My xenia is melting away?

I have always had tons of silvertip xenia in my tank and had no problems. About 2 months ago, I got a giant chunk of pompom (about the size of a volleyball when open)and put it in, and it did fine for about a week, then I noticed the hands wouldnt open, and then it slumped over and well to make a long storey short, the whole thing melted away within a month. Now it appears even the silver tip is struggling and getting smaller?????? Help!!! I did a big water change and have been supplemting iodine. My other levels appear to be good, alk 12, cal 420, mag 1350, all the bad stuff at zero, I have plenty of chaeto in the sump on a reverse light cycle so the ph swing should be minimal. But still the the "once weedlike" xenia growth is just a fading memory? Any ideas or advise would be so much appreciated. Thanks Jeff 

You'll hear people claim that the water is not dirty enough or that they like cleaner water - I've heard they like low flow and I've also heard they like high flow. Same with the light. For some reason Xenia either grows like a weed or melts away fast. I've seen SOOOO many conflicting ideas that I couldn't even take a stabb at guessing what's wrong.

 The first Xenia I had in my tank melted. Four months later I tried again and it now grows like crazy. My water is immaculate - I have the Xenia right UNDER my Koralia 2 at the top of the tank where the most light is - these are all things people say NOT to do - yet when it was else where it died. Who knows?

I dont think that having dirty enough water would contribute to xenia melting away. My water is very clean and my xenia thrives. I also keep my dKH in the 11-12 range. So I dont think that is an issue either.

How are the other corals doing? Have you changed anything suddenly?

Iodine has shown to be non-beneficial in a reef tank, except when helping crustaceans molt. This is according to Randy Holmes-Farley, one of the industry's leading reef chemists.

I have seen and experienced many instances where xenia just melts away for no reason. It has done this many times for numerous different people. Xenia isn't completely understood.

downhill_biker wrote: Iodine has shown to be non-beneficial in a reef tank, except when helping crustaceans molt. This is according to Randy Holmes-Farley, one of the industry's leading reef chemists.

Ryan Thompson wrote: I don't agree with this statement. But that is another topic. The majority of tanks out there that are gorgeous dose Iodine in some form. Brad Syphus(tileman) doses Lugol's Solution weekly. I also know many other tanks that does Lugol's and they are gorgeous. Most people can tell the Iodine is low if the blues start to look less blue. If Iodine was useless it wouldn't be in the ocean. I think corals use it but we just can't measure the usage because it may be too low.

Do you think there are tanks that are gorgeous without dosing iodine? If you haven't seen one, you should go through the TOTM threads on RC. I am pretty sure Jared Butler doesn't dose Iodine, neither does Tyree. I dont dose Iodine. Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium. It probably doesn't hurt, unless you overdose like Nick did, but it is considered to be a waste of money by many.

Maybe I am overdosing iodine? I dont have a test kit for that. Maybe I will just stop dosing it and see what happens? When my big pompom started to go, I tried everything, moving it up right under the halides, back to the bottom, High flow, Low flow, No flow, it just didnt seem to matter. Someone told me to try iodine so thats why i started. He also said that sometimes certain parasites will target xenia. Maybe thats it, since all the sofies and lps are doing fine. Its just frusterating. Thanks for the feedback. Jeff

hey curtis just to let you know, i asked jared butler one time and he said he doses  iodine

Edited by badfinger - October 09 2009 at 6:57pm

What lighting do you have and how old are the bulbs?  Is it high up in your tank?  I have had xenia melt on me I think because of the low light before.  IMO I think they need more light than people think they do.

Thank you. Though almost 10 years since I wrote that, it still applies.

Ryan Thompson wrote: Sure there are pretty tanks that don't dose Iodine out there. I guess to each his own when it comes to how we want a tank to look. I wouldn't replicate 99% of the tanks I see on this site or on other sites. I replicate the ones I like. Brad's is one of them and so is Sonny's. (www.rimlessreef.com) Why copy a tank that I find ugly?

Ryan are you calling my tank ugly again?  

I already know it is, you dont have to remind me....