Xenia fading/dying

[bnord]

Hey
please share hive mind wisdom

have a 6 month running 180 Cade with much older cultured rock scape and a KP piece or two

chemistry has been stable and high end range for 2-3 months - Coraline has been filling in and Zoas montis plates,hammers and spawn and a few acros are growing, healthy plump and doubling

had a small bit of purple pulsing Xenia on an isolated shelf which had also 2-3x increased in size and polyps 14-16 stalks 3 inches tall
however 3 days back they all retracted and are now starting to discolor

triple checked chemistry and only outlier is a 2 on the TDF which has fed the AWC vessel

so, does this just happen to Xenias or are they a canary in the coal mine? Other softies near by a flush with growth and color.

woke up last night a 3 worrying

other point... late December i experimented with H2O2 dosing to try to head off a protozoal in fiction and stopped after 4-5 days when zoas reacted poorly and a few montis sloughed some tissue - only big change i can think of

thank you thank you

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Xenia isn't really a canary coral imo (duncans are the best canaries I've kept). But I have heard of this issue before. Xenia just doesn't grow in some tanks. Consider yourself lucky!

 

[bnord]

Thanks and the. duncans are growing and splitting
will still be concerned though
appreciate your insight

 

[bnord]

They are now dark spots on the rock. - in less than a week.

Are there Xenia specific pathogens?

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Xenia just do this sometimes. They like a dirtier tank thpigh if you’re nitrates are like 0 then they won’t do well

 

[bnord]

and mine are 1-2ish taken today

 

[Don_Jorge]

i have like 4 lps, some sps, soft coral all doing great meanwhile my xenia shriveled and shriveled til i felt like it was about to melt, nitrates below 5 phos below.25 barely readable with test. I dont bother with them anymore

 

[Kris 2020]

and mine are 1-2ish taken today

Yeah that’s likely it, the water is too clean for them. They like it dirrrtyyy lol

 

[Uncle99]

That’s too low IMM.
Nitrates 10-20ppm and phosphate .1-.2ppm they like.

 

[bnord]

Ok
Thanks all worrying less about it - live and learn

 

[vetteguy53081]

Xenia is overall a forgiving coral(weed) and generally an indicator of tank conditions. This easy to care for coral gets its name because of the rhythmic pulsing action of the coral polyps that look like a hand opening and closing. This activity, which is relatively uncommon among the sessile invertebrates kept in the tank is part of what makes this coral endearing. Once accustomed to the tank, it can be quite a hardy coral with an amazing growth rate, depending on the light amount and nutrient levels If a xenia is unhappy, there may be chemistry issues such as:

High temperature (77-79)
High salinity (1.025-1.025)
High or NO Nitrates ( .025 > .05)
Phosphate being too high or too low (ideally between 0 – 0.1ppm)
PH too high (8.0-8.3)
Inadequate light as they depend on photosynthesis
Too much water flow