Toxic liverock?

[WiseguyFish]

Ok. I've got a tank going now that is starting month 4. I got two small pom-pom Xenia stalks from a LFS for $14.99. I put them on opposite sides of my tank and watched them. After a day where they seemed to royally hate life, the snapped out of it and bloomed beautifully.

One was pulled from the crushed coral bottom at the LFS and attached to the live rock in a few days and is now flourishing.

The other crept along the plastic grating it was attached to and soon tried to attach itself to the loverock I had tied the plastic grating to. Once it did, the entire half of the stalk that touched the live rock shriveled and died.

I quickly moved it to another rock yesterday, and the little "hands" that survived started grabbing again this morning.

My yellow polyop coral is still spreading over nearby rock, and my green star polyp colony is spreading as well. Everybody, including my 6 line wrasse, handfuls of feather dusters, a bristle worm and a few snails are happy and healthy.

As near as I can tell, the offending loverock has only sparse green and brown algea growing on it. Snails frequently cruise over this rock and munch without issues.

Whats up with that rock & my xenia?

Last test : 3-29-2003
ammonia : 0.0
PH : 7.0
nitrate : 0.0

55 gal
10 gal sump
model 5 mag pump
4x65watt pc light
1 mp600 ph
1 mp1200 ph
SeaLife venturi skimmer

Thanks in advance.
--Rick

[RazerCorals]

Chances are it's more your water then the LR. The xenia spreading then trying to connect to a new rock makes the base vulnerable. Now stay with this. The base is normally touching a rock so it's not normally exposed to the water. So its like shock to it when it is moving over.

[Pineapple House]

Last test : 3-29-2003
ammonia : 0.0
PH : 7.0
nitrate : 0.0


I have a feeling this test was wrong, or possibly there was a typo. Your pH would be extremely low. I stongly feel that there was either a typo, or you tested wrong (or the test kit was old, damaged, etc.).

FWIW,
Xenia can be extremely moody at times. Sometimes they won't like an area for some strange reason. I wasn't exactly sure what watchman was trying to state though. As long as the main colony of xenia is doing fine, than I wouldn't worry about it. You may want to try to propgate the xenia, and try some way to attach it to a new rock in the tank (sometimes can be attached with a rubberband). I personally wouldn't be too worried...unless your pH level is in fact correct.

Graham

[RazerCorals]

The basal disk, I think that's what it's called anyways is not normally exposed to water. When it moves from rock to rock there is a gap in which the coral is exposed to water. Therefore that's why I stated that something must be wrong with his water not the live rock. Are we all lost?

[BigFish]

is it real live rock? If it used to be base rock that might be your problem concrete has an unbalanced ph level it would take it around 2 years to become balanced small coral frags and things will not attach to it. This could be your problem.