Xenia help

J

jaabc

I need help! I have had managed to kill two diff sets of xenia recently. I got some from a guy and the were doing ok for a little while then the shriveled and died. I recently bought a small rubble branch with three mushrooms and 1 xenia stalk on it from DNA for $5 to test it. all the water parameters seemed good. nitrates, ammonia, 0. ph. 8.3, temp 82. phosphates were a little high so i did a water change and some phos-lock. when i got home the xenia had broken off the branch (attached to a small piece of branch). i drip acclimated it and put it in the tank on my button polyp rock that has some little places to put a little piece of rock and hold it there. apparently not. i cant find the xenia now. i have mushrooms, zoas, button polyps and a scroll thats doing fine. my zoas are growing as well as a ricordia that popped up on one of my rocks and has been slowly but steadliy been getting bigger. why cant i seem to keep xenia?? i want some but i dont want to spend a bunch of money for bigger pieces if they will just end up dying, which is why i bought the $5 frag b/c i wanted to test it.
 
I can't imagine Xenia not growing. Although, I have heard that it is either a weed in your tank, or you can't grow it at all. Mine just keeps growing and growing...

I have read that your iodine levels should be kept up for Xenia, but that seems to be controversial. Mine also tends to move up in my tank. Always trying to be closer to the top even though I have great lighting. Try moving it higher in your tank. Mine also attaches to anything it leans against for more than a day making another colony.

Hope you can get it going, it is nice to see it waving at me all day...

Howard
 
what size is your tank? Any skimmer on it? How often you changing the water? Are the temps ok...stable

Fishtomorrow has fairly large frags for 9 bucks...looks really healthy, several varieties
 
iodine seems to help, I notice that when i dose iodine my pulsing xenia tends to grow more aggressivly and wanes off after a week or 2. Xenia seems to do better in tanks with more nutrient heavy loads, I.E. acor tanks are not the best enviroment for them. In the wild xenia populates areas of the reef where there tends to be more runoff from from tide and mangroves.
They do not seem to feed as much as absorb nutients, almost like a filter coral for the reef to help suck up some of the pollutants other corals dont want.
Good luck.

Charlie
 
my xeina's love high flow they do not pulsate but they are happy. I dose Iodine weekly and add filter feeder food once or twice a week.
 
Mine do great in high flow too and they pulsate but its harder to see that they are pulsating. The flow seems to interfere with them pulsating. If i move them or the flow off them they go back to really pulsating. I do dose iodine ocasionally. I really dont test anything in my tank. I go by looks of how things are doing. I have been doing reefs for many years. I dont have much sps...so that probably makes it easier as far as testing. I can just tell if a fish or coral is geting sick or about to die. I know that sounds wierd but its true. Then i adjust accordingly. I have a salty thumb lol :D

I think it has to do with flow, placement, water changes and having a skimmer. They dont like things touching them and make sure your hands are clean. I dont think lighting makes alot difference for Xenia in my opinion. Mine stay open and pulse all night. I bought one small piece from fishtomorrow a month ago and it is 10 times bigger already. When i had tried it years ago in a small 7 gallon mini-bow aquarium i had not so great luck and i think it was due to water quality and lack of a decent skimmer. Also i have kept my aquarium lately at 1.26 on salinity and my temps at a stable and constant 78 degree's or very little change through out the day/night light cycle. I also have a automatic water topoff so the salinity stays right on target all day everyday. Just trying to help.
 
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