Bird's nest shedding polyps! Help!

[Jova]

I just added this bird's nest last night. It's about 6-7 inches in diameter. I noticed tonight that it is shedding off it's pink polyps, and is losing it's color due to the lack of polyps in certain areas. Can anyone tell me what is going on here? I had a small powerhead pointed in it's direction, which I moved when I noticed the shedding. What do I need to do? Here are two pics, the first being when I added the bird's nest last night, and the second showing the polyp shedding. Thanks in advance for any replies!

Last night...
<a href="http://s536.photobucket.com/albums/ff322/welovefoo/?action=view&current=offalyssascam11-14-08024.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff322/welovefoo/offalyssascam11-14-08024.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Tonight...
<a href="http://s536.photobucket.com/albums/ff322/welovefoo/?action=view&current=offalyssascam11-14-08108Large.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff322/welovefoo/offalyssascam11-14-08108Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Capt_Cully]

You've got something commonly nicknamed RTN, rapid tissue necrosis. Your coral is greatly stressed and shedding its tissues and polyps. Or...Dying. I've seen an entire colony die in a matter of hours.

Do do list if you wanna save it:
Check ALL water parameters immediately
Perform water change if anything is off
Run carbon or GFO
Move coral down if it's too close to the light
turn intense lighting off (i.e. halides)
try fragging a healthy part of the colony (some alive is better than all dead)


I'm sure theres a few other things people can suggest, but if you wanna save it, GIT A MOVE ON!

[Jova]

I tested everything, and there were a few small discrepencies, ph was 7.8, temp 76, calcium 380ppm, 30ppm nitrate. I dosed some ph buffer and calcium and did a 20% wc and moved the bird's nest to the bottom of the tank. It's lost nearly all of it's polyps by now though. Is there anything else I should do, or should I just wait a while as to not stress it out any further by more drastic changes?

[Canadian]

I hate to tell you this but that looks like it's a gonner no matter what measures you take. You might be able to frag a tiny piece with nothing but healthy tissue left but from the state of the coral in the last picture it looks like the frag would be around 1/2" or less.

[scubajim]

also i didn't see it listed in your parameters but whats your alk at? Thats very important for sps corals

[Capt_Cully]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13752897#post13752897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Canadian
I hate to tell you this but that looks like it's a gonner no matter what measures you take. You might be able to frag a tiny piece with nothing but healthy tissue left but from the state of the coral in the last picture it looks like the frag would be around 1/2" or less.

Unfortunately, I concur. It might be time to pull a last ditch effort and frag what you can. As I said before, some is better than none. Sorry, bummer man.

[SoundsFishy2me2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13752897#post13752897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Canadian
I hate to tell you this but that looks like it's a gonner no matter what measures you take. You might be able to frag a tiny piece with nothing but healthy tissue left but from the state of the coral in the last picture it looks like the frag would be around 1/2" or less.

+2 sorry but I think they are right. However at this point with that much RTN I don't think frags will be viable you might get a few 1/4" pieces. On most SPS corals, WAIT until you see algae growing on the skeleton before tossing it. Lower it away from the high light but still keep goog flow over it. Good luck but I think it's RIP for it.

BTW 30ppm nitrate is very high. Consider a nitrate reactor or dosing vodka or a nitrate media like purgen in a bag from seachem to get them down. Water changes alone is a tough way to reduce nitrate levels.

[flyyyguy]

start cutting if you hvent already. Its the ony chance you have of saving anything.

recently wild caught??

[Mykel Obvious]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13752755#post13752755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jova
I tested everything, and there were a few small discrepencies, ph was 7.8, temp 76, calcium 380ppm, 30ppm nitrate. I dosed some ph buffer and calcium and did a 20% wc and moved the bird's nest to the bottom of the tank. It's lost nearly all of it's polyps by now though. Is there anything else I should do, or should I just wait a while as to not stress it out any further by more drastic changes?

:eek1:

Ok, all of those are off IMO... low pH, low temp, slightly low calcium and high nitrates... what about Phosphates, Magnesium and (as scubajim asked) Alk ? If you have 30ppm Nitrates, I'd bet your PO4 is high as well

I hate to say it, but I agree with the others... probably a gonner... if you can find any areas that still have a complete covering of flesh, then cut them and glue them to a small piece of live rock and hope for the best

I'd also think that flyyyguy is right and that this is a wild collected specimen... one suggestion is to go aquacultured on future purchases as AC'd corals are already adapted to captive life... maricultured and wild collected corals CAN be kept, but water parameters are even more important in that case

I would also suggest not adding anything new until you get all your parameters under control and in the suggested ranges... my guess is that all of the ones you listed out of spec stressed this coral beyond the breaking point

Take your time, read some posts on the chemistry forum and get the tank in order, then give it a go again later... water parameters are key in keeping SPS alive and healthy

Good luck and let us know if you are able to save any of it

[Jova]

Well, I did everything that I could, and all of my parameters are pretty square right now, after a small amount of dosing, but here's what the coral looks like right now... Whaddaya guys think? Dead? Toss it out? Leave it in and cross my fingers?

<a href="http://s536.photobucket.com/albums/ff322/welovefoo/?action=view&current=100_0538Large.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff322/welovefoo/100_0538Large.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Jova]

Also, here's a link to the thread I posted listing my current water parameters...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=13761116#post13761116

[ngn8dogg]

sorry to say but It looks dead to me. Did you try fragging it like the others suggested?

[chris4869]

It's gone. I think it's time to siphon your sand.

[scapes]

it sure was pretty though, sorry :(

[Jova]

I didn't try fragging it at all. Soon after the 2nd picture above was taken, I picked it up to move it to a lower spot in the tank, and all of the polyps just fell off, so there wasn't anything left to frag. And Chris4869: what's this about siphoning my sand? I had contacted the store in which I bought the coral and explained the situation, and their store manager called me today and said that he would replace the coral. Great guy... But I'm not going to be going with another one of these. I'll most likely get another lps coral, which I've had great luck with in the past. I just don't think I'm ready to get into the sps yet.

[pkpthrillho]

From the looks of it, you have some high phosphates. Thats probably what killed it off.