Birdsnest has black branches?

So i figured i'd just go ahead and make a thread on something that i've been wondering about for a week. At the base of my birdsnest it has some black branches which appear to either be dead or like that from fragging. This is a large coral, not a frag and i think the lfs could of used some of the branches for frags. The black has no polyps or anything, so that's why im thinking its dead. Would it be ok if i just brake them off or will they regrow back?

 

Hrm, are you sure it's not algae growing on branches with low flow going to them?

 

i know one branch has a bit of GHA that i need to frag off but that's towards the middle of the of the coral, between the vortech and the mj1200 i dont see how its not getting enough flow, its pretty much right in front of the vortech as thats the only spot i could get the coral to stay without falling but ill be moving it once i get some epoxy.

 

Well as the saying goes; when in doubt, toss it out. I don't hesitate to toss or frag off something if it looks dead. I hope someone with more SPS knowledge chimes in.

 

theres like 4 or 5 like this down at the bottom, so thats why i had originally thought it was from the fragging but now im leaning more towards its dead, i also have one small branch thats completly white, and the tips are white, but that has now been confirmed that is because of growth

 

I would leave them on. The entire skeleton of your coral is dead. It's all just the building blocks of a stony coral. I've heard that when birdsnest gets big enough it will start to grow back through the old dead skeleton forming an even tighter maze.

The bottom of most my acros always dies off. It gets no light under the bigger more spread out branches.

 

ok, i guess ill just leave them then.