Xenia's are dying. please help

[chiefrokka]

here's my 75g tank

I just put 200 lbs. of LR with all the corals you see in my tank this past sunday from another reefer. I think the xenia are starting to decompose or something. It's like their shedding or their layer of skin is ripping off... a lot of them are starting to with some extremely bad. what can i do???

params aren't the best and I'm doing frequent water changes with RO to try and help.
calcium = 500
nitrites = 0
amonia = 0
nitrates = 50+ (i think. red sea marine test sucks)
phosphates = .2
Alk = 2.9-3.6
PH = 8.2
KH = 12

 

[chiefrokka]

should I rip off the flaking skin layers on some of these xenia's that are just peeling off?? or is it best to just let nature take it's course?

 

[FEEDERFISH]

Where did you get your 200lbs of rock from...did you just get a shipment, do you have a skimmer, i think you just added a HUGE bioload to your tank after you have already added fish and a few corals

 

[chiefrokka]

yes, i have euro-reef 6-2 skimmer running for about a week. I got 200 lbs. of rock that had ALL the coral on it already from another reefer who had it in his tank for 2 years. I've had the fish for like 2 months in my tank now which only had about 15 lbs. of rock at the time.

so i added the LR and coral at the same time since it came with it. It was a sweet deal that I couldn't pass up.

 

[sean48183]

Let it ride. Xenia are relatively hardy. They might make it through. The only thing in your parameters that looks awry is your nitrates. I would try to reduce that somehow. I like to use algae in a fuge for nitrate reduction. You could add one to your wet dry.

 

[chiefrokka]

ya, i wish my sump was big enough to grow some algae.. i can barely fit my skimmer in it

 

[ACBlinky]

Those don't actually look too bad, they'll probably pull through just fine. I agree some water changes to get NO3 down are a good idea, but I wouldn't panic - Xenia is usually pretty tolerant of nitrates and phosphates in the water. My guess is they're more stressed from the move than anything else.

 

[chiefrokka]

my LFS said if you see any that are completely drooping and look dead for sure, then get rid of them NOW as they are making chemicals go crazy... can anyone confirm to do this?
a few are completely drooped, where another 5-10 are showing mucas or yellow pussing out like their shedding.

need a little more help... do they shed their skin at all normally or is this def. a sign they are dying/stressed/etc?