Any advice for Birds Nest Coral

fishmama67

Member
So if I am working with a 55 with about 30# of Kalini rock and my nitrites are at 0, ammonia is 0 and pH is 8.1, then with about three weeks of having 5 chromis and one week with 2 skunk-stripe shrimp, am I as ready as I hope for a couple of Perculas? I don't have any skimmers yet and am running full-spectrum fuorenscent lighting with "Reef Sun 50/50 15watt bulbs" (2) Box says :"Provides high intensity full spectrum illumination, strong in the short wave legnth blue region essential for photosynthetic corals and invert, balnced with 6500K daylight for natural color enhancement." Is that what I want for corals and such or do I "buy" what the fish guy is saying and head for the compact fluorescents with the blue lunar lighting?
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Woa there trigger :D slow down. :)

Is the tank "cycled" yet? You don't want to "Cycle" the tank with any live animals. Instead of subjecting them to that torture why not just use "Deli shrimp".This will FEED the cycle 24/7 and you wont have to waste $$ and kill fish in the process.

Once you see the normal parameter "spikes" and then everything levels off then you can add some "long-term" fish. Think about which fish you want long-term and we can plan when to add which fish. Damsels aren't the best fish to add first (I'm not a damsel fan period but that's another topic).
 

Dragonne

Member
Think about which fish you want long-term and we can plan when to add which fish. Damsels aren't the best fish to add first (I'm not a damsel fan period but that's another topic).

I completely second the Damsels statement. Dont' use them for starters unless you can get rid of them if they survive. I'm stuck with 3 Damsels that are 4+ years old from when I set up my second tank. I can't put any quieter fish in the tank because they are such bullies, and it's a FOWLR! The only reason I have it is for nice, pretty fish. :(
 

fishmama67

Member
I think it is cycled. I had a "brown out" about two weeks ago and my ammonia and nitrates went through the roof. Unfortunately, I did not know about you guys on this fab site and listened to the fish guy and bought "just some cheap chromis" to start the cycle. I did not know you could start it with Deli shrimp! Then (it had been about a week) my brown algae all but disappeared, the ammonia dropped to zero and the nitrates rose to about 25. The pH was at 8.2 for about a week (I was checking it at the fish store every two days as it is free to do it there and I like to snoop and ask questions). Then pH dropped to 7.8 and I did a 25% water change. Nitrates were at 50 when I went to the store next (about 4 days). One of the fish guys said I was over feeding so I should stop the food for a couple of days. He also recommended I buy a couple of shrimp to help clean up the water and sand and such. He said that overfeeding was probably the main reason I had high nitrates but normal ammonia. The fish were not eating it all and the food was rotting. So I stopped food for two days, bought 2 skunk stripes and the ammonia stayed down, the nitrates lowered to 25.
meanwhile, I had discovered this site and started "listening" to you guys. I am very glad I did and am sorry :( (to my poor fish) that I did not find you sooner.
Thursday was when I stopped the food, and my hubby (the softy- feed-the-poor-darlings- they-are-hungry guy:hammerhea ) discovered one of the Chromis stuck to the power circ pump dead as a doornail:tears: . I went to the chatroom (lounge) and 'talked" with someone who recommended I stop relying on the fish store guys to check my water so I bought my own Ammonia and nitrite test kit. I also found out that the fish guys were full of s&^t:rollingey about the nitrates being what you worry about intstead of the nitrites:banghead: so I bought that kit too. WHen I tested yesterday afternoon, the ammonia was 0 and the nitrites were 0 too.
As my "chat buddy" as well as you have been pointing out, I really should slow WAY down and be much more patient.
AFter all, I DO plan on this tank lasting a very long time and so should take a very long time to get it up, running and happy.
Patience has never been a very strong quality in my personality butI am certainly not wanting to make these poor critters suffer for my impatience. I have the rest of my life right? So I promise I will slow down.:bluenod: I thank you very much for your help and will keep checking in and asking more questions.
 

baggsy01

Member
i recently purchased a birds next coral, it is white though and not pink, i have put it at the very top of my tank about 4-5" away from the surface of my 20 high, are the polyps suposed to be coming out of it? cos i havent seen any yet, just the pointy spikes..any ideas?
 

steved13

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
i recently purchased a birds next coral, it is white though and not pink, i have put it at the very top of my tank about 4-5" away from the surface of my 20 high, are the polyps suposed to be coming out of it? cos i havent seen any yet, just the pointy spikes..any ideas?

The polyps should come out, it might take some time to acclimate though.
 

Jerry

New Member
I would suggest cyclopeeze. Make sure that it is placed on the rocks located at least at the upper region of the tank and exposed to the lights.
 

baggsy01

Member
it was white when i bought it, am i suposed to be seeing any polyps extending atall because i cant :/ and i was told it was fine and would colour up a pinky colour if i put it right at the top of the tank which i have and it hasnt coloured up atall and i cant see any polyps extending on it and the tips seem to be joining eachother at night time with a really thin stringy like substance..im not sure if it is dead or alive right now as i dont know what to look for? could my LFS have sold it to me dead as it what white?
 

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
White as in typing paper white? If so that sounds bad to me.

Woohoo Matt has tapatalk back
 

baggsy01

Member
yes i would say its basically typing paper white.. i bought it this way too, do you think it's at the point of no return? and are there any signs of it being dead/decaying like lokking as if its melting or anything i should keep an eye out for?
 

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
Do u see any signs of polyps? Little fuzzies on it?

Woohoo Matt has tapatalk back
 

baggsy01

Member
:( maybe i'll just give it a few more weeks and see if it perks up abit.. i hope it does cos i seem to have no luck with corals apart from a huge colony of zoas which are thriving
 

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
sold white on an sps coral is a real bad sign. did it smell fishy when you put it in? The only solid white sps ive seen is a dead sps. you have pics?
 

baggsy01

Member
DSCN1676.JPG
hope this helps, shame about the 50kb limit i managed to get a really big picture of it too and 50kb makes the image tiny with my camera but this is what it has looked like the past 10 days..
 

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
Phewee dude. From my phones view it looks dead.

Woohoo Matt has tapatalk back
 

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
I'd tell em u had some serious reefers look at it n it's doa. Depending on the response u have the choice on where u spend ur next thousand dollars

Woohoo Matt has tapatalk back
 
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