dougellefson Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 1 year old established tank.... Out of the blue all of my xenia is going limp and dying. I have a 4" in daimeter rock covered on the bottom of the tank which has been full and vibrant, now going limp and looking sad. There are also several other small clusters that broke off and attached which don't look as bad but getting there. Nothing new added recently, water temp and params are good. Everything else is cool- no CUC deaths, fish and shrimp are cool, zoas, shrooms, hammer coral all good. I'm confused. Is there somthing I am missing? Link to comment
tike Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Check temp first... Many years ago i had the same thing happen to me the only factor that changed was my temp increase from 77-78 to 80-82. It was the only parameter of my tank that had changed. Link to comment
beyondcomp251 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 yeah xenia are weird like that, they also do not like prestine water, they tend to thrive in nutrient rich (dirty) water. You can have one for years and then all of a sudden it just crash Link to comment
gojk Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Mine seem most sensitive to SG and temp. If either are off or change drastically, they get weird for a while. I have never had any die though. It lives through everything and multiplies like crazy. Link to comment
GokesReef Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 +1 to beyondcomp... your water's too good. That's how it seems at least. I had pulsing as one of my first corals in a tank full of salty tap water and it grew - a lot and fast. After eventually getting most of that out and replaced with good water, my Xenia decided to melt away. Not saying they're causal.. just seems like it could be the case. Just put a frag of pom pom Xenias in the tank a few weeks ago, this one seems to be doing good in the quality water. In general, Xenia is a strange specimen. Link to comment
Bishop Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 If you have a skimmer then skim less or remove the skimmer. Xenia feed off those organics and nitrates. I had my xenia sulk for over a month. If it turns from it's tan or dark tan while sulking to grey or greyish then it is dead. As long as it is tan colored it is still alive. Keep your water parameters good. SG at about 1.025, temp at 77-80 degree, nitrates under 20. Under 5 should be ok too but if they are zero then xenia wont like it. Place the xenia where you want it or leave it where you had it. The important part is to give it moderate light and peace. Dont disturb it till it kicks back up. After my xenia started sulking, I started feeding the tank "reef chili" not sure if this helped the xenia but it's possible. In time the xenia should grow healthy again. My nitrates were at 20 when my xenia went down hill. xenia can do this for no reason at all. Only thing I changed in my tank that I know of was the addition of weekly feedings of reef chili. Temps in my cube the xenia was in had gone way high many times to no ill effect. Link to comment
reef-luva Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 ...."going limp and looking sad"...for Xenia IMO is not a huge cause for alarm, it's when, especially the stalks, look like their melting, then it time to pull 'em. Sure, check temp and S.G., other than that xenia just be weird like that... Over the years I have had colonies that I knew for sure they were on their way to soft coral heaven and then made a full rebound. Link to comment
Gromit1710 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Don't take this the wrong way, but... Xenia grows like a weed. Most LFS go through cycles of just GIVING it away ( at least all of mine do ) I'll send you one! lol. Seriously tho, I've had Xenia just crap out and die for no reason. It just seems to happen. Link to comment
Dani3d Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 If you can take them out and give them a lugol dip for 10 to 20 minutes. They will replenish the iodine they need. They will look a bit bad for a day or 2 but they will be ok. Check your iodine level in the tank, it must be low. When having xenias, it is a good practice to dose iodine once a week or once every 2 weeks at least. I use 2 lugol drop per week in my 75 gallons. 1 year old established tank....Out of the blue all of my xenia is going limp and dying. I have a 4" in daimeter rock covered on the bottom of the tank which has been full and vibrant, now going limp and looking sad. There are also several other small clusters that broke off and attached which don't look as bad but getting there. Nothing new added recently, water temp and params are good. Everything else is cool- no CUC deaths, fish and shrimp are cool, zoas, shrooms, hammer coral all good. I'm confused. Is there somthing I am missing? Link to comment
reef-luva Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Check your iodine level in the tank, it must be low. When having xenias, it is a good practice to dose iodine once a week or once every 2 weeks at least. I like this advice.... Link to comment
dougellefson Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 I appreciate all of the responses. Water that is too clean is my conclusion. Don't take this the wrong way, I don't like to kill things, if the xenia slows down it's plan to take over my entire 28g nano, that won't be such a sad thing for me. That's all I'm saying. Thanks again! Link to comment
GokesReef Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I don't like to kill things, if the xenia slows down it's plan to take over my entire 28g nano, that won't be such a sad thing for me. That's all I'm saying. No Xenia owner would disagree. Link to comment
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