birds nest issues

[Douglas]

I seem to always have problems keeping birds nest coral. I get frags to grow, and turn it into a nice colony, then they start to die, from the inside out, what up with that?

[ScubaSteve]

Ahh, ya... This is the cruel joke if birdnest corals. They die from the inside put because the outer branches shade the inside so much that the polyps on the inside die. Unfortunately, if there is anything that can cause an infection, or if the colony has border line health to start with, the areas that are dying undergo RTN and the whole colony goes up like a lit match.

I had a colony the size of a cantaloupe die exactly this way, though I have no idea what caused the RTN. Unfortunately once this starts there isn't often much you can do to stop it. I highly recommend raging up the colony to save the living parts and get rid of the diseased. Start fresh. I found that once my birdsnest started rTNing a whole bunch if other colonies began to follow suit; once I got rid of the dying bits of the birdsnest all was right again in the world.

Also check your alkalinity. I've found that alk swings are usually the trigger fro all of this. I can now tell when my alk is low based on what the birdsnest is doing.

[ScubaSteve]

I also forgot to mention: give them good flow. If flow, with nutrients, can get to the inner branches the polyps on the inner branches will be healthier and pathogens will have a harder time taking root as they'll be blasted with water. Again, this is what has worked for me.

[fencer]

+1 on the flow
they are more sensitive to nitrate spikes than stags
- I found it easier to do a little pruning when this SPS gets large

[Maverick00]

i had my frag go up a few weeks ago. i snapped off what i could and was left with 2 separate branches about an inch long. One ended up kicking the bucket and the other seems to be holding strong, however the base is completely whited out but im hoping it doesn't go any further.