Help! Sick Xenia! Yellow Splotches! Pics!

[Fazulka]

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

Roger that. At least assuming is a little pro-active. What if I Mixed IO in the rubbermaid, added some baking soda ( I do have some, called my wife, but not sure how much to add ) and put Xenia in there? Do you think it might die anyway if i do or dont? Would it be better to just leave it in the tank and see if it survives, then test the Alk ASAP ( tomorrow afternoon)?

 

[stingythingy45]

A 6 gallon nano is going to be hard to figure out how much is safe.
But as I do dose my 20 gallon QT almost daily with Randy's 2 part I would say that 1/2 a tsp tonight and then another 1/2 tomorrow should help if the alk has dropped,and I suspect it has.Delute the baking Soda in some ro/di or tank water first.If you can get an alk test kit then test before tomorrows dose.FWIW,I've seen this many times on www.nanoreef.com.
If your xenia craps on you,let me know,I have plenty.

 

[stingythingy45]

That is delute a 1/2 tsp of baking soda in a 6 oz. glass of ro or tank water.
Add 1/2 tonight and 1/2 tomorrow morning.Then get yourself a API test kit at the LFS.........K?

 

[Fazulka]

Sorry for taking longer to respond, I got tied up at work. I am going home in 5 minutes and will do a 1g water change and add the half teaspon of baking soda. Tomorrow when i leave work i will buy a extended test kit, and if needed do another 1/2 tsp if needed.

Thank you very much for you help. I feel much better knowing that i am doing something rather than nothing!

Thank you!

-Adam

 

[alpha0r]

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?

This would absolutely not be appropriate for a QT.
1. Newly mixed seawater can be toxic. It is unstable and often has little or no O2. That is why people mix their water overnight using an air stone.
2. Newly mixed water has no bacteria. You would be putting them into a uncycled tank.
3. This setup does not have appropriate lighting.

It sounds like your best bet is to follow stingythingy45's advice.

 

[stingythingy45]

Also,just like to add that nanos are pretty tough.
I take my hat off to the folks in this club that keep up the little tanks.
It's not an easy thing and takes somebody that's willing to test that waters diligently and watch over things closely.

 

[alpha0r]

Also,just like to add that nanos are pretty tough.
I take my hat off to the folks in this club that keep up the little tanks.
It's not an easy thing and takes somebody that's willing to test that waters diligently and watch over things closely.

I agree with this. I kept a 10g for awhile and it was difficult to keep the parameters correct. I wouldn't keep one unless you also have a large tank that you can take aged water from when you need it or stick things in when times get tough.

 

[stingythingy45]

Good luck to you, Adam.Glad you found the club and said hello.
I'm hoping the advice will work for you.
Have a great night and weekend if I don't hear from you.
The dose of baking soda will not be extreme,but if you are on the edge will help.

 

[DawnOctopus]

Sorry to butt in here, Stingy-Bob, but is the "regular" baking soda... Or "baked" baking soda? Isn't there a reason why you are supposed to bake it first? ... Or am I just imagining things again?!

 

[stingythingy45]

It's just regular baking soda.
The reason for baking it Dawn is to drive off CO2 and raise the PH.
He probably does't need to raise PH as much as he does ALK levels.

 

[DawnOctopus]

Ahhh, thank you. I always wondered the purpose whenever anyone talked about "baked baking soda" -- It really does sound like a more economical ALK/PH raiser that the seachem stuff.

 

[stingythingy45]

It's the basic formula for Randy's 2 part.
if you don't bake it the ALK part will not be so high PH.
This is generally done when hobbyist don't drip kalk.
Ok.....on a lighter note.lol
BTW.....where where you at the last meeting?
I ended up saying hello to dawn(skydolphin) and thought it was you.lol

 

[DawnOctopus]

Hehehehe well, One Dawn is the same as the other, right?!

I skip the Sunday meetings... I need a full day of rest and recuperation before starting the work week over again!

 

[stingythingy45]

Well,Everyone i've met there has been very nice........even the Dawns.lol
I hear you on the Sunday thing.Just branched out and said hello to alot of folks this past meeting.
Have a great night and weekend......bfn

 

[Fazulka]

The water change and backing soda are done, so now I'll just see what happens overnight. again thank you for the help.

I know nano tanks are more difficult now, but when I decided to start a saltwater tank i had no idea. I have very limited space in my studio apt, but we are making some. I want to go to a bigger tank like a 38 or 45, and have a spot picked out. I plan on turning the 5g into a fuge for the bigger tank.
Thanks again!

 

[darrowj]

I've had Xenia for a few months now. Once and a while my xenia look like yours do in your picture. It happens if I do a water change and they are disturbed or I brush up against them when I'm moving something in my tank. I've always had the experience that they can stay that way for a day or two but bounce back.

One time I even vacuumed up a frag during a water change. I was not paying close enough attention to what I was doing. That day I was completely certain the xenia involved would die. I just left it alone and after a few days it looked even better than before. Almost as if it benefited from the abuse.

I'm sure that is not the case but I've found xenia to be very hardy. During our monthly meeting one person referred to xenia as "crab grass." My understanding is that it is so hardy and numerous in some tanks people hate it after a time.

 

[Fazulka]

I have heard what you said, darrowj, and thats one of the reason i go Xenia, an easy beginner coral. No matter what I have heard, the Xenia is not doing well...
It is a small fraction of its original size now. What was three large stocks is now a couple polyps attached to a rock. I'm hoping that a few survive and will eventually regrow to the size it was. I went to go to the LFS today and had then test for alk, and bought a test kit. All they had was the API test, I asked if they had any other brands and they said no. The alk was 20 when they tested, so i guess that i raised it too high when i added the baking soda. I did another water change today, smaller, about 1/2 gallon. Hopefully it brought it down a little. I will check it again in the morning.

I think some may make it through the ordeal, the few that remain are still pulsing, though not a strong as they used to. Only one way to find out...

 

[Moe_K]

1. Newly mixed seawater can be toxic. It is unstable and often has little or no O2. That is why people mix their water overnight using an air stone.

Hmm. I don't agree.
I've used freshly mixed saltwater in regular 20% water changes a bunch of times with no ill effects.

 

[scoobnoob]

Xenia was my fisrt coral after my cycle, it looked super from Monday - Thursday and then crashed, it looked like a dead lump of something, I immediately did a 5 gal water change on my 30 gal tank all RO water, it was all better in two days.

 

[Fazulka]

I hope I have the same luck as you scoobnoob, but if it survives it wont be all better, most of the poylps floated away... I hope it grows back...