Tank Crashing ??

[chaseadream]

Alrighty Where do I begin ...I purchased some rock yesterday and when i came home to put it in the tank I noticed that all my Xenia was dead....Ack!!! Then this morning I went to the tank and notice that one of my three headed brain had a polyp bail out ACK!! .
It's sitting on the sand plump and full of color, can it be saved do i leave it where it is, or do i try to attach it to a rock???? or chuck it ???
Tested the water and it's not really bad nitrates raized a bit but nothing that would cause what is happening.
Got a convict goby last week which has been digging and stirring up the sand would that cause a cycle???? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ladybug5234]

I dont think the goby would cause that. Xenias are very moody corals and can wither away and die from one day to the next. Bubbles, frogspawns, and torches sometimes loose polyps without much incident. If your params all check out, I think it may be a string of coincidences. I don't think your tank is crashing by any means.

By the way, where'd you get your convict at?

 

[RicksReefs]

I 'think' she got it at that place on monterey and US1, but my memories pretty shot, so I could be wrong.

Wendy, as long as it's getting light, let the bailed polyp hang out where it is. chances are it's gonna be toast but occasionally they'll be in good enough shape to start to recalcify and grow a new skeleton.
the convict 'may' have caused the nitrate spike, but as long as they weren't over 15-20 ppm, I doubt that caused a problem. did you test for ammonia and nitrites?
and ladybug is right on, xenia is either a weed or a pain to grow, and when xenia crashes, it's usually pretty quick.

 

[SyliGoose]

My Xenia comes and goes with the wind. LOL

I started with one small $15 cluster from the LFS. I set a rock next to it so a piece would grow over onto it and put that into the small tank. Then the cluster in the big tank crashed. So I "grew" a piece from the small tank to put back into the big tank. And so on and so on.....back and forth. Currently I have a cluster in the small tank.....my cluster in the big tank withered away a few weeks ago. Working on "growing" a new piece to put back. HaHaHa!!

 

[Rascal1371]

It doesn't sound like your tank is crashing. Just a little disruption from adding something new. Often when you get new live rock it isn't fully "cured" yet. This means there is still some stuff on there that isn't finished dying yet. A lot of these things are inside the rock (boring sponges and mollusks, for example). It is possible that something released a chemical that was toxic to some of your other inhabitants. It is also possible they were just reacting to a change in their habitat. Either way, at times like this it doesn't hurt to make sure you have some fresh carbon and polyfilter in the system.

 

[RicksReefs]

.

 

[coraljunky]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13601930#post13601930 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rascal1371
It doesn't sound like your tank is crashing. Just a little disruption from adding something new. Often when you get new live rock it isn't fully "cured" yet. This means there is still some stuff on there that isn't finished dying yet. A lot of these things are inside the rock (boring sponges and mollusks, for example). It is possible that something released a chemical that was toxic to some of your other inhabitants. It is also possible they were just reacting to a change in their habitat. Either way, at times like this it doesn't hurt to make sure you have some fresh carbon and polyfilter in the system.

She said there was a problem before the rock was added.

 

[SyliGoose]

Correct. She got home....was "about to add" to new rock......and noticed the Xenia was having a problem. I don't think it's actually "dead" yet....but it's withering away on her.......

But the convict goby had been in there for a few days before.....which is why she asked about it stirring up the sand?!?!?!