Kenya Tree Not doing so well/dying

Hi all. I've had a 30 gallon tank set up for about 2 months now. I have 2 Green Chromis living happily in their along with a watchman goby and some crabs, so I decided it was a good time to add fairly hardy corals.

Last week I went to my LFS and picked up a nice looking kenya tree and a xenia. As soon as I put them in the tank the xenia started to close up. It was in a pretty high flow area of the tank, although most of the tank is high flow because I have Marineland power head set up for "laminar flow" stirring things up quite nicely.

I also have a 5 inch DSB of aragonite sand, and a 10 gallon sump with an Aquaticlife Miniskimmer 115 & chaeto algae. Roughly 30lbs of base rock and one piece of live rock to start things off. The base rock has been growing this neon green and pink/purple stuff which I assumed was good coralline algae.

The xenia has since totally shriveled up and died and the kenya tree looks like it's doing the same. I just moved it to a lower flowing spot in the tank to see if it helps, but I'm not sure if that's the problem.

I also have

Please help me keep this Kenya alive!

Water params are (using API test kits):
Salt: Reef Crystals
Salinity (refractometer): 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: 7.8-8.0 (hard to read)
KH: 13 DKH
Calcium: 400ppm

Thanks in advance!!

Some pics.
In high flow area:



In lower flowing area:



Update 2/19/12:
Here are some pics of my entire setup (from page 3)







Update 2/22/12 Page 4

 

What kind of lights are you running? Seems to me this tank may be too young to support that much life. I have an almost identical set up, a tad smaller and im not having issues. your params seem fine, but are you topping off with RODI?

 

From the looks of it your Kenya is doing better in the low flow. Sometimes it takes time for corals to adjust when there is sudden changes. Flow changes can stress it out along with lighting and water parameters vs. the stores parameters.

I have seen a lot of people having trouble with Xenia for some its a hit or miss it will either live or melt away. The DKH seems pretty high. I have a bunch of leathers and thrive for me with 7-8 DKH which is fairly low. Nitrates they do well in 0-20ppm even at 40ppm they have done fine.

How did you acclimate the corals to your tank? Did you just drop them in your tank without acclimating?

The algae that you see on your rocks looks good that is all part of it cycling and eventually you will see the pink/purple take over the green.

In all honesty from the pictures there is not much you can do but keep the Kenya where it is now and leave it alone. The polyps are opening up and it is starting to extend itself. Don't add anything until you are sure your tank has fully cycled or like many of us you can learn the hard way.

 

I'm not sure if I'm reading your info correctly but...have you cycled your tank?

Kenya trees are great indicators of water quality. My first thought is that your alkalinity (KH) is a high. With the preferred ranges being 7-11. They prefer low flow and low to medium light. 20 in nitrates although not high is an indicator that your tank may still be in the later stages of cycling and that your beneficial bacteria isn't quit up to par yet. With all this said I would suggest you do a small partial water change, 10-20%

Have you been dosing anything? What lights are you running? What is the temperature?

 

Thanks for the quick replies guys!

I'm currently using tap water for salt mixes and topping off. I can't afford a RODI system just yet, but I would love one and I'm saving up for it. My tap water isn't that bad though, no nitrates, fairly low general hardness, neutral ph.

I have a zoomed T5HO light fixture with two bulbs, one actinic and one 6500K.

The KH is a little high because I used Seachem Reef Buffer to raise the pH and it also in turn added alkalinity. My tap water mixed with the reef crystals is only about 7.8-8.0 pH and I thought this was a little low. My pH went up to 8.3 with the reef buffer, but when I did a water change it went back down to 7.8-8.0 and the alkalinity stayed fairly high.

I can't seem to get my nitrates below 20, even with the chaeto, but hopefully in time they will slowly disappear.

I acclimate all of my marine life by pouring the bag of water into a small bucket and slowing adding a few tablespoons of tank water to that over the course of a half an hour to an hour.

Thanks

 

Well for one, tap water is the biggest no no ever. I would never ever ever ever use it. There is no telling what exactly is in your water (well there is but i doubt youll have that equipment) That could be leaching god knows what in the water.

Apart from that, you seem to be doing everything needed. When acclimating, i just float the bag for temp acclimation. Ive never dripped any of my livestock and i have yet to lose anything. Some take that extra step, but ive done both and i couldnt tell a difference. You probably shocked them when acclimating and your immature tank is just not helping. Give your tank time to establish bacteria to help break down those trates.

 

I've had a freshwater cichlid tank for years so my 30 reef-to-be tank is cycled as far as I know in the freshwater world. I used the fishless cycling method of adding pure ammonia everyday. It took a little over a month for the ammonia and nitrites to reach 0. Then I did a water change and added the green chromis and watchman goby. It's been about another month since I've added the fish, and my ammonia and nitrite have never went above 0.

If I understand correctly though, a saltwater tank isn't fully cycled until the nitrates hit 0?

The only thing I've been dosing is Kent Liquid calcium to try to keep the calcium around 400ppm (won't really go above that), and i've added Seachem Reef Buffer one time in an attempt to keep the pH around 8.3

 

Stop using the buffer...7.8-8.0 is fine for ph, which will fluctuate throughout the day anyways. Just fair warning as to using tap water. You will most likely encounter algae issues. Although it may be low in nitrates I'm positive it's high in phosphates, which for our tanks is a big no no. Having no other options for a water source if I were you I'd get something to combat the po4 (phosphates) quickly. Without a reactor try something like Chemipure Elite. Great product. Is it possible that your LFS sells saltwater by the gallons? Maybe you know someone with an ro/di unit who would be willing to help you out?

 

IMO you shouldnt dose anything in that small, young of a tank. Especially with corals that dont use calcium up as quick as some stony corals. That may be affecting too. I agree with nana, goto a lfs and have them hook u up with rodi or premade salt.

 

Soft corals like these generally like the water to be on the "dirty" side. Especially Xenia. I would stop adding the buffer your Alk. is too high for soft corals. A ph of 8 is just fine.Also Kenya trees (along with other leathers) are known to sometimes shrivel up.It is not uncommon for them to stay this way for a long time. As long as it is not disintegrating it should be fine. There is no way for you to test your tap water for all the impurities so I would definitely consider an RODI unit in the future. In the mean time a good quality carbon should be used and changed regularly. This will help remove any metals or other impurities you may be adding with your tap water.Kenyas like a moderate/medium flow especially when shedding; they will do this from time to time.Also I would change the 6500k bulb to either a 10k or 12k.