Problem???!!!

Discussion in 'Corals' started by mhattenhauer, Nov 28, 2016.

  1. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    not sure what's going on but my neon green birds nest seems to be losing flesh close to the tips. I'm sure it stems from my step daughter pouring a bunch of food and who knows what else into the tank a couple weeks ago because she was mad at me. Anyway, it started with some stringy white stuff on the tips. I took a turkey baster thinking it was small pieces of mysis from feeding the fish and blew water on it. To my surprise flesh came loose in several spots. I took it out and cut several branches off hoping to help. Any ideas? Getting ready to do a water change shortly.
     
  2. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    Everything else seems to be fine just this birdsnest. My greentip orange birdsnest looks fine.
     
  3. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    All 8.9
    Calcium is 490
    Mag 1475
    Nitrates showing 10
    Phosphate on the Hannah checker showed 0.0 today
    This past Saturday it showed 1.12
     
  4. Kim

    Kim Secretary Staff Member

    Hiya,

    Mag may be a touch high, but I'm not good at giving advice on birdnests. I kill them for some reason.

    Kim/Benton, AR
     
  5. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    The mag has been about the same since I've had it. It grew like crazy for the first 4 months or so now this. I may be ones of those that kill them as well. Lol
     
  6. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Something's weird with the PO4. It doesn't usually go from Zero to Very High in 72 hours. Regardless that PO4 is very high and will make mineralization difficult for SPS. I would recheck it again to see which reading was wrong....Saturday or today. If today's is right I'd run GFO if possible.

    That said if the rest of your corals are ok that's probably not the problem. Birds nest is amongst the hardiest of SPS. Can you see any sign of pests? None of your fish messing with it? Usually when I have had tissue loss due to paramter flux it's started at the base and marched up the coral. Alkalinity that's way high can cause burnt tips but yours is fine. That's really weird.....and frustrating!
     
  7. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    It's very frustrating. I'll check the po4 in a little bit and see. None of the fish are messing with it and I don't see any signs of pests. It's just really weird. The base looks great just the last 1/4-3/8 of an inch of the tips are losing tissue. I don't really trust this Hanna checker.
     
  8. Deton8it

    Deton8it President Staff Member

    Google RTN from tip and STN from tip.
     
  9. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    I checked the po4 again. It is showing 0.00. May have had fingerprints on it Saturday. Reading up on STN now. I am going to dip them just in case it is some pest and one article said it may help with STN. Gonna give it a try.
     
    Deton8it likes this.
  10. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Which Hanna checker do you have low range or ultra low range?

    It is frustrating! Sometimes there is simply no explanation for STN or RTN.
     
  11. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    It's the low range checker. Worse comes to worse since the base looks good I may just cut off the bad branches.
     
  12. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    Think I figured out my problem. A while back I ran out of calibration fluid for my refractometer. Fast forward, I bought a salinity probe for the reefkeeper elite and calibrated it this morning. Put it in the tank and it was showing way low so I thought it was wrong. Then I remembered being out of calibration fluid so I went to the LFS and picked some up. My refractometer was way off. My salinity was at 1.020. Which means the salinity probe for the reefkeeper was right on. Good lord I feel stupid. I don't know if this was the cause of my problem with the birds nest but I'm sure it didn't help.
     
  13. cant you just calibrate your refractometer with rodi?
     
  14. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    Well with my refractometer tank water shows a difference of .007 between calibrating with rodi and the calibration fluid
     
  15. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    There are refractometers than can be calibrated with RO/DI but the vast majority shouldn't be. You want to calibrate the instrument in the range it will be measuring. RO/DI is about as far away from that as possible. Everyone is different though. When calibrated with control solution at 35ppt mine reads 0.00 with RO/DI.
     
  16. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Wow, that's a big error. Mine has never gotten off more than 0.002 before. I'd keep an eye on that sucker. Which LFS carries calibration fluid for refractometers? I've always had to order mine from BRS.
     
  17. Yeah I guess I need some also LOL
     
  18. mhattenhauer

    mhattenhauer RRMAS Supporter

    Reef escapes here in Jonesboro had 1 bottle of the calibration fluid. Running out is one mistake I won't make again.
     
  19. Deton8it

    Deton8it President Staff Member

    I have some you can borrow if you need to test your refractometer.
     

Share This Page