Can Xenia crash a system?

[el_pinguino]

I have a mature (10 year old) 10 gallon tank that is looking quite unhealthy at the moment. And I am at my wits end as to what might be the cause. The tank had been very stable up until the last 3 weeks or so.

Temp: 79F
Salinity: 35ppt
Alkalinity: 6.9dkH
Calcium: 450ppm
Nitrates: ? (I haven't had to test this in years and no longer have a tester)
Filtration: HOB Protein Skimmer, GFO, occasional carbon
Additives: ESV B-ionic 2-Part

I first noticed something wrong when my Xenia began to shrink. I had a lot of Xenia (about 1/4 of the tank real estate). They are now almost completely melted away. And a large cyanobacteria and diatom outbreak has taken their place. I haven't seen cyanobacteria since I first cycled the tank 10 years ago.

Here is how it seems to be affecting the other inhabitants.

Green star polyps: closed or only partially extended throughout the day (previously very healthy)
Zoanthids: closed or only partially extended throughout the day (previously very healthy)
Clove (snowflake) polyps: almost completely shrank away (but i'm kind of glad they're gone)
Frogspawn: seemingly unaffected
Ricordea Florida: seemingly unaffected
Seriatopora (Birdsnest): seemingly unaffected
Fish: (1 occelaris clown, 1 azure damzel) seemingly unaffected
Inverts: seemingly unaffected

I did a 25% water change last week. Yesterday, I did 50% water change, siphoned out most of the cyanobacteria, and added some activated carbon. All the cyano came back within 24 hours.

My theory is something killed the nitrifying bacteria.

 

[el_pinguino]

Snails are looking lethargic (more so than usual). One of them has died.

 

[ocellaris123]

What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings?

 

[el_pinguino]

I'm picking up a test kit on my way home tonight. My guess is they were probably high, although my large water changes and wet skimming 24/7 have not seemed to help at all.

Lots of nitrogen(?) bubbles coming out of the sand bed.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Following.

 

[Shaker nemo]

Following along.. Ur alk is kinda low isn't it?

 

[el_pinguino]

Following along.. Ur alk is kinda low isn't it?

Not significantly. Natural seawater is between 7 - 8 dkH according to Salifert, and I usually keep it within that range.

 

[el_pinguino]

Things have only gotten worse. My frogspawn has retracted and so have the polyps on my birdsnest. GSP and zoas are completely closed. Ricordeas have shriveled up. I would be devastated if I lost my Rics. They're my pride and joy.

Ammonia: 0.25 - 0.50 mg/L
Nitrites: 0 mg/L
Nitrates: 0 - 5 mg/L

Ammonia shouldn't even be detectable with the old crappy test kit I found in storage, but there it is. Something must have decimated the beneficial bacteria in the system.

I did another 50% water change. What else can I do?

 

[Shaker nemo]

Do you use natural seawater or make your own? If you do make your own do u use dechlorinated tap water or RO water? sounds a bit like some dissolved solid has entered your tank probably copper. Hope that helps

 

[ReeferKimberly]

Keep doing water changes and load up on carbon.

If you don't use RO water then use it, buy it or get a unit. If you have one but have not changed the cartridges in a long time, change them and buy water in the meantime.

Yes your xenia melting away is the problem...I just don't know why they have doneso, yet. since you said you had so much and it all died, well that is what is killing your tank now.

First just keep changing water until things stop dying and then go back and think what could have made the large amount of xenia die.

Whatever the initial problem is, now ya gotta just break the cycle. I had a bag of gummy bears melt in a tank and the sugar caused a massive bacteria bloom. I changed water like 25 times and eventually it went back to normal with minimal coral loss.

 

[leveldrummer]

A tank that is 10 years old maybe just getting too damn old. Maybe its time to pull it apart, put what you want to keep in a tub, dump the sand bed, and start with new sand bed, half new rock and half old, and reset the tank.

 

[el_pinguino]

Water changes are done with pre-mixed saltwater purchased from a reputable local fish store. Top-off is done with store-bought distilled water. I have always done it this way.

I can't think of any reason for water contamination. I haven't made any changes to my maintenance routine. B-Ionic has trace amounts of copper, but it's not supposed to be enough to cause issues (so they say).

 

[Shaker nemo]

Wait.. Really?

Wait.. Really?

Keep doing water changes and load up on I had a bag of gummy bears melt in a tank and the sugar caused a massive bacteria bloom. I changed water like 25 times and eventually it went back to normal with minimal coral loss.

Now how did that happen?:dance: ur fish might have enjoyed it

 

[el_pinguino]

This might be relevant:

"From the active soft coral species examined, Xenia macrospiculata exhibited the highest and most potent antimicrobial activity. Bioassay-directed fractionation indicated that the antimicrobial activity was due to the presence of a range of compounds of different polarities. One of these antibiotic compounds was isolated and identified as desoxyhavannahine, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 48 ug/mL against a marine bacterium.

http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/departments/zoology/members/loya/documents/169.pdf

 

[el_pinguino]

Can Xenia crash a system?

I think the answer is: Yes.

 

[el_pinguino]

The condition of the tank today was much the same - maybe slightly worse. All inhabitants are still miserable. I have temporarily re-homed some of my Ricordeas to my brother's tank. Hopefully they will fare well there.

My plan for tomorrow is to pick up one of those bacteria-in-a-bottle "instant cycle" remedies. I will probably use less than the recommended dose, but over the course of a few days to avoid rapid change. I may be able to replenish the bacterial flora before things start to spiral out of control.

I will also continue with 25% daily water changes to prevent ammonia from reaching more lethal levels.

Many knobby stumps of what is left of the Xenia remain on the live rock. I want to remove them completely but am afraid of disturbing them.

 

[Shaker nemo]

I would personally get some live rock (not much) and get rid of the rock with the Xenia it's too late for it. He died fighting. Do a super water change maybe even up to 90 percent. Move your corals/ live rock to your bros tank temporarily and get new sand. Do the water change and let it cycle without the corals for a few days. That bacteria u were gonna add might help in shortening this.

 

[el_pinguino]

So I took a tank-water sample to be professionally tested and the results were a little surprising.

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Apparently, my old test kit was giving me a false positive. I purchased a new test kit and the results matched the professional test result. In hindsight, I could have just ran a control test using RO/DI. The lesson here: Do not use expired test kits.

The only parameter that was out of acceptable range was phosphates.

Phosphates: 0.1 ppm

The maximum acceptable level of phosphates is 0.03 ppm. I was shocked that my level of phosphates could be so high while running GFO and after multiple massive water changes. It then occurred to me that cyanobacteria readily binds phosphates. Furthermore, cyanobacteria builds mass during the day, and then retreats at night releasing nutrients and phosphates back into the water column. That must have been why my water changes at the end of the day were ineffective - a complete waste of time. The water sample I took to be tested was taken before I left the house in the morning. This is when the phosphate levels probably peaked.

My corals were unhappy, not because of toxic ammonia, but because of suffocating cyanobacteria.

So my revised corrective actions will be:

• Siphon out cyanobacteria just before the end of the photoperiod.
• Do water changes just before the beginning of the photoperiod.

Where all these phosphates came from all of a sudden, though, is still a mystery.

 

[el_pinguino]

I now think what happened was the melting Xenia released large amounts of phosphates in the water.

Why did the Xenia die off? Seasonal Xenia die-off is well documented in wild Xenia colonies so it could just be part of its normal life cycle.

 

[el_pinguino]

The battle is ongoing. Every day I siphon out the cyanobacteria. And every day it comes back to what it was.

The Xenia is starting to blacken. It looks like death. I was able to siphon some out. The rest I tried to pluck out with tongs. But they released a black smoke so I abandoned that idea. I can't wait until it's all gone. It nearly is.

There haven't been any more fatalities. All that was lost was some clove polyps and a snail.

I think I see light at the end of the tunnel.