few birds nest int he tank. Some ORA green, that has slowly lost its green, and some new aqua colored that has lost some of its color as well. Its the only frag type I havev not doing well. The tank just got a chiller a few days ago. I was having temp swings of prob 5 or 6 degrees. thought maybe that was it. Tank used to average 80, now its 77. Maybe the swing was too drastic. I included a few pics. All tank parameters are right in line.
Alk 9 - 10
PH 8.3
Ca 375-425
Mg 1200

this one shows placement in the 45g

 

[SeaMonster]

those are some sweet frags man.

do you have lots of flow? the reason I ask, the frogspawn looks happy which could mean you have low flow

 

[Dhayden]

Frog spwan is in a sort of "cave" area. In the 45g I got 450gph out of the sump, a Koralia 2 (600 gph), and a modded 1250, (1000gph or so). Boat load of flow, 50x or so +. Almost too much for the lps in the tank. And its right in line with the 1250. Tis why I am in a quandry.

 

[russellaqua]

Birdnests are among the most fickle of all corals I find. If you're losing color you might want to add some supplemental actinics or change to 20000K MH bulbs. Most aquaculturists seem to use 20000K bulbs, so corals kept under lighting with less blue spectrum will slowly lose color. The change in light spectrum can also burn the tips of some corals. You may have had that happen here.

 

[Dhayden]

I have the 250w 14k, as well as 2 - 24w, and 2 65w atinics. I was wondering if it is a little "burned" as well. The guy I got it form had it in the back of his tank and looked like it needed more light, although the polyps were extended. I know birdsnest need high light though. But the ORA stuff was almost as green as the catspaw I have that is neon, it was more minty colored though. It is growing like a weed , but has definatley lost its color. I am hoping the old temp swings were that problem.

 

[kevinpo]

How long have you had the coral and what type of lighting/placement did the coral come from? Changes in SPS coloration are most often due to changes in lighting intensity and/or spectrum. They can take up to six months to adjust. Even running a different type ballast with the same bulb can cause color change in some corals. Placement is also critical as a few inches in elevation can change the lighting intensity.

Regards,
Kevin
PS: I have found that Seriatopora hystrix recovers most quickly if you cut the tips where the algae is growing.

 

[Dhayden]

The intesity it pretty drastic IMO, he had 12k, I have 14k, but his was int he back of a 120, mines is directly under the light in a 45. Its been about 5 weeks or so. Didnt realize it would take a couple months. Then I guess im not worried. What would cause the alage? its only on that piece? Cut it all the way off right before where the alage starts?

Thanks guys

 

[Dhayden]

Also do you think I should move it to a lower area of light. There isnt many in a 3' tank with a mini luminarc. but maybe it should not be in the highest part. I just remembered seeing you tell someone that these were some of the most light needing sps. I also have a purple slimer, right behind that piece that also has never looked great. The green is starting to grow, but the purple has just sat there. What do you think the placement of that should be?

Drew

 

[kevinpo]

Cut it all the way off right before where the alage starts?

Yes. it is not unusual for Seriatopora to have algae start growing on the tips. It happens if they are damaged in some way. I have a S. caliendrum which several years ago did the same thing. I left a couple of tips alone to see if they would recover on their own and the rest I cut back. The ones that were cut recovered in a couple weeks but the ones I left alone took more than six months to grow back.

My guess is they got a little sun burnt from the sudden change in lighting intensity which killed some of the tips. The dead tissue even though it is very small fuels the algae growth (the healthy live tissue defends against algae).

The color change may also be due to shock from the sudden change in lighting intensity. SPS corals only have a couple of defenses against sudden changes in lighting. They either bleach white expelling all their Zooxanthellae, or allow the Zooxanthellae to multiply which turns the coral brown/ish. Both conditions are results of the corals attempt to adapt. They often stop growing during this time for up to six months.

One thing to watch for is continued advance of the algae down the tips after cutting. A healthy coral will regrow the cut area in about 7 days.

Another thing to check is whether you have too much direct constant flow on the tips. This can cause tissue loss also but is easy to correct.

With proper acclimation Seriatopora can be grown just inches below the surface under a 400W 10,000K bulb driven by a HQI ballast and will be a hot pink color.

HTH,
Kevin
PS: I use this coral as an indicator of when to change out my halides. The coral will darken when the bulb needs replacing but most of the other nearby SPS remain unchanged.

 

[kevinpo]

I dug up a couple of old pictures of mine (They're not too clear as they were taken with an old 1.3mp Sony Mavica) .
This one was taken May 2003 and shows the damaged tips which were caused by contact with another coral. It has a weak defense against most Acropora corals.

This picture was taken February 2004:

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Dhayden]

Thanks Kevin, you think I should move it out of the middle for a bit? Or damage is done, might as well let it aclimate on its own time?

 

[kevinpo]

I would leave it in the spot it's in unless the flow is too great.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Dhayden]

So hi flow is no good?

 

[kimo4848]

What k bulbs should we be using on our sps corals? What's the diff between 10k and 20k besides the blueish tint. I was using 20k they burned out and i had 10k to replace them and the tank is so bright now but my wife can't stand looking at it now and she wants me to put the 20k back in. I'm running 2 250w mh on a 120. Can I get some feed back on this.
Thanks
Ken

 

[joker577]

Research has shown that you actually get better growth under 20k's under good conditions

 

[tat2z_21]

So do the lps also do well under the 20k. right now I am running 250w 20k de with 2 96w 50/50. I had all actinics in there but was afraid the spectrum was to blue. I liked the look but was afraid of the effect on the corals0. I have 2 frags of acro and the rest are lps and softies.

 

[pfish]

Waiting for kevinpo's response.

 

[joker577]

LPS are not nearly as light demanding as SPS so you should be fine.

 

[kevinpo]

So hi flow is no good?

High flow is very good for this coral if it is of high quality. Powerheads in general are unable to provide that type of flow unless used in conjunction with some type of wave-maker device. SPS corals do best with a 3-12 second on off surge type flow. A powerhead or surge/pulse type flow with too much velocity can strip the tissue off SPS corals.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[kevinpo]

What k bulbs should we be using on our sps corals?

Hello,
You should use bulbs that look the best to you
In today's market you have many choices of bulb ballast combinations. If you are interested in high growth rates you will want a bulb with a high PAR reading. Corals that are blue or purple will appear more purple under bulbs that have a large spike in the 420nm range and more blue in the 450-460nm range.

Regards,
Kevin