What eats Corals

[OneTimer]

Can someone tell me what eats corals- I know this is a bit generic but I am searching for answers. I put my Zoos and xenia in my little bio cube and they start to close up and die- If I catch it before they all close and dip them they reopen in my other tank. It is weird the water in the tank is exactly the same- using RO and my nitrates are 20ppm most of the time- what could it be?

 

[nycdominicanreef]

as far as EATING a zoa, theres zoa eating nudi's

 

[NYreefNoob]

maybe it isnt anything eating them, but water parms, also on the zoa's do you see any small white spots ? and as for xenia it either dies right off or takes over a tank

 

[OneTimer]

Water is fine that is what is weird- Hammer, GSP, Superman monti and shrooms are all doing great growing no problem- I really think it is the crabs- I have four blue hermits and catch them picking at the coral- maybe because there is not enough algae -

I am ready to give up

 

[NYreefNoob]

alot of the time crabs will pick if the zoa is dying or getting debris out of them, they coming from a store or local reefer or from one of your other tanks ? the corals that is, is it only zoa's and xenia that ur adding ? do you dip ur corals first or drip acclimate ? alot of times the most obvious is least thought of

 

[OneTimer]

I dip all corals before placing them in the tank and do a short drip- most corals come from members tanks- they are all fine in the other tanks - no sign of them closing-they are perfect in the other tank - can't figure it out

 

[Master Shake]

angels, butterflies(fish not the insect), nudibranch's, flat worms, certain crabs(anything that looks hairy usually isnt good), peppermint shrimp, other corals, the list keeps going on and on

 

[Dre]

I don't think there is something eating your coral man.Some Zoas and Xenias are funny, check your Alk and feed your Xenias regularly.I'm surprised you still have the hermit crabs they usually kill each other for their shells or out grow them.

 

[cali_reef]

I don't think there is something eating your coral man.Some Zoas and Xenias are funny, check your Alk and feed your Xenias regularly.I'm surprised you still have the hermit crabs they usually kill each other for their shells or out grow them.

What do you use to feed xenia?

 

[Dre]

What do you use to feed xenia?

Most people already know that i couldn't keep Xenias for nothing until recently .I added a sand bed and started feeding my tank more often on DT's Phytoplankton,Zooplankton,juice from blood worms and frozen brine shrimp scraped with a razer blade.

 

[cali_reef]

Most people already know that i couldn't keep Xenias for nothing until recently .I added a sand bed and started feeding my tank more often on DT's Phytoplankton,Zooplankton,juice from blood worms and frozen brine shrimp scraped with a razer blade.

So which one of these you think or have seen xenia eating?

 

[Dre]

So which one of these you think or have seen xenia eating?

I don't know for sure which one or two they eat but what i do know is that they eat .Over the past 4 years i'v got many Xenias species without any success at all.I found it very strange because some people don't feed at all and have great success .Yes i'v read most of the posts on Xenias,so i know where you'r going with this.It might not make sence to you but to me it's a victory because Xenias got me and many others in the hobby in the first place .The Xenias in the pic started out as one ,i got it from Ming 3 months ago.

 

[Dre]

I don't know for sure which one or two they eat but what i do know is that they eat .Over the past 4 years i'v got many Xenias species without any success at all.I found it very strange because some people don't feed at all and have great success .Yes i'v read most of the posts on Xenias,so i know where you'r going with this.It might not make sence to you but to me it's a victory because Xenias got me and many others in the hobby in the first place .The Xenias in the pic started out as one ,i got it from Ming 3 months ago.

www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/coral-farming/72445-xenia-problem.html

 

[cali_reef]

So how do you know they eat if you don't see them grabbing anything when you fed the tank?

Maybe all the food you fed the tank is not being eaten but rotting, causing the nutrients level to go up which the xenia may like better?

I have seen a guy who use xenia as a method to transport nutrients, like how some people uses macro algae. He had a 180 gallon refuge tank full of this stuff, and all he did was 12+ hours of MH and heavy iodine supplement.

 

[skimmerman100]

try water changes and lower the nitrate a little more. sometimes u some coral from people who have 0 to 5 ppm and the corals tend to get used to it. sometimes i have had coral that i would get from a tank with high nitrates and put it in my tank and gone the next morning! or like my new nano i have nutrient water for zoas mainly, and i put a frag of purple bonsia and it died the next day

 

[Dre]

So how do you know they eat if you don't see them grabbing anything when you fed the tank?

Maybe all the food you fed the tank is not being eaten but rotting, causing the nutrients level to go up which the xenia may like better?

I have seen a guy who use xenia as a method to transport nutrients, like how some people uses macro algae. He had a 180 gallon refuge tank full of this stuff, and all he did was 12+ hours of MH and heavy iodine supplement.

I don't remember saying i was a Marine Biologist but i will take note of your statement you made about the guy you know with the Xenias in his refuge.Anyway i'v kept Xenias for 5 months,i make observations and take pics of what i see.By now you should know that every tank is different and as stated above some people feed and some people don't. Directly or indirectly the nutrients come from somewhere it didn't come from the light bulbs and iodine.I will continue to feed and see what happens in the future.

 

[OneTimer]

Ok now that the Xenia debate has come full circle- my zoo's "thread name" are starting to open again in my other tank- I think at this point I will remove all crabs from my small tank and put back one zoo just to see if I can start a process of elimination- water changes every other day 5% and go from there- any other suggestions?