Xenia just won't pulse - Adjusting iodine levels?

G

GraviT

Premium Member
[I have some xenia elongata in my tank that has been around for months and has never really pulsed much, in fact, it seems to be shrinking. A new frag of Red Sea from the swap pulsed a bit the first night, then stopped all together.

Thinking that iodine (or lack of) could be the culprit, I picked up a Salifert I2 test...initial results are:

Iodide: 0.01 (or less..really pale color)
Iodate: 0 (no color change)
Iodate/Iodine: 0 (no color change)

I've been using 3 to 4 drops of Lugol's weekly, and it seems this isn't enough. Should I just increase the amount/frequency of Lugol's dosage? The label doesn't mention how much product is required to increase the levels by a certain amount, so I'm a bit sketchy on this route. What are others using as a suppliment?

Other parameters are:

Alk:3.2 meq/l
Ph: 8.13
Ca: 380
Mg: 1180
temp: 78-80.5
No3: ~10

Any help would be appreciated. I've never been able to get this stuff to pulse no matter what amount of flow or light they are subjected to. :taz:]
 
[Xenia is extrememly sensitive to PH and heat changes.

If your tank is too hot, the Xenia won't "pulse".

Is there a fish nipping at it? That doesn't help either ;)

Iodine is a good idea, maybe try to target feed.

Just some thoughts.]
 
[What is your salinity?

Be very careful dosing iodine. I put in a drop in my 29g a long time ago, and thought "Gee, that's nothing! I'll add another drop or two just for good measure."

Suddenly my clownfish were gasping and struggling and there wasn't a thing I could do for them. :shocked: I never made that mistake again.

I suggest you go to Reef Central's Chemistry Forum and ask Randy what he would suggest. Or check Reefkeeping Online's directory to see when an article was published about Iodine, because I bet it has been at least once.]
 
[To be honest, I'm not really sure if a fish is nipping at it or not. My oldest colony looks like there could be, but I've never caught anyone "red finned" :) If there is, I would have to suspect my Coral Beauty. She is a great fish and hasn't caused any other trouble, but you never know. I spoke with somebody at the frag swap who said he heard of a yellow tang who liked to nip at xenia, so who knows! I've got some red ogo in several places in the tank to hopefully give the herbavores something else to do.

My salinity is around 1.023 which I am slowly bringing up. I've been using pre-mixed saltwater from my LFS for months and just recently started mixing my own. After struggling to keep the levels up, I happened to check the SG of what I had been buying and found it was 1.020, which makes sense for those with fish only systems.

I did add some Seachem Reef Buffer lastnight to bring the pH up and noticed that the Red Sea looking stuff started to pulse this morning. This raised my pH to about 8.25, but it's now back to 8.09. ??? I'll see how high it gets today and perhaps buffer again if needed, after checking my Alk of course.

Well, off to work, I'll check out the resources you mentioned Marc and see what I can find. Thanks again!]
 
[I dont suggest target feeding iodine or iodide either ,, that will toast corals and make fish unhappy ....My guess is going to be temp/salinity as well.. they dont like tank swings,,,]
 
[If you can't get it to grow/pulse I'd say its a PH issue. Calk reactors tend to melt the stuff... You can put the stuff in a new tank with crap water, poor lighting and it will grow/pulse.

Forget the Iodine, you don't need it or anything else to make Xina grow like mad.


In other news, killing all your Xina can be a good thing! :wwww:]
 
[I had the same problem with some xenia some time ago. I also thought it was my water parameters but it turned out to be something very different. I wanted to add more water flow so I put a Maxijet 1200, which of course increased the flow of water greatly. My xenia was right on path of the increased water flow and within days, it started to shut down. I removed the maxijet and within a week it was pulsing again, I guess they are also very sensitive to how much water flow they will tolerate before they stop pulsing. This might be something to look at. :D]
 
[They are always their most beautiful when they are near the substrate, but they grow upwards. If you want them, isolate them on a rock so they can't spread out.]
 
[My xenia is on the bottom of the tank in a low flow area, so that one is ruled out. Not sure how long it will be a low flow area, as I have finally finished my plumbing and plan on putting an Iwaki 30 RXLT to use tonight.

Off topic question...on the pump/plumbing issue. I started it initially on Sunday and realized that my single overflow wasn't going to get enough water back down to the sump to do the job, so I have added a second one. To keep the tank from overflowing, I reduced the pump's input and output via inline ball valves. The thing that irritated me was that the bulkhead into the sump was vibrating like mad and making all kinds of noise. Do you think it could have been due to the flow reduction? Anybody else have a US made Iwaki that vibrates a lot? The pump itself seems very quiet, but that noise isn't going to cut it!]
 
[Though I'm new to the keeping of corals, so all that I say must be taken with a grain of salt (or perhaps a half cup per gallon) :p , I have read a considerable amount on pulsing xenia, saying that PH is generally considered to be the primary factor in keeping the pulse. Most sources cite iodine/iodide as a contributing factor, but also warn of the risks of over supplementing (especially since iodine is usually sufficiently replaced with regular water changes and is difficult to accurately test for, given its rapid deterioration in the tank). So I'd stick with focusing on the PH. I have even experienced it in my own tank. I had a mini-plumbing problem that led my tank to be with out circulation and topoff for a few days and my PH dropped below 8.2 and the xenia stopped pulsing, when I raised it above 8.3 and kept it there, the xenia went back to their pre-shutdown pulse rate. This is purely anecdotal since there were many other possible causative forces, but hey I'm not a marine biologist, :smart: so if it looks like it is working, then so be it!
Good luck,
Jimm]
 
[Mine always loved high Ph 8.3-8.6 they would multiply with that and 1.026. I also would add trace elements. Thats it.

When I did see them melt away it was always due to low salinity and my kalk reactor over dosing and to much lighting....MH apposed to PC or VHO's]



Edited By Tpeck on 1101249965
 
[My xenia elongota does not pulse very much.
My read sea is a pumping machine.

I think on the elongota, it either pulses or doesn't and
I would mess with my tank trying to get to pulse by
adding chemicals.]
 
[Sorry that you are having trouble.

I can not say the same thing though-- I have my Xenia's all over the tank Top Bottom High Flow Low Flow and they are growing like weeeeeedddddsss That I soon am going to pluck and dispose of, If anyone would like a pound or two.


Myself as well Believes it is more a PH factor than iodine.]
 
[Kirk, I'm sure I can scrape up a few reds for you. When you come get your RO unit, I can get you a few then.]
 
[The increase in pH did seem to help the red sea somewhat. My original elongata colony isn't in very good shape, so it may take a while to bounce back. The rest of the elongata that I got from the frag swap is still hiding under some mesh, so I'm not sure what they are going to do.

Thanks for the tips!]
 
[You never know from tank to tank with xenia. I had some elongata in my main tank for years, with a pH that NEVER broke 8.0, and it pulsed like crazy, even when the pH dropped into the 7.7s in the early a.m. I moved it into my 55 a year ago, and it never pulsed again. I was wondering if it had anything to do with going from MH lighting to only 200 watts of PC lighting, but I don't know that for sure. Alk is a biggie for xenia, but your appears to be OK.]
 
[Marc is there a physical address posted some where for you? I can't find for the moment, and have been surching for awhile. I probably have been around you every 3 to 4 times a week.]
 
[I did post it in the RO/DI Group Buy thread, on Page 4 I believe. There is even a clicky to Yahoo Maps on there.]
 
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