Xenia suffering

[smotard]

Friends of the forum, I need some advice again.
In my predominantly softies aquarium I have 2 varieties of Xenia pumping, one brown and one pink.
The brown variety pulsates and grows quickly.
I have problems with the pink variety. It's the second time I've inserted it, it pulsates very well and grows (slowly) for a few months.
Then it begins to shorten the stems, shrinks the polyps and regresses without ever stopping pulsating.
The colony disappears completely within a few weeks.
Meanwhile the brown variety continues to grow undisturbed. No changes in light or flows.
Salinity 1.026, NO3 12, PO4 0.05, Kh 8, Ca 480, Mg 1500. I tried to dose iodine with no results, it also seems indifferent to the carbon in the sump, whether it is there or not, its life cycle is the same. Can there be bacterial or virus infections on xenia that cause it to regress? I haven't seen any macroscopic parasites...

 

[Icryhard]

Following along.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Pictures will help a lot, its hard to imagine from the description alone.

What kind of light do you have on the tank? Are there any powerheads in the tank? Do you use rodi water? What kind of filtration on the tank?

I have not tested my softie tank in almost 2 years, and everything grows like crazy. You parameters are fine (although you can still feed more to get nutrients up even more), so something is wrong with your set up if you can't grow xenia.

 

[smotard]

Hi, thanks in the meantime. If you think it might be useful I can list everything you asked me but the fact remains that the brown xenia grows rapidly without ever having any problems and it is only the pink one (I think it is the umbellata variety) that goes into regression after a few months. I have other softies that don't have any problems and are growing.
I also tried moving the pink xenia to other points (this is the second time I've inserted it) but the result is always the same. It immediately starts growing and duplicating well (even if not very quickly) then one day it starts to shorten and shrink but with the polyps still pulsating! And all the other softies, including brown xenia, continue their lives without problems. Keep in mind that in my tank the brown xenia grows without problems next to the suffering pink one...
I think that the aquarium technique is therefore adequate and in this forum I was looking for some different ideas, for example possible allelopathy? Virus?
Or maybe for this color of xenia the PO4 at 0.05 are low and instead they are fine for the brown one? Can be?

 

[ScottJ]

Hi, thanks in the meantime. If you think it might be useful I can list everything you asked me but the fact remains that the brown xenia grows rapidly without ever having any problems and it is only the pink one (I think it is the umbellata variety) that goes into regression after a few months. I have other softies that don't have any problems and are growing.
I also tried moving the pink xenia to other points (this is the second time I've inserted it) but the result is always the same. It immediately starts growing and duplicating well (even if not very quickly) then one day it starts to shorten and shrink but with the polyps still pulsating! And all the other softies, including brown xenia, continue their lives without problems. Keep in mind that in my tank the brown xenia grows without problems next to the suffering pink one...
I think that the aquarium technique is therefore adequate and in this forum I was looking for some different ideas, for example possible allelopathy? Virus?
Or maybe for this color of xenia the PO4 at 0.05 are low and instead they are fine for the brown one? Can be?

Hi, welcome to the forum!
Take this for what it's worth, I am FAR from very good at growing coral I can't seem to grow yellow zoas. I have tried a few different types in 2 different tanks and they just struggle or die off completely. Red, green, purple, other colors seem to do well and grow. But a zoa with yellow as the main color, nope.

So I don't get any yellow zoas anymore.

The only problem is, yellow zoas are my favorites. (Let that be my biggest problem!)

 

[Uncle99]

Phosphate kinda low at 0.05ppm, this corals and softies in general like higher nutrient levels.

 

[smotard]

Phosphate kinda low at 0.05ppm, this corals and softies in general like higher nutrient levels.

However, I can't explain why with PO4 at 0.05 as soon as it is inserted it grows and multiplies for a few months and then regresses. Shouldn't it immediately regress as soon as it's added to the tank if low PO4 is the problem?

 

[Uncle99]

However, I can't explain why with PO4 at 0.05 as soon as it is inserted it grows and multiplies for a few months and then regresses. Shouldn't it immediately regress as soon as it's added to the tank if low PO4 is the problem?

That would be good logic, and worse, why do others do well if it’s low? So I do agree with you.

I note when my nutrients (both or either) get below 1ppm nitrate and 0.05ppm phosphates, a few, but not all of my corals seem tired.

When I run 5-15ppm nitrate and .1-.2ppm phosphate consistently, every looks fab.

I used to follow a “low nutrient” system only because others were doing that. It worked ok.

I like better the results when I run elevated parameters and higher end nutrients, but I’m sure there are many recipes out there.

My concern with phosphate at 0.05ppm is it’s workable, but, if testing is off just a bit, it could zero out and may trigger pest algaes.

If I run higher, I feel more sure that there are sufficient quantities to feed everyone, depending on there intake needs.

 

[smotard]

I think you're right. It may be that with the photometer it sometimes reads 0.05ppm but maybe in reality it is closer to zero. Indeed the coloration of the photometer solution when you are around
0.05ppm to the naked eye is practically nothing... all it takes is a small error in the photometer and maybe in reality it is closer to 0ppm... I tried to bring a sample to 0.1ppm and a slight coloring of the test tube is also perceptible to the eye naked.
In this case you are sure of at least having some PO4.
I'll try getting PO4 to 0.1ppm or maybe even something higher and see what happens. In my tank of only soft and LPS I don't see any contraindications.
However, the question relating to any bacteriosis or viruses affecting xenia remains open out of curiosity. Has anyone ever heard something similar? Is this a possibility?