New To Reef, Missing Pulsing Zenina

[crisischristine]

HELP.... I HAD A BEAUTIFUL ZENIA AND IT DISSAPEARED TUESDAY NIGHT WHILE I WAS SLEEPING. IT SEEMED FINE AND HAPPY WHEN I WENT TO BED AND WHEN I GOT UP IT WAS GONE!!!!
I HAVE IN MY TANK:
TWIN SPOT ANTHIAS
MAROON CLOWN
PEPPERMENT SHRIMP
RED FLAME SCALLOP
2 GREEN CROMIS
DIAMOND GOBY
RAINFORD GOBY
POSSIBLE PREDITORS?
CORAL BEAUTY AND 3 CRABS I NEVER SEE?
I REALLY REALLY LIKE HAVING NEW GROWING THINGS IN MY TAMK BUT SOME OF THEM ARE NOT LIVING IN MY TANK, IS IT POSSIBLE THEY ARE GETTING CHOMPED? MY WATER IS TESTING OK, I HAVE A REGULAR SALT TEST KIT. I HAVE A LARGE CORALIFE LIGHT AND MOONLIGHT. PROTEIN SKIMMER IS WORKING, ANY SUGGESTIONS?????
THANKS

 

[Electrobes]

Welcome to Reefcentral.com!

Hmm okay first let's try to stay off the CAPS buttom.. I know I know... you wanna leave up to your RC handle

Now Xenia is a REALLY delicate coral when it comes to new tanks. Any number of things could have killed it let alone it may have died due to conditions.

Aside from the living inhabitants in your tank what else can you tell us about your tank? Knowing the Temperature (It's swing throughout the day would be mega-helpful), the pH, Ammonia (A bit killer with many corals... but it would have to be high... but also remember that Xenia is delicate).

When Xenia dies on it's own, they usually died and "disintegrate" quickly. Just something you should know.

Xenia Killers:
- Temperature swing
- pH swing or just plain out of whack
- Salinity too low or high
- Ammonia being high would cause it stress
- Etc etc.

Fish:
- A coral beauty could definitely be the killer. They are often seen as having about 30%-40% of being a coral nipper, and worse is that this percentage goes on through out it's life. It won't just pick one of the choices and live out the rest of it's life with that choice.

- What type of crabs do you have? If they are Emerald crabs.. they too could be a culprit but to be honest I haven't seen THAT many Emeralds attack corals... but this isn't to suggest I have never not seen an emerald be a bastard and clip corals.

I recommend getting some other hardier soft corals before going with the Xenia. You could try a Toadstool leather, Tree leather, etc. Ask around here.. you've got thousands of people who can help you out!

 

[Froggy]

I agree with the above post and would like to stress crabs as a possible culprit. In the early stages of my reef, I had some hitchiker crabs that would eat a lot of softy type corals. i.e xenia, kenya tree coral etc. I watched while a hairy crab chowed on the xenia. I could not catch the crab and the xenia was just a nub the next day.

I have also had xenia just "melt down" for no apparant reason and all other corals were doing fine.

 

[Sk8r]

I've also seen a peppermint do a dance on mine, which drove it down to nothing for at least an hour. It was undamaged from that. I think it was new to the shrimp. There was aiptasia growing next to it, and I think the shrimp mistook the source of the aiptasia-smell.

 

[crisischristine]

Thank you so much for your suggestions! My water temp is 80 degrees
amonia-0
clorine-0
ph-8.0
nitrates-0
salinity is 1.022
I do have a lot of algae, brown, pink and red???
I have a little crab the size of a nickel brown color, a bright red crab the size of a quarter, and this big white hairy crab about 1 and a half inches long. All three came off live rock I had purchased. I haven't seen them in forever but I know they are in the sand somewhere. My Xenia, (sorry I spelled it wrong) is just gone!!! No stem, nothing. I have a red chilli sponge in the tank and little things growing off the rock. The chilli has been in there for quite a while with no problems yet. Should I move my coral beauty to another tank and try to catch my crabs? I have a 30 gallon salt tank that I am just cycling so I couldn't move the beauty yet but I do not like to kill anything so I don't want her destroying things I put in my reef tank. I got some wrong information I guess because I was told they were very hardy and great to start. This is a great place to be able to come to ask questions. There are no stores to go to and ask, everyone tells you what ever it takes to sell the product. I don't want to kill anything, I will do what I need to do to keep them alive. I love my fish and really appreciate this site Thanx again.

 

[CCWS]

I think your salinity is way too low. It should be 1.025-1.026.

 

[crisischristine]

I was just in melves reef's page and was like, wow, my salt must be low. I am learning so much just wandering around everyones conversations I feel like I don't know anything now. I have had my salt water tank, just fish for years. I feel bad for them now, I wish I knew more.

 

[CCWS]

Don't worry about it we all continue to learn and sometimes make mistakes. Believe me, I have made my fair share.