Help! Sick Xenia! Yellow Splotches! Pics!

[Fazulka]

I got my first corals on Monday, a Xenia and a Frogspawn;

The tank has been set up for 2.5 months and is a nano. Yesterday the both corals looked very healthy, and the stalk from the xenia was even taller than it is in this picture. The frogspawn has also come out much more than is showing in the picture. I woke up very late today (around noon) and noticed that one of the polyps had fallen off one of the stalks, and the whole thing was shriveled and balled up, with a small whitish and yellowish spot. I checked the parameters and found the following with an API test kit:

Temp 80
Salinity 1.024
Ph between 8.0-8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate little less than 40

The nitrates have been stable since at 20 almost the whole time since the tank was set up, but went up a little after the addition of the Firefish. However, they have never been as high as now. Now a few hours later things have gone downhill FAST, the frogspawn looks great, but the Xenia looks like this:

What is going on? Help! What should I do? Was two corals at the same time too much???

-Adam

 

[stingythingy45]

I need to know your ALK?
This is very important.
You've posted everything but that one VERY important thing.

 

[Fazulka]

I only have the API saltwater kit, It does not include Alk. I want to go buy the Reef Master test kit, it includes Alk, Phosphates, Calcium. But now i dont know the Alk.

 

[RayD]

Go for the Elos kits. Expensive but worth it.

 

[Fazulka]

Go for the Elos kits. Expensive but worth it.

Where do they sell it? Do you know how much it usally costs?
Also, it Alk is the problem does it look like it is too high or too low? Would a massive water change help? Should I just take the coral out so it doesnt affect my other livestock?

Sorry for all the questions, but like i said these are my first corals. I bought them at tropical isle, so they were pretty expensive.

 

[stingythingy45]

Is this the first time you noticed the frogspawn look the way it does or the xenia the way it does now..........under the lights?
I have to determine if lights are having a factor.

 

[RayD]

Where do they sell it? Do you know how much it usally costs?
Also, it Alk is the problem does it look like it is too high or too low? Would a massive water change help? Should I just take the coral out so it doesnt affect my other livestock?

Sorry for all the questions, but like i said these are my first corals. I bought them at tropical isle, so they were pretty expensive.

As I mentioned in a previous thread the worse thing you can do in these situations is panic. Take a deep breath and avoid knee jerk reactions. They do more harm than good.

I don't know where you're located, All of the LFS in this area have the Elos kits. They run around $30 per. The Alk kit is only around 17-20 bucks.

Are you using RO water or tap water? Corals don't do well with tap water.

 

[Fazulka]

Is this the first time you noticed the frogspawn look the way it does or the xenia the way it does now..........under the lights?
I have to determine if lights are having a factor.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. I have seen the coral with lights on and off. The frogspawn bunches up in the dark, but comes out pretty quicky when the lights are on. Xenia bunches up and releases several times a day, as is normal from what I've read online. The yellow splotches started today, I am 100% sure there was nothing like that yesterday.

The lights I have are coralife PCs. I have 2x 9" 18W 50/50s.

Could it be too much light?

 

[stingythingy45]

Xenia and frogspawn will change under certain lighting conditions.
Like if your lighting has just changed to actinic and so forth.We also need to know the age of this tank.It's pretty small,is there any reason you went with such a small nano?

 

[Fazulka]

Are you using RO water or tap water? Corals don't do well with tap water.

Of the 5g probably 4 is tap. I was looking for RO water and just found that Walmart sells it, so from now on it will be RO, and would like to buy an RO/DI soon because I want to set up a larger tank in the next couple months.

 

[Cardiak]

Ive noticed my Xenia react strongly either positive or negitively to changes in my ALK/Mag/Iodine. From what I've heard low levels of nitrates are actually good for xenia and they use it as a fuel source.

 

[stingythingy45]

I'm not quite sure what you mean. I have seen the coral with lights on and off. The frogspawn bunches up in the dark, but comes out pretty quicky when the lights are on. Xenia bunches up and releases several times a day, as is normal from what I've read online. The yellow splotches started today, I am 100% sure there was nothing like that yesterday.

The lights I have are coralife PCs. I have 2x 9" 18W 50/50s.

Could it be too much light?

Man,I wish we had the alk measurement.
OK....my advice would be to do a 1 gallon water change.
What are you using for a salt mix first?

 

[Fazulka]

I use the Instant Ocean salt mix. I do 1g water changes every Sunday. I will do one when I get home in an hour.

 

[stingythingy45]

So.......where are you from Fazulka?
Did you just join today?

 

[alpha0r]

If you live close enough, you can drop them in my QT system until they recover.

 

[Fazulka]

So.......where are you from Fazulka?
Did you just join today?

I'm from Concord, MA. I joined a couple weeks weeks ago. I have spent quite a bit of time reading the forums here, but very few posts. I actually learned about this forum from a LFS employee who said I could get better prices here. (Not same LFS where I bought corals, not saying which store or employee told me!)

It seems like you guys do alot of cool stuff every month, and know alot about this hobby!

 

[Fazulka]

If you live close enough, you can drop them in my QT system until they recover.

Thank you vey much for the offer! Salem is a bit of a hike though... I bought a rubbermaid container to cure rocks, so i can start a bigger system. It is still empty so far. I have a powerhead for it but no heater yet. If i buy a heater and mix some more IO tomorrow would that be a good qt?

 

[stingythingy45]

Ok......I'm going to take a poll here as you don't have anyway to check the alk.
How many think it low alk that's causing these problems.
As we all know alk drops after a certain time,we also know that softies like xenia and frogspawn can show signs from this.
I'm also going to go on a recent post that ALK was low right from the get go on a freshly mixed batch of saltmix(from I.O).

Do you have any baking soda?......Not baking powder?

 

[Fazulka]

I saw the post you are reffering to:

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=63343

Sounds like it could be the problem. I'm not sure if i have any baking soda but will check. How much should i add if i have any?

 

[stingythingy45]

I'm only a**-u-me-ing here.