I think my coral is dying

[ihaveadane]

I have two pieces of coral that appear to be on their way out. Xenia and Kenya tree. Both were doing well, especially the Xenia. Both have been on a decline the past couple of weeks. The Xenia has two nice "arms" that were full. Now one has shriveled up. The Kenya Tree was about 4 inches tall. Now it is limp and laying over.

I just did a water change (20%) and tested salinity, phosphates, nitrates, calcium, PH. PH was 8.0 all others were great. Temp is 80.2.

I have been playing with the lighting but I just bought better lamps so I thought they would grow even more. I am running T5. 4 white, 2 Actinic.

Any thoughts as to what I am NOT doing?

 

[victor626nj]

maybe too much light for them i was talking to someone yesterday and they said that they couldnt keep xenia cause there tank had too much light and they would melt away try moving them a little lower from the light and see what happens good luck

 

[showtime305]

What type of lights did you upgrade from? They could be going to shock because they weren't acclimated to the new lights. What T5 fixture are you using now?

 

[ihaveadane]

I am working with parts and ballasts from a I-beam T-5 VHO 6 lamp fixture from Lithonia Lighting. I bought lamps from DRs Foster & Smith.

4- Aqua Sun 10000k 85 W
2- 54W Actinic

 

[ihaveadane]

Would not think this would be too much for 125 gal tank. 18" deep 72' long. Planning on filling canopy with 2 more lamps.

 

[showtime305]

<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">What type of light did you have before? How far are the corals from the light? I think you need to acclimate them. There are several methods that you can use. The easiest would be to reduce the light/photo period then slowly increase it or you can use the screen method to reduce the amount of light coming through.</span>
<span style="color: black;"></span>
<span style="color: black;">It's not too much light, but it may be much more than your corals were adjusted too.</span>
</span>

 

[burdundi]

What's your alkalinity? Also, I've seen xenia melt before for no reason what so ever. Some times it just happens. Any time I start losing a coral, I test alkalinity and it is usually low, but that's just me. Are you dosing any additives?

-Andy

 

[ihaveadane]

Did not check Alk... just seems odd that both the Xenia and the Kenya failed at the same time. Mushrooms are doing well. Could be the light since the light and the change occurred about the same.

I am guessing that there is no way to recover if they were "over" exposed???

 

[sj miller guy]

I run two 54 watt 10,000k and two 54 watt actinics on my 55 and my xenia love it.

I agree with the above that perhaps they didn't adjust well to the light change.

 

[ihaveadane]

well OK I guess this is a learning thing.... but darn, I like these 2 pieces. Good movement and added some "life".:sad:

 

[showtime305]

They may recover but you have tone down the light for a few days.

 

[mizah00]

2 weeks ago my Xenia did the same thing but not before growing into for stalks coming from one in a month. Then one day they started to close and only come half length. I tried everything incliuding water changes and all my levels were perfect and then it just melted away.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I think AJ is right here. It might not be that they are under too much light just too much change too fast. Heck I have my xenia under a 175W halide and they are just fine, granted they do not grow as fast but that is good sometimes! Cut bact the photo period and go from there. If they still are not doing well, it might be a iodine thing and you might want to try a bit of reef plus to get them to bounce back.

 

[showtime305]

If that's the xenia that you got from me, it was originally 12" under a 250w HQI lamp so I know it can handle a high light environment. Cutting back on the lights should help both corals bounce back. Good luck.

 

[ms_ k]

Don't give up on the Kenya Tree yet. Every once in a while, my kenya tree with fall over limp for a while. Then it's back to normal. I'm not sure why it does this. Every stalk of xenia that I've ever had melted away. I did have some xenia that did very well, but it was in a 5 gallon tank with a 96 watt PC bulb on it. When I moved it to my 125 with less lighting....downhill. I've heard some people speculate that xenia will melt away if your tank is "too" clean, overskimmed, etc. Have you tested the iodine level? Do you add trace elements or any other supplements to your tank?

 

[cameron]

Check your iodine/iodide levels and keep in mind Xenia at least is prone to melt downs especially on tanks that "over-skim" and run UV. They thrive in nasty water.

 

[ihaveadane]

OK I am regulating the light a little more. On a few hours off a few.

I do not run UV but I do skim quite a bit. I will turn that down.

I do not add any think besides calcium, and food (snow-weekly feeding, Cyclopes-every other day) I use Oceanic and was told I would not need to add anything if I did water change every 2 weeks. ???

I have not tested the iodine. Will have to get a test for that.

Thanks for all the advice. I will keep trying.:huh:

 

[jeep9783]

Check iodine...that was my problem lack of it anyways

 

[dorian965]

are you running carbon?? i have a lot of kenya and they bend over and look like crap when i skip a few water changes. changing the water helps but the dont seem to do much better unless i run a load of carbon. if you have a way. run carbon for about a week and see if that helps. always helps my kenya and xenia. jm2cents

lighting dosent seem to have as big of an effect on kenya as water quality. how heavy of a coral load do you have??

 

[showtime305]

Did the corals survive?