Xenia problem

[Steverino]

Did someone post about their Xenia suddenly up and die? Mine is doing the same thing, one side of a stalk is turning white and is like a white stump. the one next to it is fine. I think it might be a salt creep piece falling on it?...

[Steverino]

water parameters look fine, I had changed water the day before. Salinity is fine, all fish are happy. Would a chunk of salt creep do this?

[wojo]

wish mine died lol. just kidding, seriously i wish i never bought mine, this thing takes over my tank....

i can tell you this, when i bought mine i puraches one stalk and it had ups and downs, didn't really do anything for 2 months, then after that it multiplies every week....

[hansnfrans]

Steve - It'll do this sometimes. Usually it'll melt and then come back to life, seemingly out of nowhere. Salt creep does lots of bad things to corals, so that is very possible. I wouldn't sweat it, finding xenia on this forum is really easy

[BenjieC]

how's your alkalinity? That can cause them to melt.

[NewSchool04]

Usually when your Xenia starts to fail, that is an indicator that there is something wrong with the tank. Even if you think it possibly could be salt creep, I would start testing your water and make sure things are in line.
pH and Alkalinity are usually the culprits.

[scottflanagan]

so if xenia is so easy to find on this forum does anyone have some pom pom xenia?

[squibley2]

I just gave about 20 pieces away. I was removing it from my tank. If you want some I am sure I can find some more.

[Napervegas]

I have some extra xenia in Naperville if anybody wants some.

[Steverino]

I checked the salinity and found it was at 1.022. I did a water change of about 8% and brought it up to 1.024 over the course of the evening. So my water was a bit low on the salinity side. I snapped the top off my floating glass salinity/thermometer! The last thing I did at night was a check of the KH, I have a kit where each drop of solution is 1 degree, it ended up at a reading of 9. So, things are stable I guess, but one of the Xenia stalks which has a couple of main "branches" coming off of it, the one stalk is now a white stub. The other Xenia is still pulsing and looks fine. I'm keeping an eye on it.
These Xenia have always looked great and have grown since I got them, but they don't spread. Perhaps it is the location or the rock they are on. My Kenya Tree is the one that spreads, I have 3-4 little stalks growing up in various corners of the tank.

[Whaledriver]

You need to check your alk, calcium and magnesium. They all interact and one can through another off. Read up in the chemistry forum. there are some nice online calculators to help you get things in balance

http://reef.diesyst.com/

My experience is telling me that something is off. I would do a 20% water change and then start testing from that starting point.

[Steverino]

I can't find a calcium test kit anywhere, checked 3 stores in last 2 days! Do they sell magnesium test kits? I'll try another place at lunch today.
The dkh is holding at about 9.5 over this time, I've test 3 times. I saw the Xenia that suffered the damage pulsing today, so I hope that is a good sign. Changed another 8% water last night, salinity is at 1.024.

[driftin]

I don't know where you're looking for the test kits, or where is close to you, but I picked up a bunch of Salifert kits at Advanced Aquatics in Schaumburg during the tour a couple weekends ago. They had both calcium and magnesium kits in stock at that time.

[Whaledriver]

I like Salifert the best. You dont have to count the number of drops!!!

[Whaledriver]

Your water change helped bring things back closer to balance. As things get worse it will be harder to solve the problem with a water change. I will be interested to see your results. I keep my water at .26 sg.

[Steverino]

Got a calcium test today, can't find the magnesium. So I'll check salinity, pH, Calcium, Phosphate, and KH tonight. Maybe even a taste-test, who knows....