feeding capanella?

[arkman]

I have a nice Kenya Tree coral (capanella sp.) (spelling?!?) that has recently lost some "luster" - not as big as it was, and spends more time "crunched". I have recently added a small xenia frag (pulsing like MAAAAD) and I turned the Capanella 180 degrees.
I've also started adding alk buffer as my alk was low <2 and calcium was >500 and brought that down with WC.
Just checked:
Temp 78
pH 8.2
Sg 1.026 (addind DI to level out evaporation loss)
alk 2
cal 450
Nitrate cycle has been totally flat.
I’m thinking it needs food? I had a “dirter” tank before – diatoms, cyano, etc – not the water is more stable. Thoughts? Food recommendations?

 

[justinx]

Try running some carbon for a couple days if you dont already. I know that some of the softies release toxins into the water. Maybe this is what is happening between your new xenia and capnella. Also, i only dose DT's in my tank, and my capnella has quadrupled in size in three months. AMAZING growth rates!

 

[arkman]

carbon is a good idea. I'll try that . Just added a polyfilter to see if there is any chemical in the tank.
Mine grew for a while also, then stopped (it reached the surface). Its at least 12" tall and the girth is...well...bigger than the average ____.
I've heard that xenia has very limited chemical warfare capabilities.
Anyway - sounds like you both feed, and its doing well...do you worry about nutirent acculmulation? (awful spelling, sorry)
Thanks!

 

[justinx]

Actually yes. I am having a problem with that right now and am in the process of a gradual reduction in how much i dose. But for the most part i havent noticed any adverse effects on the corals.