Xenia Dying

L

ldreefer

Hey Guys,

Starting a couple of days ago, my Xenia has started looking horrible.

It has never looked like this before and I'm afraid it's dying.

It was my very first coral and I have grown it from a frag, so I'm going to be really sad if I lose it.

I have other soft corals, SPS and LPS that are all doing fine.

My parameters are all good. I checked them right when I noticed the problem and also today.

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Ph: 8.2
Nitrates: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm

Here is a picture of it tonight:
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Any ideas what could be wrong?
 
Check your alk. Usually when my Xenia looks bad the alk is usually out of whack or you alk did a drastic swing either up or down

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You change your bulbs or lighting?


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Here is a pic of it tonight:
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alt="">

It looks like it's shedding? It's dark underneath and it's shedding a layer off that is white. I'm really confused about this thing...
 
I found this on wetwebmedia. I don't know if it applies to your issue, but maybe it will help.

Save the Xenia? - 8/28/03
Hello, I've been having a problem with my xenia. When I first received it, the original xenia colony grew and spread rapidly throughout the tank (and was pulsing). However, over the last month, the xenia has slowly stopped pulsing, no longer extends, and even the small brown polyps at the ends of the stalks look like they are deteriorating.
<predation or water quality likely>
The main xenia stalks have completely shrunken and now all that's left are the individual stalks. The strange part is that everything else in the tank seems to be doing quite well (leather, gorgonian, many mushrooms and polyps) <actually... the four cnidarian groups you just mentioned easily make the top 20 list of most aggressive corals regarding noxious exudations. Your Xenia may very well be suffering from their aggression if your water change schedule and or chemical filtration has been light. Weekly water changes and small weekly/monthly changes of carbon are ideal> and I've gotten coralline algae growing on the live rock and back of tank.
<not a fair comparison... these are all completely unrelated organisms with different tolerances>
I realize xenia require phytoplankton/light/iodine - I've recently started adding DT's (the problem started at least 1 month before this, though), Seachem reef iodide, there are 2 x 96 W power compacts (6500 and actinic O3).
<you are mistaken my friend... Xenia cannot even eat phytoplankton. They do not have fully formed digestive systems to eat organismal prey. In fact, they are one of the closest corals to being autotrophic as it gets... getting all they need from light and feeding by absorption>
SG is 1.021-1.022.
<hmmm... the salinity is a little low. For coral keeping, please do stay at full strength seawater 1.024-1.026. A dilution in turn dilutes coral sustenance>
Recently I've seen a white powder that doesn't dissolve when I make up new water w/ instant ocean (didn't see this a few months ago when the bag of salt was opened). I also was trying to raise Ca2+ last month w/ Kalk and Seachem calcium-gluconate, and also have used B-ionic. I've also been doing 5 g water changes (30g tank) every 2-3 wks. Any suggestions for saving the xenia?
<if the problem is not predation (tiny worms, snails etc).. then look at your pH and ALK. Xenia are very strict about high pH. Daytime readings should be *.4 or higher... and watch that night/morning readings do not dip below 8.3 (they will often stop pulsing like clockwork). Alk should be in the range of 8-12 dKH (preferably towards the higher end. Ca will be fine at a modest 350-400 ppm>
Thanks for any advice. Ben
<please take the time to read through our archives on this subject. Go to the main page www.wetwebmedia.com and type in Xenia into the google search tool for our site at the bottom of the page. Best regards, Anthony>

David
 
I have pom pom that has always thrived, but another type of xenia basically died back to nothing at one point, and has just barely come back now. I had no idea that some xenia are very sensitive to chemical warfare from lots of corals that most of us keep. GSP was mentioned, and LPS corals, and gorgonians. And the pH has never consistently been at 8.3 or higher in my system. It has been closer to 7.9 using API test kit, which some say is worthless. That led me to an article about aerating my ro/di water for 24 hours before using to get the carbonic acid out. Apparently the acid eats up the buffer, so I have never aerated my water either, which most here have mentioned is a good thing to do. Now I guess that I am seeing why it should be done. Although aerating in a stuffy house may not be any better than not aerating, since the idea is to get the CO2 out of it, not add more to it. I don't know.

I have run carbon, until about a week ago, 24/7 for months. I have backed off to see if my zoas will respond favorably to less filtration. Some of them haven't been their best lately. Some look great, though! Maybe running carbon all the time helped that one xenia come back, but diminished my zoas? Maybe that's it.

Never a dull moment!

David
 
I have 2 display tanks, a frag tank, and 2 sumps in my system. I could dedicate each one to a different type of coral, and that MIGHT lessen some of this allelopathy that goes on, since they would be distanced from differing types of coral. But they all share the same water, so, I expect that at least some carbon use, and skimming will be needed even then. A lot of skimming and carbon use messes with what the zoas want, I am thinking right now. A zoanthid specific tank could be in order! I may trying to do too much in one system.

David
 
Each tank is different but I run carbon 24/7 and have a buttload of zoas/palys and have never had a problem. Xenia also has been known to just up and disappear then come back for no apparent reason however, every time I have had issues with xenia, is has been alk related. I used to always keep xenia in my tank as it was a perfect indicator of low alk. Keep in mind that ph will follow alk and you should make sure your alk, ca and mg are within their respective NSW ranges. PH test kits are not very accurate, when I first started my kit would alway's read 8.2, once I got a ph meter and calibrated it, I found that my ph was actually 7.9 so a kit can be off in either direction.

Cheers,
 
I had been running 2 1/2 cups of carbon continuously for months, and one of type of xenias came back, but some zoas, not all, seem to have declined. I can only guess as to what has really happened, but have heard that zoas like more nutrients in the water than some other corals. It could be a number of things at work.

David
 
I had to pull it out today. It was kind of melting/falling apart and I was afraid it might contaminate my tank. Sad, but it had to be done. I still don't know what the problem was.
 
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