Upset Xenia and Green Star Polyps

[mrg02d]

Hello all,
My GSP colony has been looking sickly for some time now (a month) and now my xenias are looking sick. The GSP has poor extension and only about half the colony wants to come out. The Xenias went bad over night. They are not closed up, but look tiny and white. When touched, they release what looks like white pollen into the water.
My water parameters:
Ammonia:0
Nitirite: 0
Nitrate: 0 (suspicious)
KH: 9dKH
pH: 7.8 (usually 8.2)
Calcium: 460ppm
Salinity: 1.025
Temperature: 78F

All other corals are doing alright. Even my Crocea clam is looking good. Fish are happy. Shrimp and hermits all happy.

The only thing that changed was some new trochus snails added a few days ago as well as putting purigen back in after recharging. I followed the recharge directions carefully. Added enough Prime and let it soak in the Prime+DI water for 12 hours or so before drying it out and leaving it for a week or so while I ran some clearmax for phosphates.

Cyanobacteria is on the decline, as is some hair algae. I just dont get it?
Xenias was doing great up till this AM. Star polyps were great for a few weeks, then slowly decline.

Matt

 

[match55]

need to get the pH back to 8.2
if you do your water test in the early morning, then that might be why your pH is a at 7.8.

and I heard that xenia tend to do better on warmer water.
I keep mine at 81.5~82F.

did u feed your corals?

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
Thanks for the reply!
Yea, I was surprised to see my pH low. It usually is 8.2 on the money. I will test later today and see if it raises. I also increased surface agitation to see if it increases pH.

I will turn up the heat on the corals.

No, I dont feed my corals. My tank is only 20g and it seems that feeding would cause me nutrient problems. Although I do have a bottle of Kent's Marine Zooplex.

Matt

 

[austinsdad]

No zooplex. You're right, it will foul things quickly.

 

[behaguef]

Matt:

Looks like I am running into the same problems with my Xenia (getting short and white) kind of melting away and the GSP getting light green and short extension as well. Water parameters are good except the nitrate at 12. I do not get it and really do not know what to do anymore.... I am using Reef Biofuel from Brightwell to get the nitrate down but NO results. Still the same..

 

[mrg02d]

Weird huh?
My Xenias are all but dead now. In a matter of hours, there is very little left! Although I am very sad about this, I am very intrigued! Maybe some sort of disease specific to them?

In a last ditch effort, I put my over powered lights back on the tank. (From another thread). Now instead of 96W they got over 160W of t5. We will see what they look like tomorrow.

Matt

 

[behaguef]

no ideas... I guess I am losing them as well. I would say the light may have been an issue. They were under 20K 150W MH and I did change my bulb to Phoenix 14K a month ago. Problem may be there...so do not get more light to your tank. I may be actually worse!

 

[match55]

I don't think the light is the main problem.
as GSP and xenia don't need a lot of light, I didn't even have a good light
I only have a 30W blight light and a 25W white light, and they r doing fine.

but! if your light bulbs r old, would suggest to change a new one.
I change my every 6~9months

do u have any invert in the tank?
It might be they nipping on your corals and made them stress.
this happened to my yellow ployps, the first day they opened up all high and happy, but after that night, it didn't open up till 8hours after I turned on my light, and I bet my hermits or peppermint shrimp have something to do with that.

so I will keep eyes on the invert if u have some.

 

[austinsdad]

Believe me. I've seen some of the healthiest tanks where xenia doesn't do well. It's a weird coral. Sometimes, you really cannot figure it out.

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
I have some inverts, but none pick at the corals. Its definitely something specific to the corals. I have two places in the tank that had xenia, now they are next to nothing. (Still hanging on)

It really is strange...There are no other corals nearby that could sting them either.
Matt

 

[goisles1]

as Austinsdad mentioned, they are a strange coral. I have read countless stories where healthy colonies just die for no apparent reason.

I have also heard stories of extremely established tanks that for some unknown reason can not keep Xenia alive. Who Knows...

 

[thincat]

I believe that "purigen" is at the root of your problem with your Xenia's. Xenia like a "Dirty" tank, by that I mean TDS. The new recharged Purigen removed so much TDS that your Xenia is having a hard time couping.

 

[mrg02d]

OH NO!!!!!!!!
My coral banded shrimp is dead! Its not his molt
Some zoanthid polyps are looking bad now too! What could be wrong? Could my purigen have not been recharged right and now bleach is in the tank?

What do I do? Something is killing my animals! I am running to the store for some GAC and getting ready to do a large water change.

Matt

 

[thincat]

Okay, don't panic. GAC and PWC is good. But don't over do it. 20-30% change in a day is more then enough, Running carbon is good also.

 

[mrg02d]

Hello,
Okay, so I did a 20% PWC and added the carbon to my AquaClear 50. Nothing else seems upset. I wonder what killed the CBS? He was just fine before class, then I come home from class to find the fish getting him. (They never mess with him). I also see he is near some sick looking zoanthids. (They are now closed up). The rest of the corals are acting fine. (Ricordeas, hammer coral, ect) The GSP are still looking pissed. (Half opened). Even the crocea clam is fully extended.

Any ideas? I did see alot of this slimy goo (clear) floating in the water attached to the heater and one of the snails shells. I sucked it out and it returned at night. (Sucked it out again).

Matt

 

[thincat]

Looks like you got it under control. Remember never panic because if you are not thinking straight you will mess it up even more than what it really is.
Good job...

 

[mrg02d]

UPDATE: My Xenias are coming back and my GSP look good as new. I dont know what went wrong, but I suspect it has something to do with the Purigen recharging process. Now I am very scared about using the stuff!

My coral banded shrimp died, and some zoanthids still havent recovered fully, but at least nothing else was harmed.

Any ideas what happened with the Purigen? Everything was fine when running it. It all went crazy after I recharged it.

Matt