Why this hobby drives me $#@*&! crazy

[Mark_C]

Many of you have seen my 10g Xenia tank.

I decided to up the game to a 40b.

I match the lighting exactly to the Xenia tank.

I match salinity exactly.

I match temperature to the .1 of a degree.

I match the flow pattern as best I can with a rotating head and a pulsing head.

I had planted a bunch of marinepure in the 10g a few weeks ago for seeding, which I now move to the 40b.

All 40b parameters are good. Inverts all well, new fish doing well.

So I exchange 5 gallons of 40b tank water with 5 gallons of the Xenia tank water (50% change).

All went well. Xenia fine.

I do another 50% change. Xenia fine.

Then another. Xenia fine.

So, the 10g is now, pretty much, filled with the same water as the 40b.

I move the misc media (carbon, some rocks, more marinepure) from the 10g to the 40b.

Then, I give it a few days.

I acclimate (though the whole process has been a giant acclimation) the Xenia for the 40b.

I put 3 pieces of Xenia in the 40b.

All 3 pieces pretty much dead in 24 hours.

I move them back to the small tank.

Two days later they're fine.

I get pissed.

I do a 100% water change on the Xenia tank with water from the 40b. Xenia fine.

The Xenia tank is now at the exact temp, salinity, nutrient, and (mostly) flow and lighting levels that exist in the 40b.

And I give it a few days. Xenia is fine. Dying Xenia is recovered.

So I move a few different pieces to the 40b.

All dying within 24 hours.

Ripping hair out now.

 

[amado]

Xenia are very hard to kill. They like dirty water
And they don’t care about light it will grow in almost any light. They need flow and nutrients.
Put a little reef roids in the water.

 

[Mark_C]

Xenia are very hard to kill.

Yep, but I'm succeeding.
Going to try dumping some of the muck from another tank's protein skimmer into the 40b.

Here's the 10g tank, its mesmerizing to watch.

 

[amado]

It’s crazy I have a 125 gallon tank with a bunch of different coral. Everyone who sees it likes the Xenia lol the cheapest coral in the tank.
My wife likes the motion and I have to agree it looks really nice pulsing under blue light.

 

[Haus]

That 10 gallon is great. I know my family would like it better than my mixed reef if I set one up. Definitely on my to-do list....going to follow this to see when you solve the problem. Though plenty of folks would love to learn how to kill Xenia lol

 

[Hawkeye]

These are my guesses.

You say the light is the "same" - but unless you are measuring it with a PAR meter - it is difficult to state with certainty that the light is "exactly the same". Also a 40B and a 10G are different heights. Even if you had the exact same light fixture - the xenia will be in different heights...unless you had a PAR meter to validate.

You mentioned that you moved carbon/etc to the new 40b. With that much xenia in your 10g - they are undoubtedly producing a lot of allelopathic chemicals into the water. If you have new carbon in the 40b, it may be taking out those chemicals neutralizing what you describe as "same water". Point being the carbon may be a wild card in this. If both tanks did not have any carbon then my hypothesis lacks merit.

I wish you best of luck. the 10G looks amazing.

 

[Mark_C]

Good thoughts, thanks.
The lighting is matched best visually, nmo par on hand but tried to account for depth (submerged mirrors and other half baked science ideas attempted).
When I dropped the frags in the 40g I went with an acclimatization placement which did no good.
Per carbon, the bag in the 10g was at end of capacity and there was no new carbon in 40b.
Think it may just be a situation where the water was just too clean.
Going to give it a week to fill with some fish waste (clown and tomini tang) as well as a few top ups from the skimmer on my main.

If I cant transfer the xenia and ensure survival, that 10g is here to stay.

 

[DangerDave]

You could always drop some reef energy I. There to help with nutrition until the n&p come up...

 

[mnat]

Did you make the same sacrifices to the reef gods? Did you do the same dance ritual for each tank?

 

[erics210]

I have had similar issues with corals getting knocked from a location, usually by giant snails. Then o put them back in the same exact spot and they don't do as well. Not just for a day from getting knocked over, but months+

 

[Sponge]

This is insane. I am blown away by this read. How will I ever succeed in this hobby. Can’t wait to find out what happens. Best mystery book ever