pulsing xenia self destructs

[herbbie]

Does anyone know why a pulsing xenia would self destruct? All other corals are healthy, thriving and opening up. Fish are healthy, everything is fine, but the xenia started kind of shriveling, then not pulsing much, then splitting off piece by piece until there was nothing left. This took about a week from start to finish. It didn't slime up, or die in place or anything like that. Just split apart to nothing. Any ideas?

 

[jonthefb]

did it ever develop a brownish color over any of the stalks? i have no idea as to why it would do this all of a sudden. have you added anyhting new to the tnak recently such as fish/inverts, or rock that a hitcher could have came in on?
good luck, sorry to hear about your loss!
jon

 

[herbbie]

It actually looked the same until the end. Other than looking a little withered. No change in color, or texture. It didn't even look like it died. Just fell apart. When the pieces fell off, they would get caught up in the currents, and end up landing in a little tunnel under the rocks. So, I'm sure they will die without any light. I did get a couple of corals last week, but the xenia was already starting to do that before. There was a temperature change, because my daughters friend broke the glass on top, and I took it out to get a new piece made, and the opening allowed the temperature to drop several degrees, and it went down to about 74. THe glass has been replaced and it's up to around 78 now. I don't know about hitchikers though. Maybe.

 

[jonthefb]

the temp swing could have definately done it. what are you ca, alk, ph?
good luck
jon

 

[slowest is fastest]

Sorry to disagree but I do not believe the tempature swing was necessarily the culprit.
4 degrees is nothing for Xenis as my grow out tank has operated without a heater for almost a year and the temp goes from 82 during the day to lately around 66 to 74 degress at night. With nearly a 10 to 20 degree temp drop nightly and no losses temp doesn't seem to play that big a role.
I will say that I have mostly(not all) propagated (9th to 12th generation) xenia in the tank and that could play a big part.
Do you know what kind of xenia you had?
Was it wild or captive grown?
What are the Nitrate levels in the tank?
A sustained depressed PH can do bad things to xenia.
It sounds like you have had the xenia for awhile ? Did it ever expand and look healthy for more than a few days ? A wild Red Sea Pom Pom xenia can self distruct from shipping damage while a captive grown brown pulsing xenia can be dropped on the floor, picked up and flung agianst the wall, rinsed in fresh water and thrown in the tank, only to be out and pulsing the next day (yep done it )
Xenia is usually a good water quality indicator so I would start there.
HTH
SiF

 

[slowest is fastest]

Sorry to go on but one more thing I noticed from your signature is that you have 400 watt MH lighting. How close to the lighting was the Xenia ? My guess is that the place you bought it had it under lots less light ??
SiF

 

[jonthefb]

sif, you know your xenia!!!! i have a captive propped colony that experienced a temp swing from 82-84 where the temp is constant to 74 one night when it got real cold here. i lost one new colony that died similarly to what herbbie is describing. then again i also lost a colony several years ago to a purple tank wou woul dpick the heads off and then they would float around, and ultimately the colony died. kinda weird
good luck
jon

 

[herbbie]

OK. Just got done testing calcium, alk, and ph, nitrites and trates. All fall within ideal, normal range. I was concerned about water quality as I know a healthy pulsing xenia is a good sign of good water quality. But, everything else was fine. I thought maybe it was just going through something. Without any signs of sickness, I thought maybe this is how they propogate, but between last night and this morning, I lost the balance of what was left.
I've had the xenia for about 2 months. I'm not sure if it was wild or homegrown. It's been very healthy under the halides until this last week. Nice pulsing movement.
This is a mystery.

 

[javajoe]

Herrbie....
i will echo most of what everyone said, but also add one thing. I had this happen too-- i had a huge colony of xenias- enough so that i was giving them away 3-4 at a time-- lettuign them grow onto rocks, and removing them from the tank.
out of the blue this happened-- i lost about 50% of them- they just withered away to nothing. then the leftovers were fine.
i did lots of research on the net-- and found that in captivity, sometimes xenias "just do that". it's an unexplained phenomina. all the otehr suggestions are good- and you are right in that good xenia health is a sign of good water quality, but if you eliminate all potential causes, remove the dying parts if you can, and hope the rest survive. if not- i would not worry about it too much... even if you have a tiny fragment that survives, your whole colony will be back in 6 months...

 

[slowest is fastest]

Just out of curiosity what was the nitrate level ? More than 10 ppm ?
What was the PH? Less than 8.2 ?
Beyond that it is hard to say for sure but if you decide to try the xenia again look for captive grown......most are very hardy.
Darn purple tangs...much like dwarf angels most are hit and miss when it comes to feeding on Xenia (reef safe or not LOL)
SiF

 

[slowest is fastest]

The spontaneous meltdown has indeed happened to quite a few reefers. Here is what I know of it.
It happened to me once. I, like you, read everything I could but was lucky enough to come across an article about iodine and strontium. I do not like to raise the issue of additives because dosing them comes with a whole set of problems. What I will say is this. Since I began monitoring these two levels and adjusting for them I have yet to lose a single piece to a total unexpalained wipeout. Just about everyone that has had this happen has said the same thing. They had way more than they wanted and suddenly poof it all died. While large colonies are more suseptable to this than a single piece I do not think IMHO that this (meltdown) is normal. As far as herbbie losing his to this "unexplained phenomina" it is possible but not likely IMHO. No offense meant.
One last thing. Some Xenia (especially the pink creeping) can get a bacterial infection that can wipe it out. If you notice the colony turning yellow it is a sure sign. In which case plan on starting over because normally they will not recover.
HTH
SiF

 

[jumpfrog]

I feel your pain. I just went through that myself. As did my LFS owner, a 20 year reef veteran and a local marine biologist. None of our tanks had anything in common and all xenias started at about the same time and just melted away.
The best we could come up with is:: Sometimes they just do that. There may be a seasonal connection as well. Although many other locals with xenia had no changes.
Great thing about this hobby, plenty of mysteries.
Good Luck!

 

[blondenaso1]

Iodine is very key for xenia and as slowest is fastest mentioned i am sure none of us like the idea of adding supplements that we don't regularly test for, but we do know that elements such as iodine, strontium, and molybdenum are readily used up in our systems. For these instances I put some faith in the companies that seel these addatives and dose as recomended. I hope to god the people their did some research LOL.
I have had the same thing happen to my xenia and all I can say is that I have to agree with you guys, sometimes it just happens
By the way slowest is fastest, why don't you have a heater on your tank??

 

[herbbie]

Nitrate 0
PH 8.2
Again, the xenia didn't look like it was dying. No real change in color or texture, other than looking withered. I mean it did seem to look a little darker, but I thought that was due to shrinking in. When it was out and pulsing, it's color was lighter. It didn't have any "death" look to it. I mean, no slimy, gooey look. No flaking or tearing of tissue. Just sort of withered....
Thanks everyone for all of your help. Although there could be more to the story, like the iodine, or something else, but, it sounds like it is something that happens to xenias from time to time, and maybe I could or could not have saved it, but it's gone now. On the other hand, I think it's a beautiful coral, but I've also heard they can get out of hand with their growing like weeds, so I'm not sure if I will replace it or not.

 

[javajoe]

incedentaly- i do add tech-i for iodine supplement, as well as feed my xenias DTs....
if i were you, i'd replace them when you can-- they are a nice addition to the tank-- i know i would miss mine if they were gone... and they help buy corals for us-- we place little rocks next to them, let them 'climb on' and sell them back to our LFS-- one of the stores we go to no longer gets them in, they wait for ours....

 

[josh]

Hi,
Yes I have heard of this happening to many people, all at the same time. It is very weird indeed. I would guess it just has sometihing to do with the natural life cycle that we have yet to understand.
I doubt it was something you did If you got it from a LFS go there and ask if they have anyone else metion that their xenia took a header....chances are good that there are other people who had the same experience.
~ One thing i didn't metion...sometimes corals despite our best efforts just don't live in a home aquarium. For example, I have a nice table acro that is bleaching out ( dying ) while everything else in the tank is thriving. My guess he was wild caught..... I saw somewhere 10% just don't make it, no matter what we do.

 

[slowest is fastest]

The heater stuck wide open on the propagation system and cooked about 85 stalks of xenia remember I said I have yet to lose a single piece to a total unexplained wipeout ...this one was explained...lol also the part about dropping, kicking and flinging against wall...rinsing etc... was the same day.
I now rely on ambient room tempature to heat/cool the tank so far so good
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/feeronan/.../Xenia&.view=t
SiF

 

[slowest is fastest]

Xenia is the saltwater WEED....lol yes it can get out of control but like others have said it is very easy to propagate and I couldn't live without mine
Just for kicks JavaJoe check your PH just before your lights come on you may be surprised to find how low your PH is going.
Good Luck and don't give up on the Xenia
SiF

 

[javajoe]

slowest...
just for the record, my PH is fine. you are supposed to check it in the morning-- i check it regularly, and dose with kent dkh as needed.
if you test your ph in the evening wehen your lights have been on all day, you will get an inacurate reading, as PH drops when your lights are off.

 

[slowest is fastest]

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