All Xenia's are dead

[TheGuyWho]

I don't know what is going on, but all of my Xenias have shriveled up and died. I had three separate bushels growing in three different places in my tank. The first one to go was at the bottom, then the other one was a little higher up, and now my last one has died and it was close to the top. There was no warning, and there seems to be no explanation. I tested my water again and there's still no change in the water perams... Everything looks good and I haven't added anything new to my tank in at least a month, if not more.
Anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this?

[sanababit]

first there i s no easy explanation to what happened to your coral, it could be one thing or 10 things, first we need your parameter values, second, any changes in equipment, third any changes in filtration (started using gfo, vodka, etc)...FWIW, xenia in my case has been a weed that down the road you are going to be happy it died, but that is just me, if you want to keep it then we need more info and values, and maybe we can work something out....

sana

[romanr]

Generally PH or ALK problem are the culprits but if that's not the problem then I would look at something that was messing with them. As stated above there are many things that can be causing this. For example, my Xenia slowly disappeared when I pulled up my sandbed. The cleaner water did them in.

[~reefchik~]

Did you ever dose iodine?

[jimmy n]

Xenia is a canary coral. Once they start looking bad, it's time for a water parameter check and major water change.

Or it's time to celebrate, because they can be a pest coral as well.

[ddinox64]

Theguywho. Hey buddy, mine too just did the shrivel up and disappear act. While everything else is getting bigger. The only thing to do so.

But I now see three little stems starting to come up. There seems to be no difinitive answer for this. The answer may not be in water parameters for if it were, there'd be problems abounding in the system, not just the single species. No matter where they're placed.

I am far from expert or even novice in the part of aquarium keeping. But I read alot of posts, not only here, by people doing this stuff for many many years. They wince that you need to do water changes right now and double and triple check water parameters. If all else but that one thing is doing well, it is something other than water conditions. They're all in the same water column.

Another intersting thing is that when things do die, and there is no ill effect on the other inhabitants. Your filter system must be working properly in a closed system such as an aquarium.

It's a bummer. But sit back and watch to see what happens. For as they say in the animal kingdom. From death springs new life.

[flamron]

what fish do you have in your system? May have been eaten.

[Shablin]

I have tons of xenia in my 210; I use them for trade and credit at my LFS. I add a little iodine on a regular basis; Ive read of people having their colonies crash and blame it on iodine issues

I agree that they can be an earrly signal as to problems with water quality; sometimes it can be things you cant measure such as a pollutant; if all your params are fine, try running some fresh carbon and you may want to add or test your iodine (Ive never tested but probably should; too much iodine is also a bad thing!).

[demonboy369]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15270451#post15270451 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ddinox64
Theguywho. Hey buddy, mine too just did the shrivel up and disappear act. While everything else is getting bigger. The only thing to do so.

But I now see three little stems starting to come up. There seems to be no difinitive answer for this. The answer may not be in water parameters for if it were, there'd be problems abounding in the system, not just the single species. No matter where they're placed.

I am far from expert or even novice in the part of aquarium keeping. But I read alot of posts, not only here, by people doing this stuff for many many years. They wince that you need to do water changes right now and double and triple check water parameters. If all else but that one thing is doing well, it is something other than water conditions. They're all in the same water column.

Another intersting thing is that when things do die, and there is no ill effect on the other inhabitants. Your filter system must be working properly in a closed system such as an aquarium.

It's a bummer. But sit back and watch to see what happens. For as they say in the animal kingdom. From death springs new life.


It is true that they are all in the same water column but that does not mean they all tolerate the same things the same way.

Its like sitting on the beach, You have a gardener, a contractor, and a novelist sitting together... Will they all tan the same? No. Because everything reacts differently due to the genetics, habits, and natural habitat.

[jimmy n]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15270451#post15270451 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ddinox64

They wince that you need to do water changes right now and double and triple check water parameters.

Whenever something in my tank looks poorly, I immediately check my alkalinity (burned sps before), ammonia/nitrates (something dead that you missed). I then clean my skimmer and do a water change with RO/DI water on hand.

Primum non nocere. This is sound advice as you cannot make the situation worse with these actions. Knowledge is power; you now know whether your tank parameters are in line or not. A water change, unless too large, is rarely detrimental. It also helps dilute pollutants and correct most parameter problems.

Leaving things as they are without checking any parameters, on the other hand, is the ostrich approach. Things can get worse.

[DidYouSayReefer]

Mine did the same thing. I am happy about it though becuase it was over growing all of my other corals. Now it is about gone and as long as everything else is happy, I am good to go.