Pink birdsnest placement

[Hurley12]

I have a pink birdsnest, well used to be pink anyway, and I can't seem to get it back to its original pink color. Its been in the tank about a month and have had it at all levels in the tank. It is almost brown with maybe slight hue of pink, but nowhere near the pink it was when I got it.

Here is info on my tank.

24x24x18 cube

250 watt MH 2x24 actinic T5 (20K XM on MH)

Pan world 50px-x on oceans motions

2 K1 Hydor pumps

ASM mini skimmer

Ca 390
Mg 1250
Alk 11
Phos 0

[Hurley12]

^anybody?

[BLKTANG]

Get your calcium up,& blast it with light.


Also what r u checking PO4 with?

[oosurfin]

with a dkh of 11 it might be suppressing your CA a little. try upping your ca and dropping your dkh to 9.5-10. then put that birds nest right up top in the high light. but also remember corals take time to adjust to a new tank, some times they brown out a little and come back looking better than before, depends on if it wild or from someones tank or any number of things. po4 could be your issue as well, something to look into if you have a calcium reactor set up or it could just be from feeding.

[Froggy]

I have had the best success under moderate lighting with my pink birdsnest. Mine is just off of the bottom of the tank under 2 X 175 watt Iwasaki 15 K's and 2 X 110 watt actinic VHO's. Is yours wild or tank raised ? Your parameters look ok to me. Maybe your piece browned out from the stress of adjusting to new water chemistry. Give it time and if the conditions are right it will color back up for you.

Here is an older pic of mine under moderate lighting.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v252/robertsonjoe/DSC00510.jpg

[toothman]

Birdnest:
1. they do not encrust their base much.
2. they will have more intense pink-purple polyp color if in bright light.
3. the thin type grows rather quickly.
4. hearty and easy to frag.
5. I have had better success keeping dkh around 8 and ca 400 to 425.
6. I also do not think they like the cleanest of waters.

[Hurley12]

Im checking PO4 with a salifert test kit. Ok I will get my calcium up and give it sometime and see what ahppens.

[jay2525]

mine has done much better closer to the bottom as well...

[Hurley12]

So some say close to the bottom others say top, so I guess that means its a matter of opinion and there is no correct answer wonderful. I guess I will just wait it out.

[toothman]

I do not have a picture but I have placed 6 frags from the same colony in my tank decending from 6" to 25" and the color is more intense toward the top. "in the variety that I have, it looks just like the picture above".

[Serioussnaps]

sounds like you are nutrient rich....and underskimmed

[Hurley12]

Ok that is a possibility I am running an ASM mini, and my fish consist of 2 clowns, sixline wrasse, and a firefish which i feed everday. total gallons on my tank I am guessing is around 60 sump and all. Should I cut back on the feeding or is there another way to get rid of a nutrient rich enviroment?

[BLKTANG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9924293#post9924293 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hurley12
Ok that is a possibility I am running an ASM mini, and my fish consist of 2 clowns, sixline wrasse, and a firefish which i feed everday. total gallons on my tank I am guessing is around 60 sump and all. Should I cut back on the feeding or is there another way to get rid of a nutrient rich enviroment?

Skim wet.

[Hurley12]

yes

[StrategicReef]

Hey mine has been brown for 9 months since day 1... I guess what I am trying to say, don't expect it to color up in a month. Why do we go to LFS and don't see one like Froggy's picture often. They are easy to grow and hard to keep color in my opinion.. My went from a little fork to a baseball size now.

Not enough light will brown and nutrient will brown it. My acros has improved better color but the birdsnest just won't.. Nutrient seems to be the problem right now, I am trying to reduce my nitrates.

[Hurley12]

Sounds like that may be my problem as well, the growth on it is great it started from golfball size and is now softball size and I have had it since late february, but I just can't get the color on it I want. So how exactly to I get the nutrients out of my water? Water changes and myabe cut back on my feeding?