Brown/Black balls on tips of xenia

I just bought this xenia a few days ago and it is my very first coral. It was fine when I first brought it home and it has been and is still doing great. Open a lot of the time, and it seems to be pulsing, not sure.

Yesterday I noticed these brownish blackish balls on some of the "arms" of the xenia. The parts that have it still move and pulse fine, but if the balls are connecting two arms, they can't pulse. No clue what they are nor what to do.

Here are my params if that helps, and I don't have any reef tests yet, need to order them still.

pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 10-20 ppm
Temp - 76 F

 

I would first look for nudibranchs that may be munching on the tips and even possibly some fish like angels. The nudibranchs will be small cream colored and look very similar to the xenia.

Next I would look at swings in parameter such as alk and ph and SG, when you get the appropriate test kits.

Lastly I would look to intense lighting and photo shock.

 

I couldn't find any parasites or nudibranchs on it at all. When I did buy it there were a bunch of flatworms or red bugs in the bag, no idea which. I dipped it before adding it to my tank.

I do have a new cherub angel in the tank, but he's been ignoring the xenia.

I'm just waiting for my test kits to come in, so cant test for those parameter swings =[

I did a 15% water change last night and this morning all but one of the ball things were gone from my xenia. I'm pretty lost, but its going away, so that's a plus! Thank you for the possible issues!