Just Baffled......can't figure out

[singold]

I have been watching over the last 4 days, my Pulsing Xenia decay and melt before my eyes. My tank is about 6 months old now, and this was always my favorite and most thriving coral. I have done online research and nobody seems to know what exactly causes Xenia to be flourishing one day and start to disinegrate the next. All my parameters are healthy, just confusing & disheartening, given the time and attention I give to keeping my tank healthy & balanced. Anybody else have this happen? You can see the Pulsing Xenia in my gallery picture. Now it is practically mush. I followed all the care levels described for this coral concerning light, flow, placement, etc. Anybody else have experience with this coral doing this, thriving for months and then decaying & melting over night?

 

[sassafrass]

Yes I have had the same experience ,it thrived for a couple of years was fraged many times then unexpectedly crashed to bare rock . 2 months later it reapeared in the same spot and now 5 months later I have many heads and will start frraging once again. Never figured out why but it happens fairly often
Lee

 

[inachu]

Maybe Xenia death= their way of spawning?

 

[rustybucket145]

Have you double checked your salinity on a Refractometer? How are you testing salinity?

 

[singold]

My salinity fluctuates between 1.022 & 1.021 using a hydrometer. Can the variance of difference between a Hydrometer & a Refractometer be that significant? And is a Pulsing Xenia overly affected by salinity differences? Doing water changes, it seems difficult to keep SG at exactly 1.022, due to fact the salt mix is not concentrated exactly it seems. I can only get an exact on the water. I generally add 1/2 cup of Instant Ocean per gallon of water mixed to achieve 1.022. I mix over night using air flow in water before introducing to tank.

 

[OAD]

Your salinity is damn low in my opinion. I run at about 1.0255 on average. Randy Holmes recommends 1.026. This may not be why, but I think it is something you need to address.

 

[Tswifty]

Your salinity is low, but Xenia is known to thrive in the WORST conditions.

Your water may simply be too clean for it. Have you added any additional filtration recently?

 

[singold]

I thought I had read to keep at around 1.022, but certainly recommend your guys' experienced advise to bring it up higher.
I will add more salt concentrate to bring it up then. I remember back when was buying fish at LFS and I asked them what they kept their SG at and they said between 1.018 & 1.019 so I thought I was doing fine keeping at 1.022 as what I read. But I will go with your recommendations and bring it up higher.

 

[singold]

Per your other question "Tswifty", the answer is yes, I have added a Remora Skimmer recently about 2 weeks ago. Previously, all I had was a Fluval 305 & Whisper 60 as filtration.
I have had Xenia for about 4 months before added Skimmer & it was thriving.

 

[OAD]

Make sure you don't add salt to the tank. You want to slowly raise the salinity via water changes. Here is a useful calculator:
http://www.saltyzoo.com/SaltyCalcs/SalinityAdjust.php

And Randy Holmes-Farley article addressing water parameters:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

[singold]

Thanks for the links OAD, I will read up on them.

 

[OAD]

Never a problem to help.

 

[Robin764]

hmmm, newbie reply mebbee....but Xenia needs iodine to flourish? I am looking for xenia myself (pulsing kind), and I've heard mixed reviews....they either grow like weeds, or die. I know I recently read a thread where someone was asking about a xenia eater....they had so much.

Again, I'm not a pro, but when I think of Xenia I think of iodine/iodide. Frequent water changes will net you enough iodine, or you can test for it and add as needed. Never add anything un-tested for. Some real pro's need to chime in here....lol