dying birds nest

Have you checked your parameters?

 

I'm not having any luck with sps in my 90. Its always when my nitrates are up is when they die.

 

trates ad po4 are sps killers.

 

If you need a temporary fix to keep the birdnest alive, place in a clean container with heater, flow lighting and fresh SW. Add a little of the tank water and a rock or touch of sand. You can keep it in the container for 3 days max without light. As long as there is still tissue on it, you may be able to save it. Good luck and test more often for PO4 and trates!

 

Birds nests nuke REAL quick. I've lost a couple over the past few years. Softball sized colonies gone over night. They respond even worse to being moved or trying to cut off living pieces from the rest of the dying colony. I've saved many an acro, but never had luck with these.

Tell us more about your system. Have you been using GFO? Which phosphate test kit are you using? What's your water change schedule like? Is your source water free of nitrates/phosphates? Are you using RO/DI?

 

I've not had the same experience as you Andy with birdsnest. I've saved parts by doing what I suggested so it just goes to show...it just depends/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/blink.gif

 

Yah that's not a method I've tried before, so I hope you're right and I'll give it a shot (hopefully won't have to!) next time I have a colony go on me!

 

You can always still run GFO, w/o a media chamber/reactor (until you get one) - its just not as effective.

 

Yup, gfo is critically important for keeping an SPS tank (or some method of phosphate control). I used to run gfo and carbon mixed together in a filter media bag that I would drop into my filter sock where the tank drains into the sump.

 

A lot of those phosphate beads are aluminum silicate, they are effective at absorbing phosphates very quickly (quick reduction in phosphates is stressful for sps too), the problem with them is that they release phosphates back into the water after just 24-48 hours, essentially making them useless. GFO will actually bind and hold the phosphates until the media is removed and thrown away. You can control the rate that phosphates are removed with GFO by using smaller quantities and then increasing the amount used over the course of several weeks, at which point you can throw a 2 month supply in and forget about it till then.