Xenia attacked

[Jarred Darque]

I dont know what attacked it, but there was a chunk of the Xenia in the sand, and the remaining xenia doesnot look happy.

The current suspects are
The Domino Damsel: Very agfressive, atacks me when my hand is in the tank
Banded Coral shrimp: Likes to chase the damsel around the tank
Hermit crabs.


Other occupants include:
Sand Sifting Sea Star
Snails...lots...
Anemone Crab
Emerald Crab
Sepent Sea Star, Tiger Striped
Sea Cucumber, Tiger Tailed

Any ideas?
BTW, the damsle is leaving soon. Getting tired of the attacks..being replaced with gobies and clowns eventually


Also of note. I lost a nudibranch a while back..no idea why..just died..

The Xenia has been in the tank for a little over a week, has looked great the entire time.
No other corals seem to have suffered any damage, they all look great.
Corals include
Xenia,
Leather
Ricordia,
Hammer Coral
Star Polyps (Had a rock, those didnt make it, had some hitchikers on the leather same time I got the rock of polyps, the ones with the leather are fine)


BTW..all the other corals in the tank look excellent. I need to get some good pics to show

 

[melosu58]

If I had to make a choice I would say one of the crabs.

 

[Jarred Darque]

ok, well teh anemone crab, I never see him out during the day, the attack happened durin the day, was fine in the mornin, not fine in the afternoon.

do you think an emerald crab would do that?

 

[melosu58]

I would not rule any of the crabs out. They might not have done it but on the other hand they have the potential.

 

[madhatter208]

Anemone Crab - Read He's not Reef safe.. but I dont know from 1st hand knowledge.. its just what I've heard

 

[pinkie]

Also of note. I lost a nudibranch a while back..no idea why..just died..

Nudibranch are extremely difficult to keep because they are picky eaters and most die because they run out of a food source that they're willing to eat, as most won't eat any in the tank. Their life span is only about a year even in the wild so who knows, maybe you got one that was 8 months old and it just reached the end of it's life span. A fascinating creature though.