My 2 year old Pulsing Xenia colony is rapidly dying off with weird coloration on dead parts.

[Thanos]

I have a 2 and a half year old 65 gallon softy/LPS tank, and over the last few days I've noticed that one of my 2 Xenia colony's has been rapidly dying off. In the last week about one-third of the colony has been completely killed and is now laying in pieces on the sandbed, another third is shriveled and on the brink of death, and only about one-third is still healthy. The only change to the tank in the last 6 months was a coral shipment I got right after Black Friday. The order was delayed in shipping by a full day and so 2 of the corals were melting away when I got them and were dead within a couple of days, where I then removed them from the tank. Due to the fact that all the corals in the shipment were cold and on the brink of death when I got them, I did not dip them immediately and instead let them recover in the tank for a few days before pulling them and treating them with CoralMD.

I don't think it's parameter-related. I have another pulsing xenia in the tank and aside from a couple of stalks that were killed by an encroaching Leptastrea, the colony is in good health. The same goes for all my other softy and LPS corals; they've never looked better. The issue appears to be localized to the rock the Xenia is on. On further inspection, there's weird brownish-white spots on the bases of the dying clumps that appear to almost be deformed. I've attached pictures with white light to see if anyone can ID and suggest what to do. If you need any more info to help I can definitely provide it. I just want to stop whatever this is before it starts killing more expensive things like my Zoa garden or my Euphyllia.

 

[Garf]

I have a 2 and a half year old 65 gallon softy/LPS tank, and over the last few days I've noticed that one of my 2 Xenia colony's has been rapidly dying off. In the last week about one-third of the colony has been completely killed and is now laying in pieces on the sandbed, another third is shriveled and on the brink of death, and only about one-third is still healthy. The only change to the tank in the last 6 months was a coral shipment I got right after Black Friday. The order was delayed in shipping by a full day and so 2 of the corals were melting away when I got them and were dead within a couple of days, where I then removed them from the tank. Due to the fact that all the corals in the shipment were cold and on the brink of death when I got them, I did not dip them immediately and instead let them recover in the tank for a few days before pulling them and treating them with CoralMD.

I don't think it's parameter-related. I have another pulsing xenia in the tank and aside from a couple of stalks that were killed by an encroaching Leptastrea, the colony is in good health. The same goes for all my other softy and LPS corals; they've never looked better. The issue appears to be localized to the rock the Xenia is on. On further inspection, there's weird brownish-white spots on the bases of the dying clumps that appear to almost be deformed. I've attached pictures with white light to see if anyone can ID and suggest what to do. If you need any more info to help I can definitely provide it. I just want to stop whatever this is before it starts killing more expensive things like my Zoa garden or my Euphyllia.

Xenia was always a boom and bust for me, don't know why. That was a while ago though, so perhaps someone has worked out why. I did see some on a documentary from the red sea with high salinity however, no idea if that's related, certainly not helpful lol.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Be glad? It either does well and takes over or it struggles and goes away...

In any case, there are all kinds of possible issue and without more information it is hard to tell. Nudibranchs, bacterial infection, nipped at in the dark by something, etc.

I was not kidding above, xenia always appears to be a prolific weed or temporary fixture and never just "there". You could try moving a bit of it by placing some rubble over it and letting it transfer and then see if the problem moves with the colony.

 

[areefer01]

As Bean noted above it can be difficult to get a positive solution. At best what I'd recommend is going back and making a list of what has been done, or not done, vs when you noticed the change.

Salinity change
Alk change
Either of the two above sudden
New animal
Change in animal behavior
Lighting
Flow

You may not think it is a parameter or chemistry but it doesn't hurt to run a few manual tests and then compare to previous results. Or do a few over the next couple of days and add it to your previous data and look for trends. Use what you have available. Your history, daily assessment, and go from there.

I lost some and believed it was salinity and/or alk change. While not a huge change the change was within 24 hours that seemed to trigger it. At least that is what I concluded. Right or wrong, I don't know but after addressing those issues the coral grew back fine. Again as noted already it soon starts to take over no matter how much you stay atop of it. I had pieces actually drifting in my water column.

I later introduced a Zoster and Pyramid butterfly both of which cleared all visible signs of it within 25 days. No joke. And I had a lot of it across multiple rocks and zones in my 210. The only place it was safe was my refugium which oddly enough a gold lined rabbitfish I put in there to grow out a bit before moving to the display cleared it out. Now I have no more...

TL; DR - check what you can control. Manual test salinity, alk, look at your previous data, think about what has changed or introduced, and good luck. All the best.

 

[Thanos]

Be glad? It either does well and takes over or it struggles and goes away...

In any case, there are all kinds of possible issue and without more information it is hard to tell. Nudibranchs, bacterial infection, nipped at in the dark by something, etc.

I was not kidding above, xenia always appears to be a prolific weed or temporary fixture and never just "there". You could try moving a bit of it by placing some rubble over it and letting it transfer and then see if the problem moves with the colony.

Saying "be glad" to my 2 year old coral getting ripped apart isn't really helpful ngl. I'm also less concerned about the Xenia itself and more concerned about this weird brown thing affecting other parts of my tank. If the Xenia gets wiped out I can always just buy another one for $25 and probably regrow it to the same size within a few months. The same can't be said if my $400 hammer colony gets hit with it, which is why I'm extremely worried.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Saying "be glad" to my 2 year old coral getting ripped apart isn't really helpful ngl.

It is a soft coral not a child, don't be so sensitive and embrace a sense of humor. I most certainly did offer as much help as I could given the information at hand. Xenia is a rather enigmatic coral. It is sensitive and hard to keep most days and then one day you wake up and you can't get rid of it no matter what you do.

if my $400 hammer colony gets hit with it, which is why I'm extremely worried.

There is simply not enough data here to even guess if this is water quality, a predator or bacterial and/or if it could or would affect the LPS of soft corals.

 

[VintageReefer]

It could be starving. What are your nitrates and phosphates? Any changes in lighting intensity, spectrum, total hours etc recently?

 

[snorklr]

toxins from another softy? xenia refused to survive in my old tank when i added kenya tree

 

[Patx]

Are you using phosguard (aluminium oxyde) for po4 control ?

 

[Thanos]

toxins from another softy? xenia refused to survive in my old tank when i added kenya tree

There was actually a kenya tree in that coral shipment, first time I've ever had one. It's doing well on the other end of the tank. Is there any way to know if this is the issue?

 

[SAY]

Do you run carbon? That could reduce the toxins.