How Long Does It Take A Birdnest To Get Pink??

[Hendersonracing]

I just got my birdnest colony and its white???HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO TURN PINK??? I have it under 3- 400watt mh?

[dfs/la2]

Hendersonracing,

Thank you for your post. We recommend placing it at the bottom of the tank initially to get it acclimated to your lighting. Our concern is that the 1200 watt metal halide light that you have may be too strong for this coral. The corals at our coral farm are kept under 20,000k 400 watt metal halide and therefore you may have to keep this specimen at the bottom or under a ledge in your tank. As for the length of time before it begins to show color, this can be anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.


Ginger K.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

[Hendersonracing]

actually I was wrong here is my lighting spec:

Three 250 watt 10,000K double-ended HQI metal halide lamps
Four 96 watt True Actinic 03 Blue square-pin compact fluorescent lamps
Four 1 watt Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow 470nm LED lamps
One external HQI metal halide ballast with on/off switch, 12-foot lamp cord and 6-foot power cord
Two on/off switches and two 12-foot power cords (one for two True Actinic 03 Blue compact fluorescent lamps and one for two Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow 470nm LED lamps)
Sleek, anodized black-aluminum housing
Highly-polished reflectors
Built-in cooling fan
Acrylic compact fluorescent and glass lens covers
Mounting Legs included
Dimensions: 72" x 15" x 2.75"

[dfs/la2]

Hendersonracing,

Thank you for your reply. Your lighting system seems to be ideal for this coral. When acclimating corals, we generally recommend leaving the aquarium dark for the first day, then slowly increasing the amount of light on successive days. If you have done this, we feel that it should acclimate well over the next week or so, though it may take longer to regain its natural coloration.

Nate M.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

[Hendersonracing]

I left It dark for the 1st day...now Its 1/2 way up...tomorrow I will put it all the way up!!

My othere sps need alot of light so I don't want to cut them off for to long!!!

You guys are great thanks!

[dfs/la2]

Hendersonracing,

Thank you for your post. We hope for continued success in acclimating your coral. In general, we recommend that light be increased gradually, one hour per day, until your normal photoperiod has been reached.

Nate M.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

[Hendersonracing]

thanks alot...I'll keep you posted!

[Hendersonracing]

well my birdsnest never turned pink....It was a dark brown color when I got it and It never came back....anyone else ever had this problem????also its on the top of the tank with 3 250 watt mh is this to much light for these guys???

[dfs/la2]

Hendersonracing,

We are sorry to hear that the coral still does not seem to be improving. We ask that you please PM, e-mail, or call us at 1-800-334-3699 with your order information so that we can arrange compensation.

Mike S.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

[dfs/la2]

Hendersonracing,

A PM response has been sent to you in regards to this matter.

Mike S.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

[Hendersonracing]

your mailbox is full:

a few questions....
as you can see from my file I have bought alot from Foster & Smith
I have had a big problem with acros for some reason someone told me it was mabe because they were wild colonies????Im not sure

my water parameters are really good

calcium 420-supplied with a calcium reactor

ph-8.3 constant even at night with a reverse lighting from a refugium

alk 9-10dkh

magnesium 1350 added monthly

po4-0

[dfs/la2]

Hendersonracing,

Although most of the acroporas are harvested from the wild, they do undergo a process of medication and quarantine. From what we can tell, your water parameters and lighting are sufficient to keep this specimen. We are concerned at this time that the coral is deceased. We apologize that we do not have any further suggestions regarding caring for acropora corals in your aquarium.

Mike S.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

[mhummel]

I bought a some digi from another local reefer, one orange and one purple.
The orange is doing fine and the purple turned brown on the way home and never has come back to purple. There are still polyps and still seems to be growing slowly but maybe time will help.
Do you see polyps on your coral?

[tonyh67]

I have a thin branch birdnest from the LFS and a thick branch from DFS, both were brown for the longest time under 250W 6500K bulbs. I switched to 10000K and they turned pink within a few weeks, they are 6-8" beneath the surface and the pendant is 6" above the waterline (bulbs being a few inches higher yet).

I also have an Indigo digi that remainded brown until I moved it right up close, 4-5" below the surface.

[Hendersonracing]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9252537#post9252537 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mhummel
I bought a some digi from another local reefer, one orange and one purple.
The orange is doing fine and the purple turned brown on the way home and never has come back to purple. There are still polyps and still seems to be growing slowly but maybe time will help.
Do you see polyps on your coral?

yes its got polyps but they are brown!

[Hendersonracing]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9252987#post9252987 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tonyh67
I have a thin branch birdnest from the LFS and a thick branch from DFS, both were brown for the longest time under 250W 6500K bulbs. I switched to 10000K and they turned pink within a few weeks, they are 6-8" beneath the surface and the pendant is 6" above the waterline (bulbs being a few inches higher yet).

I also have an Indigo digi that remainded brown until I moved it right up close, 4-5" below the surface.


I actually lowered the birdsnest last night thinking it may have to much light?????I keep the water about 80 with my chiller?

[GSMguy]

i have a few wild colonys from fiji in my tank they grow very slowly and need tons of light and flow the trick is to hit them with allot of flow from a circulation pump like a tunze hydor or seio

[Hendersonracing]

I have 3 seio 2600's

[GSMguy]

time and lots of light everything happens slower on the wild caught colonys

[Hendersonracing]

yeah but mine are losing tissue for some reason?

[GSMguy]

at the base of the coral or at the tips?

[Hendersonracing]

at the base...these are just my colonies....when I got them they had alot of tissue and had good pe now they have no pe and its starting to rtn from the bottom? this is the 3rd colony that went down hill I have a few sps frags that have nice color and pe, but the colonies have dwendled...they are on top of the rocks with 3 seio 2600 right on them.. could it be to much flow?

[GSMguy]

could be

[Hendersonracing]

this is one I got from Foster and Smith 2 months ago

http://usera.imagecave.com/hendersonracing23/aaaaa032.jpg


this is a frag right below it bought about 3 months ago

http://usera.imagecave.com/hendersonracing23/aaaaa034.jpg

[GSMguy]

the one in the top pic seems to have no tissue left am i seeing it correctly

[Hendersonracing]

yes, after 2 months it started losing tissue now its bleaching from the bottom up?

[GSMguy]

i would say that one in the top pic is a goner if there is any peice of it with lots of tissue cut it off and frag it so you can try and salvage a peice of it

[Hendersonracing]

its a goner theres not much tissue...just like another wild colony I had I tried to frag at that point it was to late!

[Hendersonracing]

thats foster & smith for taking care of me on this issue!!!

[jaredloo]

Are you making sure to dip when you get these corals?

Also, IME, wild colonies really need slow acclimation. They take a lot longer to become acustomed to their new surrounding environment. I would give it a try again but leave it lower in the tank for longer. Make sure to dip.

I don't know that I would frag that colony just yet, I'd leave it for a couple months to see if it rebounds. I had a colony completely go white on me, it retracted it's tissue and shedded some, algea grew over it, then all of a sudden it started coming back and the algea fell off.

[Hendersonracing]

cool thanks...I think Im going to add frags and start there..