sudden xenia decline
 

back in febuary(ish) i bought a small frag of xenia (maybe 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches) and watched it explode into a 6x6 sized colony, it was healthy and bushy and extended its arms to sway in the current. over the last week ive watched more than half the colony just disolve! parts of it shrivel up and turn white, parts seem to disolve at the base of the bunch into yellowish goo, and parts just dont extend anymore and shrivel up into a greyish lump. i tried to pull off the worst looking areas, but today, again, more of it has become affected.

any suggestions on how to save the rest of the colony? i tried moving it into a different area in case it was being affected by something in that spot, i tried getting rid of the damaged areas, i tried an extra waterchange.... help :(

heres some pics of the before/after
Before
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/100_1621.jpg
after
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/100_1636.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/100_1637.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/100_1638.jpg


params
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate less than 5
SG 1.024
pH 8
temp 78
weekly waterchanges with RO water

the only thing that has changed in the tank in the last month is the loss of a heater about 2 weeks ago. all the other inhabitants seem healthy and happy

Hmm
 

Heater might be a possibility, is it near any other aggressive corals?? It may have been stung. Don't know if it is savable or not, I had a leather that got stung once{at least that is what I concluded] as all my water parameters were fine. I am assuming all your other corals are showing no signs of stress??
Sometimes corals will just not adapt to a transfer from one tank to another although you said it was growing well so I am less inclined to assume that is the case in this instance. If it really started to go south after your heater failed I think you have to assume that may have been the dagger that killed it..if there is any good frags portions left..

My Xenia does the same thing, so it isn't just you. I'm not overly concerned about it because there seems to be plenty of it.

If you really want to experience something...haul a piece of that dead section out and give it a sniff. Few things get me like that particular smell...man...

Xenia are funny that way. One day they're spreading like weeds, the next day they're turning purple and shriveling up. Do you have any large leather corals in your tank? Might be chemical warfare affecting the Xenias. If so, run some carbon and see what happens. Also, try dosing with iodine weekly - some say Xenia needs it, some say they don't. I did both of these and they cured my Xenia blues. gl.

Haha, yeah it's a killer stink....leathers are a smelly coral as well.

Another possibility is your skimmer? Xenia like a more nutrient rich water. What skimmer if any are you running. What lighting? Do you feed your corals? Wish mine would melt away. Its kinda a pita to have to go in and save my other corals from being swallowed by it every two months.

Xenia does this in nature too, so its not uncommon. It will grow back. I have heard many leathers and softies such as xenia use a lot of iodine. Regular water changes takes care of this but you may want to test for it. I would not does iodine though unless you test for it because it can be very bad for your tank.