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[mitchell]

I'm at my wit's end with this hobby. I am unable to keep any stony corals for more than a few months. I've tried LPS and SPS species through the years. The LPS species gradually shrink away after a year with tissue receding down to the underlying skeleton. My longest lived was a bubble coral I had for 4 years. My SPS coral frags were all aquacultured and supposedly hardy species. None lasted more than 2 months.

My tank is loaded with xenia. I'm also very successful at keeping clams. I presently have only two clams, but I've had other clams grow so large that I've given them away to a friend with a very large tank.

My tank is 69 gallons and has been up and running for 8 years. I have a good skimmer and have run MH lights until I switched to LED lighting 7 months ago. RODI water only. B-ionic 2 part solution dosed daily.

I'm at a loss with my frustration and will now return to the sump.

[Ben]

I am sure you've gone over the basics. Just in case though, stable Ca/Alk/Mg at the correct parameters are a must. Also IME the more stable the temp the better.

Also acclimating them slowly to your lighting can go a long way. What happens with the SPS, base up STN?

[Thales]

How much xenia? It can deliver nasty allopathic compounds.

[Matt_]

Can you give us a photo of the tank? What kind of flow do you have going on? Are you running activated carbon and/or GFO? What kind of lights?

The clams doing well makes me think that light and Ca/Alk/Mg are probably fine.

[mitchell]

How much xenia? It can deliver nasty allopathic compounds.

Interesting thought about the xenia which has been raised by others. Do you feel that the massive amount of xenia in my tank could be responsible for the death of the other corals?

My tank is really overrun with xenia. I've cut it back a lot at times to make room for new coral placement, but the xenia seem to recover quickly after the other corals die.

[mitchell]

Can you give us a photo of the tank? What kind of flow do you have going on? Are you running activated carbon and/or GFO? What kind of lights?

The clams doing well makes me think that light and Ca/Alk/Mg are probably fine.

Matt, the best photo of my tank is a few years old, but it will give you an idea of my xenia problem.


I do have two sea swirls for my sump return which provide a nice bit of random flow. Two years ago I also added a Vortech mp40 on the left side in an effort to improve my overall circulation in preparation for adding stony corals.

I do run a reactor with activated carbon and GFO which I change monthly.

For years I ran a MH/CF pendant but changed to an LED fixture by Orphek last year in an effort to decrease the temperature in my tank room.

The clams doing well has always puzzled me. I've been told that they can by quite fussy. The clam in the photo grew so large after just a few years that I had to give it away! I now have two smaller clams which seem to be doing nicely. Good growth and mantle extension.

[mitchell]

Here's a more recent pic with my new light. You can see the mp40 on the left.

[Matt_]

Huh, I'm surprised you still have the Xenia problem after several years...the usual course of things is that it's boom-bust, just like in the wild.

It sounds like flow/light/chemistry is correct, so I would look at the organic portion of your water, i.e. the allelopathy that Rich brings up.

I would target removing a large portion of the Xenia, either by trimming with scissors, swapping out the rocks with a LFS (for cured stuff), etc. Some large angels like Emperors may also eat it, but you'd want to trade it out before it gets too big.

After a lot of it is gone, a couple big water changes, mucho GAC, and add some test pieces of SPS again.

[mitchell]

The xenia is very hard to cut back. I find that when I cut the stuff it tends to grow back even more fully at the base if there is any tissue left attached to the rock. I basically need to remove large chunks of my LR and throw them out. My concern is that if I leave any of this xenia in my tank, it will spread again over time.

Is it really not possible to have a mixed stony and softie reef tank? I realize I'm at a bit of the extreme end of the spectrum with all this xenia. The xenia, BTW, is really beautiful. It has lovely coloration and pulses vigorously.

[Ben]

The tank looks nice, the xenia is cool looking, even if a bit over populated. BTW I see the M Cap. in the last pic you posted. How is that doing? I also notice some of the rocks have a good bit of green hair algae or the like going on? If so that would indicate a nutrient issue to me.

[mitchell]

The tank looks nice, the xenia is cool looking, even if a bit over populated. BTW I see the M Cap. in the last pic you posted. How is that doing? I also notice some of the rocks have a good bit of green hair algae or the like going on? If so that would indicate a nutrient issue to me.

Thanks, Ben. The M Cap in that photo was a beautiful frag that died after 6 weeks in my tank. The usual story for me. They look good for a few weeks and then rapidly necrose. I've always had a bit of turf algae in my tank, I simply cannot find anything that eats the stuff. It has receded significantly over the past 6 months since I've started using GFO in a reactor and changing it monthly.

Thanks for your advice.

Most foks who look at my tank comment that it is beautiful. The xenia certainly is interesting to look at, but I'd really like to venture into hard corals. I'm just not clear why I cannot keep these with my present setup and regimen.

[D.W.L.]

I agree, that tank looks very nice the way it is. Different than the standard look.

I have never been able to get sps to grow and look nice, although I have had every type and size reef over the last 20 yrs. I downsized recently to a 20g, so my 11yr. old clowns had a nice place for their pvc home, until my upcoming move.

Purchased a smaller led light to use instead of my 150w halide and voila, my sps are growing like crazy with stunning colours. . Darned if I know. Dosing wise, its the first time I have not used kalk and use 2 part instead. Or perhaps the larger water changes, as its not skimmed, but easily done now.

[Lawdawg]

I'm with the others that suggest to tear out the rocks with the xenia on them and replace with cured rock...or better yet use this as an excuse to do a total tank redo and upgrade.

[_Andy]

I say leave it as is and set up another tank... One more can't hurt that much...

[mitchell]

I say leave it as is and set up another tank... One more can't hurt that much...

You're funny. I'm on the verge of quitting this hobby altogether. I'd like a successful SPS tank. Going in that direction was going to keep me interested. My present system has been up and running for years. I needed to try something new.

I'm actually thinking that a pinball machine would be nice where the tank is presently sitting.

[Subcomandante Marcos]

I say leave it as is and set up another tank... One more can't hurt that much...

I was going to give the same advice. I would saw my arm off to have something that looks that good.

What is your pH?

My clams and LPS corals grow fine, but I long ago gave up on the SPS.

[mitchell]

I say leave it as is and set up another tank... One more can't hurt that much...

I was going to give the same advice. I would saw my arm off to have something that looks that good.

What is your pH?

My clams and LPS corals grow fine, but I long ago gave up on the SPS.

pH is 8.3

Isn't it odd that our clams thrive and not the SPS species? I always thought clams were tough to keep. At least you have some LPS in your tank.

[Matt_]

Probably not that odd, really. SPS corals compete with Xenia for space and light on a reef. Xenia thrives in areas where abundant stony coral growth has been disturbed by storms or bleaching events or whatever. It makes sense that Xenia would produce allelopathic compounds that were very specifically good at inhibiting the growth of these competitors.

[Subcomandante Marcos]

I've got a massive quantity of clove polyp, which is very similar to xenia. I can smell it in the room.

[mitchell]

OK, I'm giving this one last shot. My tank parameters have been in a great range and stable for the past few months. I've not added anything to the tank and have been pretty compulsive about my water changes.

I just got three small SPS frags that I've acclimated and placed low in my tank 2 days ago. These all come from hardy, locally tank grown specimens. So far so good. Immediate polyp extension. I'll try and get some serial photos to try and document what happens.

Warning, my coral photos suck.