Help, what is happening with my xenia????

[Go Fish]

manklit Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2003 6:51 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am observing an increase of the shrinking after i added garlic soaked nori to feed my yellow tang.

I don't have access to the garlic suplements that you use to talk about, so i have to make some out of smashed garlic. I extract the juice from it and then let nori soak in it for 30 minutes.

When we had problems with our coral beauty we used crushed garlic, instead of garlic extreme or whatever. Anyway our Xenia started to shrivel up and even lose some of its "hands" when we tested our PH it was down to 7.8 :roll: brought it back up to 8.2 and a couple days later the Xenia started thriving again. As we continued to treat the CB we noticed that the garlic feeding was dropping the ph. Now I don't know if we were using too much or if it was the garlic itself. Anyhoo I have noticed that while the Xenia is a pretty hardy coral it is fairly sensitive to the ph.

So I know that you said your ph was 8.1 to 8.3, but have you checked it more than once or since you have been using garlic? Also I've noticed that if somebody walks by the tank or gets real close fast the Xenia will often receed quite quickly!

Mankilt, imo the garlic is affecting the ph :wink: But I do agree with reefnutz on the garlic remedies and stress free enviorment.

 

[Unarce]

Go Fish,

That's good info. If I ever have to use Garlic again, I'll do a PH test shortly after dosing. I wonder if there are other compounds in crushed garlic that may be causing the drop. I keep my alkalinity level pretty high and have only dosed the garlic during photoperiods, so I may not have had much fluctuation. I wonder how manklit's Xenia is doing.

 

[binylee]

Since you just got your Xenia. I highly suspect that your xenia has infection. Maybe it just got cut or damage during moving. I'm not sure how to treat it. But place your Xenia to the high current or powerhead flow. The current will carry the bacteria away from your xenia, which allow it to heal.

 

[alexmarto]

Well the xenia condition is the same polyps closed and almost no expansion. I will not feed garlic in the next days to see what happens. My tang is getting better tought.

I measure th pH constantly with an american marine ph monitor, calibreted of course.

I didn't observe any correlation between pH and the adition of garlic, but i assume that it is possible. I add kalk all day and as i said, my ph is always in the 8.1-8.3 range. The alkalinity is 10 dkh.

Don't you think that this is too much time for the coral to be in that condition?

I have two powerheads in timer that create a nice current in the tank. They don't blow directly trough the xenia but the corals is exposed to periods of little current and periods of a much stronger current.

At the beggining i thought the problem was the currents and i've played around with the powerheads but none of the combinations that i tried work.

manklit

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

Don't you think that this is too much time for the coral to be in that condition?

hi.
Nope. I feel that you may want to relax a bit and just wait until the Xenia recovers. I was worrying about a similar problem with one of my pompom Xenia, and over the course of 3 weeks, it came back to it former glory.

 

[binylee]

Read up on the topic like "Odine coral dip". It will talk about coral infesion and stuff..... May help you out. Basically, you will dip your Xenia into a solution to kill any bacteria that killing your coral.

Thanks

 

[alexmarto]

One more thing i want to add... a few days before i introduced the xenia, i had a cyano outbreak.

As i said before, it was defeated by protein skimming and my lobophyton, who sufferd a lot with the outbreak, recovered nicelly and completely (i think!).

There are a few small spots of cyano here and there. No bigger than the tip of a finger.

Could it be that there is some of this stuff in the water column and that this is the cause of the xenia behaviour?

Do you think that phosguard (seachem) will help?

manklit

 

[Unarce]

Again, the only effect I think the skimming may have had is the depleted nutrients. You really need to get rid of every patch of cyano that's left to avoid another outbreak.

Leather corals are a bit more hardier than Xenias and if your other inhabitants are thriving, maybe the problem was solely with the Xenia. How long did your LFS have it quarantined? I hear they're not the best shippers and may have just succumbed to numerous changes in environment and conditions.

Give it time, as Robin had suggested. As long as the tissue hasn't withered away, it may eventually make a full recovery.

 

[alexmarto]

My xenia is getting better!!!! The polyps are now much more expanded but remain closed. There are a lot of trhem trying to pump, even closed.

I'm gona keep my fingers crossed!!!

manklit

 

[alexmarto]

It is not 100% good but it's getting better every day. The pumping action is much more improved but totally uncoordinated. There are a few polyps that doesn't open.

I never fed garlic again and i think that was the cause.

Today i raised my HQI DE a bit and it seems to have improved polyp expansion.

manklit

 

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear it, my friend.

 

[alexmarto]

Thanks seamaiden!

An up-date: The coral is now almost as it was when i bought it. There are a few polyps that closed so much in the last hours that they disapeired leaving only a tiny white tip.

What is this white tip? Is it normal or do i need to worry about it?

manklit

 

[Sanfernando]

I'm not sure what the white tip is, but I personally wouldn't worry about it. I've had xenia for a few years, when I first got it, it was just a melted blob on a rock that was hard to see. As time went on it regrew and spread all over my tank, even after having the power go out last winter for a week and having the temperature drop to the low 50's, the xenia's recovered, though they did look like melted blobs again. What type of lighting are you using, I've noticed that they expand much more and pump vigorously in stronger light. Under my 400wt metal halides the pump, but in a seperate tank with NO bulbs they sound like your xenia.

 

[wombat1]

IME, xenia simply needs a good water changing regimen to flourish. Any time the polyps look deflated or shriveled, I do a small water change and they always seem to improve.

BTW, I have cyano growing in my fuge like mad. As far as I can tell, it doesn't affect my xenia at all.

 

[alexmarto]

I have 150W AB HQI DE 10000K. It's hanged at about 15" from the water surface. Xenia is 4" below water surface.

The light was nearer the coral in the past days but moving it (the light) higher seemed to improve polyp expansion.

The xenia is brown with greenish scent.

manklit

 

[charro]

I HAVE FOUND XENIA SEEM TO DO BEST WITH RO H20. THE LFS CHG'D THEIR FILTERS & SOMEHOW PUT THEM IN WRONG OR GOT THE WRONG KIND- NOT SURE JUST WHAT HAPPENED0., BUT AS A RESULT LOST ALL THEIR XENIA. DON'T KNOW IF THIS HELPS. I CAN'T SEEM TO KILL MINE SHORT OF THROWING THEM AWAY WHEN LFS DOESN'T NEED THEM. I RARELY GIVE THEM IODINE MAYBE 3-4 X YEAR - NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN PROPAGATING THEM. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL THOUGH & LOVE HAVING THEM.. WISHING U THE VERY BEST- THEY REALLY AREN'T VERY DEMANDING.