Help - Pulsing Xenia Turning White (dying)

[mickeyfish]

Looking for some opinions or suggestions here. I have had this pulsing Xenia on an island in my tank for a year and a half. It has been doing great up until this week.

Some of the stalks are turning white, then flat, and stop coming out or opening completely. It appears they are dying off. The rock was at the bottom of my tank, when this happened I moved it up a bit... but it just continued. In one week, half of the colony now appears to be white and dead.

There have been absolutely no changes to my tank the past 3-4 months and all other Corals remain fine.

Any thoughts?

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[RBU1]

Some people would be happy about that. What are your parameters? Anything change recently?


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[RBU1]

Help - Pulsing Xenia Turning White (dying)

Do you run carbon? If not I would.


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[mickeyfish]

I do run Carbon and Purigen, but have been for the past year plus.

No recent changes which is why it's baffling why all of a sudden.


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[RBU1]

If everything else is ok and your parameters are good I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe your tank is too clean for Xenia. Who knows.


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[Uncle99]

What do you run your N and P levels at?

 

[mickeyfish]

So my phosphate is .11 as of last check this past weekend on the Hanna ULR, Nitrate consistently 5-10.


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[mickeyfish]

I guess my bigger question, are the white areas dead ... could they come back?

Xenia is supposed to be like a weed, yet it is the only Coral in my tank not doing well.


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[Uncle99]

Your nutrients levels are good.
If every other coral is fine, then sounds specific to that coral
The pic is way to blue to tell anything else

 

[Reid]

Mine did the same. Looked like it was a natural die off, then started to get other healthy polyps drop off and attach elsewhere.

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[mickeyfish]

I think this mystery has been solved... but not sure. So I recalibrated my refractometer (Milwaukee MA887) this morning and salinity was actually at 1.23. I'm thinking this may be it.


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[CrayolaViolence]

When mine started doing this I was a fish picking at it and eating it. After the fish went into the sump it exploded back to life.

 

[Uncle99]

I think this mystery has been solved... but not sure. So I recalibrated my refractometer (Milwaukee MA887) this morning and salinity was actually at 1.23. I'm thinking this may be it.


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Good find! Certainly when any one/ or combination of parameters is not within "œnormal "œ ranges that can show up in an unhappy coral.

It would be helpful if you can let us know in a bit if it bounced back after salinity adjustment

White is a bad colour in corals, can indicate bleaching.

 

[j.falk]

If it were the salinity being off...wouldn't that affect the entire colony of them and not just a few? Looking at the photos, my guess would be that something is probably picking on / eating them too because it's one specific area of them that is dying off and not the entire lot.

 

[Uncle99]

If it were the salinity being off...wouldn't that affect the entire colony of them and not just a few? Looking at the photos, my guess would be that something is probably picking on / eating them too because it's one specific area of them that is dying off and not the entire lot.

Your absolutely right, It could be many things, sometimes the causes elude me, I call it going "œpoof". Needs to keep salinity on point.

I can't see much, the pic is just blue for me.

 

[mickeyfish]

So... salinity is not the issue. I have moved it up with a water change and have been replacing daily evaporation with saltwater and I am just about at 1.026 again.

Meanwhile, there is only one portion of the colony left... and it's shrinking. It looks like the whole colony is going to die.

 

[j.falk]

Looking around for information on this issue, I read that Xenia can melt if the tank water is too clean...not enough nutrients to sustain them.

Another solution was supplementing iodine because of low iodine levels.

 

[mickeyfish]

Thanks.. I read this as well so I literally turned off my reactor (bio pellets) and doubled feeding amounts to see. Been doing this for the past week now and no impact.

My nitrates have recently been testing as 0 though. Phosphates are .11 as of last night.


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[Uncle99]

Thanks.. I read this as well so I literally turned off my reactor (bio pellets) and doubled feeding amounts to see. Been doing this for the past week now and no impact.

My nitrates have recently been testing as 0 though. Phosphates are .11 as of last night.


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I keep Xenia happy in 2-5 ppm nitrate and .1 phosphate
Nitrate of 0 will starve all corals, so way to clean for softies.
You used to have 5-10 ppm nitrate so I am not sure how this went to 0

 

[mickeyfish]

Updated picture. And on the nitrates, not sure but the test this week the vial did not move off of yellow at all.

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