Zenia dying?

Slyguy00 · #1 08-01-2013, 03:19 PM

So Iv had my xenias for about 2 months. They came attatched to a bubble coral and have been doing great since I added them. It even started to multiply. My water conditions are prety good and everything else appears to be healthy. About a week ago, one of my bubble coral branches started to die and since 2 of the bubbles are gone. Now all 0f a sudden the xenia that is attatched to my bubble coral is starting to die. Has anybody ever seen this or know whats happening? Any help would be appreciated.

Proteus · #2 08-01-2013, 03:28 PM

How old is your tank.

What are params

tang daddy · #3 08-01-2013, 03:44 PM

Something could be off in your tank, Xenia while thought one of the easiest coral to keep can sometimes be a challenge. A few years back I couldn't keep it for the life of me, tried several times and finally gave up. Then 1 yr ago I got a frag of white Xenia and had it ever since, even after chopping and selling it several times it always comes back from a skin flap.

Lps coral can sometimes get brown jelly disease which will slowly kill the Lps coral and spread in the tank. I can't tell from your pics what is happening to your bubble coral, but Xenia likes medium alk. I keep the Xenia on purpose for this reason, if your alk is good they will pulse if its low they won't. Check your params and make sure everything is where it should be. If it dies you can always get a frag later as the lowermainland has lots. Good luck!

Slyguy00 · #4 08-01-2013, 03:57 PM

Thanks for the input guys. My tank is about 4 months old now, water perimeters are all within specified range. (ph=8.2 nitrates/trites=0 or very low amonia=0 KH=170 Calcium=420 phosphates=0) I havnt added anything for about a month now. Like I said everything else appears to be happy and healthy except my bubble coral and the one of the 2 xenias that are attatched to it. I attached a pic of the bubble coral. The ones that died off had a brownish slime where the bubble would have been but has since disolved. The other xenia on the same coral pulses like crazy

tang daddy · #5 08-01-2013, 04:00 PM

What is alk and mg?

One word of advice, next time a coral is dying or you see brown slime, remove the coral out of your tank and with a old toothbrush clean the brown slime off it, if the heads are dying on the branching bubble whatever is causing it to melt could spread to the other heads.

Slyguy00 · #6 08-01-2013, 04:02 PM

Well i could be wrong, but i thought KH is the same as alk? And if it is it is at 170 KH. As far as mag goes i dont have a mag tester yet. Just the hagen master test set. Is that something maybe I should look into?

tang daddy · #7 08-01-2013, 04:09 PM

I only measure alk so I don't know what 170 kh would equal, and mg to me is very important. Basically the basic 3 I test for alk,ca and mg. but more importantly watch your coral closely especially clean the brown slime off outside your tank so it doesn't spread.

Slyguy00 · #8 08-01-2013, 04:11 PM

Thanks for the input tang. What should I watch for? It appears the "dying" xenia has some like yellowish stuff starting to form on it and its like its almost starting to separate the xenia. If it does come down to me removing this coral how would I go about detatching the healthy xenia from the rest of it?

tang daddy · #9 08-01-2013, 04:45 PM

I don't know about the yellow stuff on the dying Xenia, you can use coral cutters to shear off the dying Xenia or if you want to remove the good Xenia the same thing, cut the skeleton not the coral to remove it. If I were you I'd remove the dying Xenia and try to carefully clean the rest of the coral with a tooth brush. Especially if you see the brown slime.

Proteus · #10 08-01-2013, 04:51 PM

170 ppm is 9.5 dkh