Rotting Xenia...Please Help

[carribear]

I noticed earlier today that two of the hands on my Xenia seemed to be rotting. Well, I went to work tonight and when I got home, the whole arm looked dead and the trunk is all shrunk up and half white. I have many other corals including other Xenia and they look o.k. All levels seem to be in check. Any advice. I was thinking maybe my frogspawn was really reaching, but it just doesn't seem like a sting to me. Please help before I lose it. It's hard to tell in the pics as my lights were off.

[Amphiprion]

I've never been able to stop this. It is a shutdown reaction and it spreads rapidly, taking out most or all remaining colonies. Any number of things theoretically cause it, so it is difficult to narrow down. The best advice I can give you is to place it in higher water motion and see if that helps. Unfortunately, I doubt it will.

[carribear]

It sounds kind of harsh, but what if I cut off as much of the dead arm as possible? I moved it back to the location that it was at for about a year, but was outgrowing it. The dead hands are just falling off and it seems to be putting up a fight. the trunk looks a little thicker this morning, but its still leaning over pretty good. Thanks for the tips. I will keep you posted.

[Ace25]

Yes, take a razor blade and cut as much as the dead stuff away. If it is an infection causing the problem it will only keep spreading unless you cut off the dead stuff. Although from the picture it seem like it is dying right at the base/stalk which like Amph stated is usually fatal.

[Amphiprion]

You can try it, but if it is a shutdown reaction, even that won't help. Definitely worth a shot, though.

[carribear]

How far down the trunk can I cut? Here is what it looks like today.

[Ace25]

I would cut it off at the base, about 1/8th inch below the white on the stalk leaving just the base of the Xenia behind. Then take out the head and put it on a table and cut off the dead stuff on the other side of the stalk if you can and stick the heads somewhere in the tank preferably rubber banded down to a rock if possible. I really don't think the top of that xenia is savable myself though. If you have other Xenia in the tank already you may want to follow Amphs advice and just take out the problem xenia so it doesn't spread to other healthy ones. If it were me I would just toss the entire top part of the xenia and just leave the base behind and hope it regrows.

[carribear]

You guys rock! Thanks for the help!

[carribear]

O.K.! I fragged the other two heads off. They didn't have much of a base because the Xenia was really shrunk up but they look ok. I netted them to a rock. I will let you know how it goes. I did my best to make sure there was no white on the frags. Any idea what causes this? I know you said earlier that you weren't sure, but could it be a sting from the fragspawn? I'll post pics when I take the netting off. Thanks for the advice.

[Amphiprion]

A sting doesn't usually manifest itself like that, IME. It usually curls up, but doesn't disintegrate. Also, Xenia is fairly sting resistant.

As far as causes, lots of things are implicated. This includes a lack of nutrients or a particular limiting nutrient. Also, one colony could die for an unrelated reason and cause a shutdown reaction to the rest. Particles may be released that cause this chain reaction, known as VLPs or virus-like particles. I don't believe much research has been done with VLPs and Xenia, but I doubt they are unique to stony corals.

[carribear]

Good to know. Well, I hope that fragging worked. The frags look good. The hands are already pulsating again. I will post pics if it works. Thanks again for the advice and information!

[carribear]

Today my Galaxia is dying. Yesterday it was looking better than ever and today, I have aready lost two polyps over night. I just did a 10% water change. Going to go get more, but that is all I had on had. Could this be from the Xenia? My Galaxia has never been unhappy. Should I do like a 50% water change to get rid of as much of whatever it is killing everything? Please help before my whole tank goes down.

[Amphiprion]

Okay, what are your water parameters, what are you using to test them, what is your water source, and what salt are you using? That will be the baseline needed to determine much of anything. A large water change most likely will help, but if parameters in the salt mix are off, it may exacerbate it.

[carribear]

OK....
Salinity .025
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
PH 8.1
Nitrate Less than 5
KH 10
Haven't gotten around to testing Ca yet, but am getting there. My nitrates are a little higher than usual. I even took my water to the LFS today to make sure my test was good and everything was the same. I get my water from my LFS and to be honest with you, I can't remember what salt they are using, but he said they haven't changed anything. I asked because it recently changed ownership. I haven't added anything in months. Everything else, as of today) still looks good. Is it possible dead pieces from the xenia yesterday landed on the galaxia and infected it? I am doing another water change in a few. Any advice is welcome!

[Amphiprion]

It is possible that the dying event could have influenced some problems with the Galaxea, but it is good to cover all bases. Do you know the purity of the water the LFS is giving you? I always recommend verifying total dissolved solids independently of whatever LFS you use. I know quite a few, at least in my general area, that weren't above selling sub-par quality water (or downright tapwater). Again, just to cover any bases. Go ahead and perform the water change and observe everything carefully for any obvious problems.

[carribear]

I have used their water for the last two years because they were recommended to me, but I should definately ask more questions. Thanks for the heads up. I know with the economy in the crapper they may be cutting corners or using a lower grade salt. That would just be downright wrong, but not surprising. Thanks!

[carribear]

So I took pics of my tank two days ago and everything was fine. The only thing I did to my tank that day besides feed was pull some hair algae, which I do in a regular basis. That night I noticed that one type of xenia was all closed up. The other was fine. Here are the pics from two days ago and today. Any ideas, and should I just cut off the bad looking parts again? This is the same one that I cut down to a nub a few months ago.

[ToeJam]

Anything can set them to close up from time to time...relocation by you or (Fish) of the rock they sit on....strong current hitting it.... Having one group do this once in a while is not terrible thing. It's when you see all of them do it is when a alarm should be going off. Good thing about Xenia they can tell yah if your water is going south if you havn't been testing. Well in my experience it has. Happy pulsating Pom poms spreading like weeds says "Water is fine".

Anyway....just observe....and report if it stays that way for more than 2 days. When in doubt in cases like this...Test Your Water.

Just observe the others. As long as your water tests show good parameters I wouldn't stress it. Xenia are tough sons a #($#. Mine are all over places I don't want them on. Like the back wall of my tank! stupid xenia.


I may be blind but are those not two different xenia? Poms in middle and regular ones on the right?

[carribear]

Yes they are two different and the pom poms are fine and my regular are going south. Seems strange. some of the fingers are turning white. should I frag them off?

[Amphiprion]

Sounds like the typical meltdown type issues. Just try to frag what you can. Act quickly, because it spreads fast and they all start to rot.

[ToeJam]

Sounds like the typical meltdown type issues. Just try to frag what you can. Act quickly, because it spreads fast and they all start to rot.

Oddly I have these symptoms all the time when I move them...move a Hydor in a new direction....(stupid fish pushes the rock into new spot )

I sorta want mine to melt down on the wall...pointed a Hydor at them for a week...all they did was look shorter and like a fly on the windshield...Held on tighter!

[Amphiprion]

The last time I had Xenia, the whole colony went up in smoke just like this. I didn't even do anything to it and it still died. It had the stereotypical growth spurt, took over like wildfire, and then died off completely.

[ToeJam]

The last time I had Xenia, the whole colony went up in smoke just like this. I didn't even do anything to it and it still died. It had the stereotypical growth spurt, took over like wildfire, and then died off completely.

That's one thing so odd with Xenia.... I can't put my finger on it. Some tanks I had the xenia would just melt away..... Other tanks it would grow like crazy ...so badly I had to prune them monthly.

Current tank its odd.... The super slow current area with shade seems to be the ideal growth spot...

the one in the open but bottom pulses less but is pristine looking.
The other in the flow bombardment spot...looks like the runt of the bunch.

Then there is the ones on the wall.....spreading like a disease...getting hit by a Hydor Kor #4 and still doesn't die.

[Jstdv8]

ive read that tanks that have units in place to lower nitrates (particularly turf scrubbers) pull so many nitrates out that the xenia cannot survive as its one of the few coral that needs a fair amount to live on. IMO this is why most "dirty" tanks grow xenia like weeds.