ALL MY CORAL IS DYING..........help

[ford4life]

I purchased a live rock with pulsing xenias from a member on the board here..... Since then it has killed EVERY CORAL IN MY TANK......what do I do???? Ive done water changes...nitrates are VERY HIGH and bought nitrate reducers but they are still dying... Its a 40 gal tall tank. my fish are fine its just the corals. any help guys?>???

[jessegarcia28]

Do a big water change maybe 40 to 50%

[sjames]

Sounds to me as if your tank did noy finish its complete cycle. We need more info but fow now ad stated above do a water change.

[Jarederaj]

What corals were in your tank? Ive heard in some cases that xenia can kill kenya trees( not sure if it was kenyas but thats what i remember)

[DaveMorris]

Need a lot more information about your tank, setup, inhabitants, etc.

[ford4life]

ok so I have a clown,bi colored angel,yellow tang. I have 8 hermits and 2 snails...... I had a small kenya tree but that died.." might have actually been the 1st to die" but wasnt paying good enough attention to it at 1st. I had hammer and frogspawns...mushrooms...zoas....torch coral.....and and a HUGE ROCK full of GSP. as of right now the only coral left is a large colony of zoa's.Like I said fish are doing fine. "KNOCK ON WOOD". I have a back pack skimmer. hang on the back filter. and a jager heater......hope this info helps. Ive contacted the nearest fish stores and all they could tell me is water change. what do I do from here???? i did a 20% water change yesterday "saturday". Thank you guys for helping.

[LotsaFishies]

Ok, so we know you have a 40gallon aquarium, we know the livestock you have in it, and we know your filtration. A couple more questions:

- How long have you had the tank setup and running? Where did you purchase your live rock?

- What type of water are you using for water-changes? Mixing salt and RO, scripps water, water from a store?

- Other than just the last couple of days that you have been having problems, what frequency (and how many gallons) have you been doing water-changes?

- What type of light do you have?


What are your water paramaters?
-Ammonia
-Nitrite
-Nitrate
-Ph
-Salinity
-Temperature



It is extremely unlikely that the addition of the xenia into your tank has killed your corals. I would bet causes of death are more likely to be attributed to:

-high nitrates
-salinity wrong
-temperature wrong
-ph wrong
-too new tank (still cycling)

[Jarederaj]

Might have had lotion or something on your hands while putting it in there?

[JohnnyAirtime]

ok so I have a clown,bi colored angel,yellow tang. I have 8 hermits and 2 snails...... I had a small kenya tree but that died.." might have actually been the 1st to die" but wasnt paying good enough attention to it at 1st. I had hammer and frogspawns...mushrooms...zoas....torch coral.....and and a HUGE ROCK full of GSP. as of right now the only coral left is a large colony of zoa's.Like I said fish are doing fine. "KNOCK ON WOOD". I have a back pack skimmer. hang on the back filter. and a jager heater......hope this info helps. Ive contacted the nearest fish stores and all they could tell me is water change. what do I do from here???? i did a 20% water change yesterday "saturday". Thank you guys for helping.

Need more info on your tank.... everyone's speculating, because they don't have enough info still.

... all too often I hear; "I've heard that xenia kills...blah blah blah". The point being, "I heard...." Nothing factual, or hard evidence. This type of hear-say is killing the hobby and the information highway (internet). Please take any NON factual information with a grain ... or, maybe a full dose of salt!

Xenia doesn't kill Kenya, NOR does it kill other corals as you've mentioned. It's not a hunter... unless it's a large amount that dies, and it's toxins and slime... start to invade other corals and does so in mass numbers. But most corals have that possibility, to kill. I've got fuzzy mushrooms that are "hitmen", and you'd never know it.

SO.... HOW long has your tank been "established"? When did you set it up?
What date did you put in the xenia? What date did you notice corals dying? And what told you they were dying (did they melt, wilt, or simply start to lose their outer skin?) .... more info is better info!!!

Was this the frag you bought early January, or the xenia you bought in early Feb (that you think is the culprit)??

Next, give us your tank parameters and test results!

[nate]

the xenia rock could've had a lot of die off on it and made your tank mini cycle

[Acefspds]

Xenia will not kill ur corals. i have a 29g tank that is over run with kenya and 2 kinds of xenia. never had a problem. I would have to agree to the people above that said the rock probably went through some die off and it kicked your tank into another cycle. Corals got pissed off and died. Other then that the only other thing I can think of is your top off. How long are you going before you add in fresh water? Is the tank going through Salinity, Alk swings?

[ford4life]

Ive had my tank set up and running for 9 months........all of my live rock was purchased at tri city tropical fish, except for my last purchase "which had the xenias" and that rock was purchased by a member on this forum....... I am mixing RO water and salt.......I have been doing 5-6 gallon water changes every two weeks....... I just purchased a metal halide light.....but before this light I had a compact fluorescent light.......all of the tests come out great except my nitrates. Last time I checked 2 days ago it was at 80ppm. ........I noticed the xenias dying the day I put them into the tank because they started to wilt and fall off the rock and got all slimy looking......... If any of you guys live in oside and wouldn't mind looking at the tank and seeing if anything is visible that would be great. But if not hope this info is useful and I can get more answers. I will be re-testing everything tomorrow. Thank you .

[specvjeff]

One thing that jumped out to me besides the 80 ppm nitrates is your light switch. Going from power compacts to metal halide is a jump. If it was done to quickly, you certainly could have photo shocked the coral. I know it may not be enough to kill them but combined with your really high nitrates it could be the cause. The Xenia dying doesn't suprise me with your nitrate level especially if it came from a tank with low nitrate levels. It's time to take a look at your habits and figure out why your nitrates are so high. I wouldn't start restocking till you've figured it out.


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[Jarederaj]

OHHH yea that almost happened to me switching from PC to LED almost killed allmy corals because i didnt know you had to.acclimate lighting..

I live in oceanside but idk if me comming to check it out would be the best idea i dont know much about the science of these tanks.

[ford4life]

I'm sorry guys..... I forgot to mention I just put this light in a week ago. They started dying before and I thought the light would help.... But maybe it just killed them faster??? I also have red slime algae on my rocks.... How do I stop this????