Xenia Trouble

[johnnyjtaylor]

Earlier today I came home from work to find the polyps on a branch of xenia looking a bit messed up and comming apart a bit(melting really). I then had to pop out for a couple of hours and on returning the melt had rapidly spread down the branch, I grabbed my scissors and removed the branch from the main stem in an attempt to save it. I've had xenia fade away when I first had a reef but have never seen it go like this before.

Does anyone have any idea what could have caused it?

My water chemistry is bang on where it always is and 0 phosphate 0 nitrate(as always).

 

[SkiFletch]

Xenia usually only melt due to one of 3 things:

1 - Drastically high salinity. when was the last time you verified your salinity either by yourself with a home-made cal standard, or by bringing a sample to your LFS?

2 - Drastically high (15dKH) or drastically low (5dKH) alkalinity

3 - Predation by any thing...

 

[johnnyjtaylor]

Well not 1 or 2 as I said water chemistry is good(1.026 sg and 7.5 dKh) and I wouldn't ask my LFS to test cheese for me let alone water from my precious reef!! (I periodically calibrate my refractometer and use salifert test kits)

Predation is a possibility but would being nibbled lead to the rapid melting going down the branch?

The rest of the stalk looks ok and I cut off the branch by going though healthy tissue to completely remove the melting bit.

 

[littleme1969]

If you cant grow Xenia then Id chuck it all in..lol My god ive got the stuff growing in a tank thats cycling and nothing seems to slow it down. Lots to spare if you want some

 

[johnnyjtaylor]

If you cant grow Xenia then Id chuck it all in..lol

Thanks for the kind words of support Littleme.....lol. Bizzarly the only things that have ever been a real problem for me to grow are xenia and gsp which seem to grow in biblical proportions in every other reefers tank!!!!

Anyway it seems cutting off the melting branch was the right thing to do as the rest of the stalk looks fine this morning. So fingers crossed when I get in from work later it'll still be ok.......

 

[rednwhite barmy]

If you cant grow Xenia then Id chuck it all in..lol My god ive got the stuff growing in a tank thats cycling and nothing seems to slow it down. Lots to spare if you want some

top stuff littleme, i've always said ya a top lass (remember me when i'm on the cadge next )

 

[johnnyjtaylor]

Well cutting off the 'infected' bit worked and already the wound has healed and is showing signs of growing new polyps

 

[littleme1969]

I'm glad you realised I was only pulling your leg and I know that what grows in some tanks really well, often will struggle in another. Having just lost 3/4 of my fish stock to white spot I also know how frustrating this hobby can be and also what an expensive mess it can be when things happen outside your control.

Glad the Xenia is on the mend, and I always have frags of both Pom Pom and red sea xenia going spare if anyone wants to cover the postage costs