Kenya Tree Shriveling

[Llamafluf]

Four days ago I added two colonies of zoas then did a water chance the next day (dipped both the zoas in coralrx). The kenya tree was fine for the first two days but for the last two has been semi-closed or completely closed. I have no idea what is going on.
Here are my water parameters:

Ammonia:0ppm
Nitrite:0ppm
Nitrate:.5ppm
Salinity: 1.025
Ph: 8.2

 

[MondoBongo]

when i kept kenya trees they would sometimes get angry and close up for up to a few days, seemingly without provocation. they always returned though.

are you running carbon? soft corals are notorious for allelopathy, and the palytoxin contained in certain z's and p's would certainly fit the bill for chemical warfare.

 

[Llamafluf]

I am running brand new carbon that I added during the water change.

 

[Llamafluf]

* I rinsed the carbon in DI water

 

[Llamafluf]

Would this be a bad time to change my light bulb as its time to change it.

 

[MondoBongo]

Nah I would go ahead and change it. Probably isn't a factor here. I would just wait and see. Sometimes Kenya trees just get grumpy for a few days. Unless you can pinpoint a problem or notice other issues.

 

[Llamafluf]

Good. Cause I just spent the two hours changing the light.

 

[Llamafluf]

Also should I be concerned about the fish if the theory about the toxin is true?

 

[mmittlesteadt]

Occasionally my Kenya trees will "deflate" to almost nothing for a while...then, BOOM! They come back even bigger and better than before.

 

[Llamafluf]

Okay this is making me feel a lot better because it is getting smaller, my lawnmower blenny is bigger then it now (still pretty big my lawnmower blenny is six inches long).

 

[mmittlesteadt]

Okay this is making me feel a lot better because it is getting smaller, my lawnmower blenny is bigger then it now (still pretty big my lawnmower blenny is six inches long).

I noticed you posted in my "softie" thread. My Kenya Trees are huge now and to this day, they still occasionally deflate and shrink down to almost nothing (usually at night, but sometimes for a few days), and then they suck in a bunch of water and inflate to even bigger than they were. There is almost no tissue to Kenya Trees. They are like water balloons.

I've found they like dirty water as they (along with my other softies) soak up nitrate. My water looks crystal clear, yet I feed my fish a lot, every day and my skimmer really gets a lot of gunk out, yet I have no nitrates showing on any test kits.

 

[MondoBongo]

Also should I be concerned about the fish if the theory about the toxin is true?

I wouldn't think so, but I'm not sure. I don't recall ever seeing anything about fish being negatively affected by being in the same tank as certain corals.

 

[exsequor]

I have a lot of larger kenya trees, my largest one, the original they all mostly derived from, will deflate for no reason every now and then.

Also, since I keep a near full size C.B. Angel and a 6.5" starry blenny, they have the ability to mess with it and some other corals if they get hungry. If they're fed 3 times a day minimum, no issues. 2 times a day and they'll bump into corals occaisionally, NOW IF I FEED 1 time a day or less and the angel starts to frag my kenya trees for me

So you could also have a fish that likes to nip it / swim into it.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

It could also be shedding, which all leathers do from time to time.

 

[miranda1960]

indeed shedding.... when a soft is new in the tank it can be a little bit of stress also... they have to get used at the light.. your water... different places etc etc...