please help: coral problem

[rica5tully]

I have a coral that looks like it is at death's door. It's a bright green, branching, SPS but I don't know what kind it is. It might be a pocillopora.

My tank has soft corals (mushrooms, xenia, green star polyps), LPS (frogspawn, pipe organ) and SPS (monti-cap). I know that's not the best, but I've just collected whatever corals came along. So far it's been working fine. The little green SPS has been flourishing for several months and growing like crazy.

About a week ago, it all of a sudden started rapidly turning grey/white and retracting. Now some of it looks dead.

Everything in my tank has remained stable except that I fragged some pulsing xenia and put one frag near the SPS.

1) Can Xenia be harmful to SPS?

2) Can fragging Xenia put toxins in the water like a toadstool?

3) Any other suggestions on what could be wrong?

My levels are all normal, my bulbs are still young, temperature is about 82 (high, but normal) and everything else in the tank looks fine.

Thanks for any suggestions.
ET

 

[Marcus71]

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what kind of lighting?

I frag my pom poms all the time and no effect to my tank, i have some next to corals and no problems there either.

 

[rica5tully]

I have it under PC lighting about 4 watts per gallon. I know that isn't much.

What is so strange is that for the first month or two I had the coral in there, there didn't seem to be any growth at all. Then all of a sudden it just exploded and was growing branches and looks terrific. And now it's crashing hard.

Could it have run out of calcium or something? But I'm dosing with Kalk and some 2-part. Plus, even though my test kit reads low calcium, I have purple algae spreading like crazy.

 

[Bri Guy]

Ive heard of xenia releasing a toxin when distrubed/fragged, this is why they have a poor shipping record, they kill themselves by releasing there toxin, and in a small bag its gone.

This may be the reason, just trouble shooting for ya.

Is it dying on the side the xenia is on?

Ive got some digita under pc's and for months it grew and did great, now it has lost alot of color and isn't growing much. Ive changed nothing in the water chemestry, and even changed bulbs with no success. Sometimes it just leaves you stumped.

But if everything else is doin alright, I wouldn't change the system for one coral.

Good Luck!

 

[rica5tully]

That's interesting. Thanks.