could a large dead xenia hurt a fish?

[saltyESQ]

I recently went through some sort of infection in my 210g where there was some oily substance all over the fishes fins and the fishes bodies turned white and flakey. (not marine velvet)

I researched and researched but could not find anything that seemed to fit. This infection killed my clown trigger and put my queen trigger on her death bed, but she survived. (my humu was bearly effected)

I just realized that a couple weeks before this happened I took out a massive piece of xenia that was taking up all lot pf space in my 24g reef. I thew the xenia in my 210g fuge, hoping that it would grow. It did not and it died and completely disintegrated.


Could this dead xenia have caused my problems?

I never had any ammonia present in the system and all water perm were fine.

 

[Vitaly]

It is an interesting idea. I imagine there may have been some noxious/irritating compounds released from the dying tissue.

However, I would not think that this would be the cause of what you observed in your display. I say this only because I have watched xenia frags that I have given to several of my friends (29-65 gallon tanks) melt away in their tanks (over 3-4 days) with no ill effects to their fish.

Unfortunately, my observations represent a small sample and I would be curious to hear what others have experienced.

The other reason why I think the xenia did not contribute is the timeline. How soon after being added to the fuge did the Xenia disintegrate? If it happenedly rapidly, say 2-3 weeks before the oily substance/coating appeared in your display tank...then I would think that the proteins and chemicals released from the xenia did not directly contribute as they would be been degraded.