Are My Corals Dying? Pictures Inside!

[Eigdoog]

Hello,

My pulsing xenia looks VERY unwell to me, the colour is green on alot of the parts. here are the pictures

^The heads are most green on this one^

^This one looks the worst!^

^The stem is a weird colour^


I dont know what to say about these really

This coral dont look to great as well.

It used to stand tall not now kinda droops down.

This week for two days i moved everything around and wondered is it just upset with me? but alot of the other corals look ok, thing is all the xenia looks bad (5-6 spots around the tank)

I took a water sample in before they looked unwell (befor i put my hand in) and they said that my maguesium and calcium was low but my K/H was ok

maguesium: :1200: :they said it needs to be: :1350
calcium: :390: :they said it needs to be: :410
K/H: :9.3: :they said it needs to be: :7-10

So they sold me "Tropic Marin" "Bio-Magnesium" and it says that
--------------------------
Dosage: One level measuring spoon increases the magnesium level of 30 gallons (us)/25 gallions (imp)/110l of tank water by about 5ppm.
LATER DOWN
The recommended maximum dose is 4 measuring spoons per 30 gallions (us)/25 gallion(imp)/ 110l os aquarium water per day!
--------------------------
Does this mean i need to put in over 30 spoons full? I did put in 4 spoons yesterday

My tank is:
Osaka 155
155L curved glass aquarium set
Aquarium Dimensions:
W 61cm x D 46cm x H 61cm

Ask me for any more pictures or anything!
Many Thanks Eigdoog

 

[BigC]

I'd forget about dosing things and just perform waterchanges until you prams come back into line. Xenia need to be in a good moderate flow area and if anything they need a small amount of Iodine. All the chemicals you need will be in the salt mix to a certain degree.
Regards
BigC

 

[Eigdoog]

When i do water changes i buy RO water and add my own salt till its 1.025. plus when i do water changes should i move the syphon sucker on the sand as it sucks up alot of the sand into my bucket?

Do they look unwell to you? when i put my hand in i did move them all around and may have touched them alot.

Thanks Again Eigdoog

 

[BigC]

Please excuse me as I'm only a novice on this side of the fence, but with my limited knowledge I would say...
Yeah they look kinda sickly to me. Just do normal waterchanges throughout the week and see if that helps. Sounds very like a water problem to me and although I'm only a novice myself I would not have rushed in and dosed anything on a wing and a prayer. You may have already lost some of the xenia going by a couple of the pics but maybe all is not lost for the remainder.
Regards
BigC

 

[Eigdoog]

I only put the bio-magnesium in as they said i need this for my corals as they eat it or something.

When i do water changes i buy RO water and add my own salt till its 1.025. plus when i do water changes should i move the syphon sucker on the sand as it sucks up alot of the sand into my bucket?

Is that ok to do? i know you said your a novice and i would class myself at that

Thanks Again Eigdoog

 

[IIITYIII]

im a novice as well but i as well have pulse xenia and my friend has it as well who grew it for his dad be careful if your tank is too clean they will not live. some people may disagree but pule xenia lives off of nitrates or nitrites in the tank i dont remember which but my friends dad did a water change weekly and they ended up dieing because the tank was too clean so be careful.

 

[littleme1969]

Xenia is very tough in generall. The red sea which you have is less so than the pom pom which is pretty indistructable.
It does look stressed in the pics, but many things can cause this. Is it collapsed like that all the time? As it will close down at the end of the day just before lights out, then re open again when lets have been on for an hour or so. There could be something actually having a go at it. Ive seen crabs eat the stuff if they are hungry and nothing else is around. Or it may be that you have some water quality issues. Yes your stats are a little low, but not low enough to cause an issue with xenia. How are your ammonia and nitrate levels? as hight levels of either can cause the xenia to shrivel. Also have you added anything to the tank that may hev been contaminated with fish meds etc such as rock?
If all you stats are OK and you have had no change in the tank then I would add some carbon to what ever filter system you have to be on the safe side and keep an eye out for pests. Maybe try a bottle trap bated with shrimp to see if anything comes out.
Also what is you set up like, fish etc and do you have a full tank shot.

 

[johnnyjtaylor]

I would check your water quality like littleme said(I think this the most likely problem), although you should check for phosphates aswell as ammonia and nitrate. You may have another coral engaging in chemical warfare with your xenia so I would also try some activated carbon if I were you. Another thing xenia hates is low ph.
Also your corals don't eat magnesium! It may be a good idea to read up on reef chemistry before you start dosing your tank with stuff ,a bit of understanding makes all the difference (getting your own test kits is also a good investment)

Read thisarticle on reef chemistry and this one has a lot about magnesium

 

[Eigdoog]

Just to start off with, here are the pictures of the tank in full (the back rock is fake like fibre glass stuff that i bought this week). The rocks and corals at the bottom of the tank have not been put anywhere as i have ran out of putty so they have to be on the floor of the tank.
The new rocks (only small for frags) did come out of the sump at the marine shop that i know they had copper in (as they told me not to add their water as there is alot of copper in their tanks with fish in) could they have been uncured when i got home?

The old look

I have in this tank:
Fish
2 * Pajama Cardinals
2 * Clarkii Clowns
1 * Copperband
1 * Regal "Blue" Tang
I will get a bigger tank in the near future

Corals
Ricordea Yuma
Pulsing Xenia
Emerald Polyp
Leather Coral
Acropora Granulosa
And two more frag corals i dont know the names.

I did test my PH and Nitrite they were:
PH: :7-7.5.
Nitrite: :0.05.
I cant do ammonia as i dont have that test kit
Nor can i do phosphates as i dont have that one as well (they said i dont need it YET)

I know they're both very bad i did try a water change about 7-10 days ago but that did not change anything (also did the filter that was not dirty)


I did get told that activated carbon is very bad for corals (when i looked it up) so i get told one thing from some poeple and something elsa from others.


Many Thanks Eigdoog

 

[johnnyjtaylor]

Copper in your rocks would be very bad, I would ask your LFS if those rocks had the water with copper meds going through them and if so take those ones out.
Your ph is way too low for xenia and really doesn't want to be below 8.2 (although some test kits are really hard to get an accurate reading from) I would recommend getting an electronic ph meter as you can simply read the numbers(I currently use a cheap one from ebay,just make sure you get calibration fluid with it). Make sure you have a power head disturbing the surface of the water for gas exchange(helps ph) and a window open in the room with the tank as if the room is rich in co2(from your breathing) it will drive down ph.
Nitrite is not good
You do definately need a phosphate test kit as it is really important for your corals not to have phosphate in the water.Do you use a phosphate binder such as rowaphos?(if not then it would be a really good move to get some)
Some peole say activated carbon doesn't do much for a reef tank but IME the things in my tank look a hell of a lot happier since I've been using the stuff(and its cheap enough to try).

Some LFS give bad advice and its best to check elsewhere(like internet) on any advice given to you just to double check. For example the 'marine expert' at my LFS will always have to try to say something to sound more knowledgeable than the customer,often just talking complete bull$**t. We've even taken to asking him stuff when we go in to see what rubbish he comes out with next,for example he still insists I need 45kg of LR for my 45galon tank( don't now where the fish and coral would go if I had that much).

 

[littleme1969]

As above the rock sounds like the issue.Copper meds will kill all corals in no time. Rock being what it is will absorb it then leach it back out into your water system over time Thats one rubbish shop for selling it to you!
Ph as said above is also low , I run my system at aroun 7.9 - 8.0 and my xenia does really well so try to aim for that. Low PH will cause problems with your corals, fish and overall balance to the tank.
Course of action...
You need to remove the affending rock straight away, do a 50% water change to dilute the issue and help with the PH.
Despite what was said above, weekly water changes are essential in any system that does not have a huge water volume. I would add carbon to your system to try and remove traces and also if you have a skimmer makes sure its going at full tilt as this will also help with water quality.
Also amazed at what fish you have in there. The tang and copperband should be in a tank no smaller than 300l thats about 4ft x 2ft x 18" roughly. Even as small as they are they should not be put into such a small tank with the intention of moving on later. Tangs are very greedy and if fed well will also grow quickly. Double slap to the shop that sold them to you!

 

[Eigdoog]

I made this at 0.25 for phosphates

I made this at beween 0.1-0.3

I think you really had to see these in real life.

I am going to add carbon when i get up (new stuff)

Today i did buy some "Marine Buffer" from Seachem, it "safely raises and maintrains PH to 8.3".
http/www.seachem.com/products/product_pa...rineBuffer.html
So i tryed some when i got home it says:
DIRECTIONS: Add 5 g (1 level teaspoon) for each 80 L (20 gallons*). Dissolve in at least one cup of freshwater. This dose will also raise alkalinity by about 1 meq/L. Add daily until pH stabilizes at 8.3. This will take from a day to a week, depending on original pH and alkalinity. Thereafter, use biweekly or monthly to maintain a pH of 8.3. If this practice is not adequate, then overstocking, overfeeding, or other poor management practice should be sought as a likely cause. In ionically balanced marine water, Marine Buffer™ produces little precipitate or cloudiness. If an extensive precipitate forms upon addition of Marine Buffer™ that does not dissolve within ~15 minutes, then poor ionic balance was present. A water change should be initiated when convenient before further use of the product. Effectiveness improves with continued use. Do not directly mix with any calcium, magnesium, or strontium supplement.

But after 15 minutes it was still in there... i looked about 5 minutes ago and its still there... (3-5 hours later) so i guess that means my ionic balance was present. i dont know what that is but a water change will be done when i get up in the moroing.

I also have added a airstone to my tank as i got told that abit more air in the tank help to my ph?

I cant turn my skimmer on as it jus fills my cup up in 5-7 seconds. i cant do anything about this i have asked two shops and posted on the forums.


Thanks Eigdoog

 

[johnnyjtaylor]

You need that water change to dilute everything(with nitrite,ammonia in the water you are having a bit of a mini cycle.Could be those bits of rock if they have dead stuff on them or could be something dead in your tank) and you definately need some rowaphos to get that phosphate under control.That marine buffer artificially raises ph at a much too fast rate and it usually goes down again after using it(not the best stuff), make sure that airstone isnt causing micro bubbles and aim one of them powerheads slightly upward(wont need the airstone if you do this) so it makes the surface choppy(this will make a lot of difference to ph)and as i said b4 keep a window open near the tank.
Those nutrafin ammonia test kits usually show a trace of ammonia even when there isn't any.
Did you find out about those rocks,whether they had copper meds in with them? If they did get them out fast and the carbon in(put the carbon in anyway).
As for your skimmer can you not raise the cup to stop it filling so quickly or tinker with the air supply to get it running better,a skimmer is really important or you will have to keep doing many water changes.
The ionic balance refers to the balance of different ions in the water, cheifly calcium,bicarbonate and magnesium(all in the reef chemistry article I linked in earlier post)

 

[SkiFletch]

Ummm, I'm going to go ahead and break the mold here. The above are all very good suggestions and should be followed but I'm going to add two others from my experience with Xenia. First, have you verified your salinity at your LFS or better yet with your own calibration solution? Xenia HATE high sg, and will show signs of droopyness around 1.0275 and certainly by 1.028 will be droopy and forlorn looking like yours.

Secondly, you've got a butterflyfish which while not known for an appetite for Xenia could be nipping at it. The fact that only your Xenia is struggling seems to indicate predation or harrassment by something, and that butterfly would be my first guess.

 

[littleme1969]

Ummm, I'm going to go ahead and break the mold here. The above are all very good suggestions and should be followed but I'm going to add two others from my experience with Xenia. First, have you verified your salinity at your LFS or better yet with your own calibration solution? Xenia HATE high sg, and will show signs of droopyness around 1.0275 and certainly by 1.028 will be droopy and forlorn looking like yours.

Secondly, you've got a butterflyfish which while not known for an appetite for Xenia could be nipping at it. The fact that only your Xenia is struggling seems to indicate predation or harrassment by something, and that butterfly would be my first guess.

Just to point out that the butterfly is infact your copperband.. your probably new that but hey worth a mention.
I had a long fin banner fish (butterfly) and can confirm they will nip at xenia mine made a B line straight for it and enjoyed a good noshing from time to time.