Pretty sure my Xenia is dying/dead, what do I do?

[carolioness]

Hi everyone,

Sorry in advance for the whole story but I guess that might help people understanding with what happened...

A few weeks ago I bought a pulsing Xenia as my first coral (16G/60L tank). It looked healthy in the store (lets call it LFS 1) (not pulsing heavily though but that doesn't have to be an issue. it was pulsing!) and it had been in my tank for about a week looking healthy too. After about a week of looking healthy and big, it suddenly started to look a little worse and first the polyps were weirdly open (almost as if they were curled open) and not quite pulsing anymore. On that day I actually planned to visit a "new" fish store (LFS 2) I didn't know existed, so I showed them the picture and asked them if they had any advice as I was there anyway. They asked some questions and one was about my nitrates and phosphates, and because the second one was at 0, they suggested adding a bit of livestock that need feeding, so the phosphates in the tank will rise slightly... I added a Babylonia snail and the first ocellaris clownfish (the last baby in the store, but got the second one two days later when new ones arrived they seem fine btw.) I did have basic things tested in the store when I got the second clown and we found out my refractometer was off so I got a new measuring device and decided to get the salinity down (it was at 1.027 then while the refractometer happily said 1.024 though being calibrated... but got it to 1.025 now!)

The Xenia, however did not yet look better and slowly even started to look worse. The snail sadly died too so I was starting to get scared one of my own water tests was off and something was so bad that it killed the snail and slowly the Xenia. So last week I went back to the store where I bought the Xenia (LFS 1) and had my water tested there. They didn't see anything weird but suggested to maybe get nitrates down a little as they were >2.5 (ok?) but also said that the Xenia shouldn't even care about that. He did suggest to put the Xenia high in the tank so it gets loads of light and said "as long as there's no slime coming off the coral it's still alive"... So well, I did that and a water change and added some bacteria the store suggested, but the Xenia still didn't grow back but only shrunk more.

Few days later I went to the store where I got the snail and the fish (LFS 2) to also have my water tested there (I mean, won't hurt to have two stores check everything right) and ask if they have any idea why the Xenia is still looking like this and if there's something that accidentally killed the snail. They also didn't find anything strange... They did give me a new snail, a Nassarius snail this time (that is still alive today, so guess I was just unlucky with the one before) and suggested frozen food for the fish (and the snail) that also might help with getting the phosphates up (as they still measured 0). But as of today, the coral is still looking worse every day... The fish do look healthy and eat well, snail is still alive (hard to know sometimes as it's obviously great at hiding under the sand) and my dwarf hermit crab also seems fine. The guy in that store said "it'll basically melt away and disappear if it's dead so you'll notice" about the Xenia... But as far as disappearing goes, I think it's slowly on its way there... :-(

Also noticed that if I touch it now there actually is stuff coming off of it that could be the slime that LFS 1 was talking about. This did not happen before. Does this mean it is indeed dead? :-( And it so: should I get it out of the tank?... Or do you think it's still alive and there's anything I can do to get it back to looking healthy?

Hope someone can help!

(I did read stuff about iodine on this forum too, they have not tested that anywhere yet and I don't have a test for that myself... But would that be a reason for it to just... Look THAT bad?)


Here's a picture of what the coral looked like after a few days in my tank when it was still healthy VS what it looks like right now... (first photo is taken with a DSLR and the second with a phone but that shouldn't be an issue I guess):

 

[Cell]

First things first, go invest in your own test kits and stop relying on an LFS. Unless you know for a fact through personal experience the LFS is 100% reliable

 

[carolioness]

First things first, go invest in your own test kits and stop relying on an LFS. Unless you know for a fact through personal experience the LFS is 100% reliable

I do have test kits! All Salifert ones... But I wanted to make sure mine weren't off... Mine do say basically the same things as the LFS ones, so I think they're actually fine...

 

[rapid]

also go online and get a ICP test could be some thing else in the water !!

Trace Base Zinc 100mL

Increase your reef tanks Zinc without increasing other compounds or elements with ultra-pure Triton additives. The Triton System is based on accurate ICP-OES Testing that tells you exactly how much of any element may be in your aquarium allowing you to keep a healthy, sustainable reef...

www.marinedepot.com

are you using RODI water ?
how old is this tank ?

 

[carolioness]

also go online and get a ICP test could be some thing else in the water !!

Trace Base Zinc 100mL

Increase your reef tanks Zinc without increasing other compounds or elements with ultra-pure Triton additives. The Triton System is based on accurate ICP-OES Testing that tells you exactly how much of any element may be in your aquarium allowing you to keep a healthy, sustainable reef...

www.marinedepot.com

are you using RODI water ?

yep, using RODI water + Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt.

ICP test could maybe be an option indeed...

 

[rapid]

yep, using RODI water + Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt.

ICP test could maybe be an option indeed...

how old is this tank ?

 

[carolioness]

how old is this tank ?

young! so the tank being "too clean" isn't a crazy thing I guess... the Xenia was my first coral and I added this a few weeks ago. I set the tank up in September, then the cycling basically happened in October / begin of November. I added the livestock about four to five weeks ago I think (and that was the Xenia + hermit crab). The fish and snail have only been there for about two weeks.

 

[rapid]

Have you checked Ammonia using the safreit test ? Make sure you don’t have a any traces of nitrite or ammonia that would be bad if nitrite or ammonia is in the tank that would mean it’s not fully cycled if you find nitrite then u have a ammonia issue. Could be what’s ticking off the xeniea because they are very hardy !
Try running some good activated carbon in your filter sock or media bag or media reactor if there is a contaminate in the water the carbon should remove it run that for a while changing it monthly !

should be seeing 5 ppm of nitrate or higher and .03 phosphate ? Or higher ?

 

[rapid]

I run carbon constantly

 

[carolioness]

I measure no ammonia. My ammonia test is the only one from another brand though! It's by Colombo (a European, maybe even Dutch brand). But their ammonia tests works fine according to many people. And after the cycle both ammonia and nitrite were 0. Both stores also measured 0 ammonia or nitrites... (I did measure nitrites just after I pulled the dead snail out of the tank, but they were gone next day.)

Both LFSs and myself tested nitrates between 2,5 and 5 and phosphates: I measure 0, LFS 2 also measured 0 and LFS 1 measured something but slightly lower than 0,03 apparently...
I still measured no phosphates on Saturday. But will check again today...

Wouldn't activated carbon be bad for pulsing Xenia though as it might remove too much of the nutrients? As I've heard and read this before... But not sure of course! I don't have it in my tank ATM.

 

[rapid]

I run carbon in my tank just about 6 table spoons in two reacotors and mix the one with GFO. i havent noticed any issue with using it other them a crystal clear water and it really helps with chemical warfare between the nems and my coral. but yes your tank is really young and i only recomend that if you have a chemical in the water you want to remove the could be hurting the Xenia.

I do not have any Xenia but i do have a pipe organ coral that is a filter feeder and its fine but i also have alot of nutrients going into tank from fish and over feeding ! my PO4 is usually .25 and my nitrates are usually 15-20. i am using more GFO now to lower the PO4 a little.

So maybe the nurtients arnt ur issue i would recomend you send some water out to a lab to do a ICP test for metals and other water contaminates that your at home test wouldnt pick up.

Have you tried adding a little phytoplankton or zooplankton to the water maybe to help feed the coral or try spot feeding him a little reef chili or filter food ?

Check your light par too maybe there is too little or too much light for the coral !

xenia likes dirty water full of nutrients so maybe you can feed a little more to bring up those levels or use reef chili and spot feed the thing but be careful the reef chili can really raise your nutrients so use very little !

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

What do you use to calibrate for salinity? RODI will skew results
Nutrients are okay but bottom end for Xenia growth but it doesn't explain the melting.
How is your flow and lighting?

 

[rapid]

try moving it a little closer to the light ? for a day or two see if that helps

 

[carolioness]

Have you tried adding a little phytoplankton or zooplankton to the water maybe to help feed the coral or try spot feeding him a little reef chili or filter food ?

Check your light par too maybe there is too little or too much light for the coral !

Haven't tried specifically feeding the coral, only feeding the other animals just a little more than needed, so could try that indeed... I did however try to get it closer to the lights. I moved it to a higher spot in the tank for two days but it didn't change anything. It is a small tank though, so I doubt if there's even much of a difference... The light is an Aqua Medic Qube 50 btw. I was thinking though: I do have a plexiglass cover on the tank. There is a hole in the middle of it though, right under the lights, but maybe it still diffuses the light too much. I know people who use things like that with succes but you never know! Will try taking it off and see if it changes anything (and praying my fish won't jump out until I found another solution. )

What do you use to calibrate for salinity? RODI will skew results
Nutrients are okay but bottom end for Xenia growth but it doesn't explain the melting.
How is your flow and lighting?

I got a Fauna Marin Salinity Manager from the store when we found out my refractometer was showing different results than it should. There's a calibration solution that comes with it, so it's calibrated with that... Should be fine now I hope... With the refractometer I had, I used RODI water as the brand suggested that. But even though it said it was calibrated, it still showed different results than both stores (that used different devices btw! one uses a refractometer and the other one uses a digital device). I did get the refractometer secondhand though so maybe something was off with it in the first place... Unless it's just not actually calibrated... U never reaaally know with RODI indeed I guess
The Xenia is in a place in the tank with rather low flow now. I felt that when it was still looking healthy, the flow was alright for it (comparing it to what I read about it and how the flow looked in tanks that had healthy Xenias). The coral was moving in the flow but didn't look like it was getting blown away completely. I can barely see the reaction to the flow now as it became so small :-(


Thanks for thinking along by the way!


(Hope my English is kind of okay btw as I'm not a native speaker.)

 

[RichReef]

Xenia loves the higher end of salinity.

I would take an even closer look at your salt level and measuring equipment to make sure it isn't too low.

I used to grow it for a few LFSs. I kept the salinity in a 40 breeder at 1.030. Nothing else in the tank. There were no phosphates or nitrates. Zero algae. No rock. No sump. Just a homemade rack, a few powerheads, and frag plugs. I fed them nothing. They just loved those T5s and high salt level. I couldn't get rid of it as fast as it grew. I ended up traveling hours with buckets full of it to trade it to other stores. I literally saturated the entire region with it until I couldn't give it away. I always told them about the high salinity and acclimation would take a while and not to rush it. They were always puzzled about the 1.030 but whatever.

So all in all nutrients doesn't matter unless it's too high.

Salt, light, and maybe flow.

 

[carolioness]

I took the plexiglass top off now so no light won't be stopped in any way, see if that does anything...

Ugh the salinity is starting to confuse me now haha. One says the coral doesn't do well in very high salinity, the other says it needs salinity on the higher end. When my Xenia started looking worse, my salinity was apparently at 1.027, so that isn't too low I would say right...?
Still struggling with the Fauna Marine Salinity manager, as I noticed that it doesn't always show the same result after measuring it a few times (and cleaning it in between with RODI water as suggested in the booklet). It also seems to always keep counting down... Already e-mailed the brand so I hope they'll send me a reply to find out how to actually make this thing work properly. The whole idea is to make measuring salinity "easy" and "quick" but currently it takes more time and frustration than te refractometer...

Could try changing the flow as well though... But it's so weird as it has acted normally for a week or so with no problems and I can't recall changing anything! :-( It's also the only coral in the tank so I have nothing to compare it to, except for the (other) animals but they seem to do fine.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I would get a screen net. Plexi will get salt creep and need to be cleaned fairly frequently. Why not just move the coral up?

Also while RichReef has a point about salinity, I wouldn't adjust this. Target 1.026

 

[carolioness]

Already tried moving the coral up but that didn't change anything. I could do both now though...

And yep I did notice the salt creep and such and gotta say it is a biiit of a PITA to take it off every single time (and thus water dripping everywhere) when feeding and stuff because that's hard to do through the hole in the middle because of the lights. So will definitely look into a screen net!

 

[RichReef]

Ugh the salinity is starting to confuse me now haha. One says the coral doesn't do well in very high salinity, the other says it needs salinity on the higher end.

I am sorry. It's not my intention to confuse anyone but I can confirm that is where I kept the salinity. I actually found this by accident while having a salinity problem that I was not aware of. The only thing doing well in my tank while this problem was going was the Xenia. Once I found and fixed the salinity problem (was at 1.035) I started the 40 breeder just for Xenia. I couldn't keep up with the growth. We're talking 10 to 15 new frags a week. I wish I still had the pics.

On a side note it takes Xenia a few weeks to recover from something it doesn't like so patience after an adjustment is required.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Xenia melted in my tank twice before the 3 month mark, the tank was too clean. Now I have some and it grows a new stalk a week , nitrates are 20ppm and phosphate is .2 , I think they need a dirtier tank