Xenia Questions

[Chryocon]

I just got a new rock with some pink pulsing xenia on it, I acclimated it using the drip method for about 1/3-3/4 an hour, the tank parameters are: PH=8.0-8.3 (it varies), Amonia=o, Nitite=o, Nitrate=0-.25(it is a color chart one and is lighter tan .25 but darker than 0)...the coral has shriveled up a little, is this normal? Also, what individual care and experience do people here have with this type of coral?

[on_fire_8]

I have found xenia to be moody. If I move mine it shrivels up for a couple of days. It always comes out of it though.

[Pineapple House]

If you just recently aclamated the coral, and just recently put it into your aquarium, it should take a couple of hours for the coral to open, it's normal.

Xenia, as On_fire already stated, can go through moody stages throughout its life. Sometimes it will be closed, while others it's open. It shouldn't really be anything to worry about too much.

For care, they should be placed under medium-strong lighting, with medium currents. This seems to also be a hit and miss coral. For some, this coral grows like a weed. For others, it dies within the first couple of weeks/months.

Graham

[Chryocon]

thanks for all the advice, it is starting to slowly open back up....

[nihonjin_anemone]

Yah, mine did the same, but now they are always fully open in the day.

[Chryocon]

...one fell off during the night...but one is fully open....

[killroysrevenge]

xenia are bad shippers. If everyone of individual corals fall off of the rock, simply gather them up, and put them under a wedding vail until they attach to the rock again. I think I read that on garf.org.

[lroo67]

mine was kid of moody at first now its growing nicely a few branches fell off i just shoved them in a crevasse in my l.r. and now its growing nicely and im only using n.o. lighting

[Travis]

My experience with xenia's are that they grow like weeds. I have had to frag mine many times to keep them from over running the tank. If you are not already... Test your iodine levels and supplement as required.

[killroysrevenge]

Mine are growing slowly. I am going to check my iodide levels and see what that does. I have pom-poms

[Travis]

These started out as two stocks about 2" tall. Less than 6 months and these are them now. This colony has had several frag taken from it as well.

P.S. This growth was when they were under VHOs. To soon to tell how much they will like the MH.

[Chryocon]

I bought some pink pulsing xenia awhile ago and was surprised to see it all shrivel up and fall off the rock it was on....a forgot about it for a while (went on vacation) and came back to find it on another rock open and doing fine...

[phistio]

had the chance to attend a most informative lecture by Michael Janes on effects of closed systems on Xeniidae.

to be brief, and bring most of his points to a conclusion here are some of his findings/notes:

issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . suggested points to investigate:

never pulses ----------------------->species, light intensity, water clarity, low alkalinity
pulses periodically ---------------->unstable water chemistry. activated carbon. additives.
stopped pulsing-------------------->temperature too high/low. low ORP. aggression.
detached from base--------------->algae overgrowth. physical damage or aggression. infection.
loss of polyps----------------------->parasitic macro-organism. fish population. aggression.
colony loss/melted----------------->coral mix / allelopathy. disease. stress from shipping.

that being said...the most interesting point that was mentioned, was that pulsification of xenia showed direct correlation to potassium levels in the water. xenia began to pulse when potassium was added. careful how you take that...I AM NOT SAYING NEITHER TO ADD OR NOT TO ADD POTASSIUM. anecdotally it seems to be a direct causation. also O2 and dissolved O2 seem to play an important role. some species of xenia do not pulse. nor do we have solid evidence of why pulsification occurs, though it is suspected that it is part of the photosynthesis process.

i personally think pulsification is taking place to build up energy transformed from the photosynthesis. by the pinnules trapping organic particulate matter and retracting it into the anthocodiae...we sometimes notice that the tentacles elongate and shrink often at different times during the day. putting all of this together, i personally think that as the xenia pulses, collecting zooxanthellae, pulls it down when it retracts from strecthing out, and by compacting it at the base for growth. though i have no scientific proof of this...it's a completely anecdotal "theory".

it's important to realize that pulsification has no bearing on coral health! a completely healthy species may never pulse...

after the lecture, i asked michael what affect or necessity the coral has of iodide/iodine...the answer...no one knows...but it's possible none at all. so many books out there suggest that "iodide levels are important to this coral." i believe it's more myth than fact. eric borneman happened to be sitting in on the session, and i feel he agrees that it's not known, so how can we support that iodide is or isn't a key factor in the health of xenia. there is no evidence that there is, so why are we always told to add iodide???

on that note, iodide levels in natural sea water is somewhere in the neighborhood of .06 ppm. honestly, concentrations in most synthetic salt mixes are higher than that, as well, natural food i.e. shrimp has natural level of iodine in it...so it's like dosing right there. so why should we have to add iodide anyhow?

if you have specific questions about the seminar, or would like to see Janes's notes he can be reached at: mjanes@aquatouch.com

[Travis]

Nice article phistio!!

[andye1629]

Read quite a few reply's, just wanted to mirror most of the common ones.

I have been keeping Marines for several years, albeit succesfuly for the last 3 years.

Pay attention to water quality and stabilty of the water.

My Xenia needs to be harvested monthly as it grows 2-3 inches per month.

Average water flow, placed near the top of the tank, but frags have now been moved lower down and are growing fine.

I always get the shop to keep mine for 2/3 weeks after I have purchased it...... call me old fashioned..... but the amount of times I have gone back to collect fish or corals and things have died..... saved a lot of dosh over the years.

One of my prefered routes is to try and get frags from other local fishkeepers - at least then its growing normally and you you know its not an import death

Live Long and Prosper! - - - -said the Aptasia ....... ooops

[Fishmonger]

Is there anything special i should know before i pick up my xenia, i'm going to be ordering one from a mail order site that i've ordered all my corals, where should i place it ? What about special supplements ?

[Chloe]

Stert it off low in your tank. Depending on yor lighting, if you have a lot, it will take off growing like crazy. I keep my salinity at about 1.025, temp at about 79, Calcium at 400+. I have 560 watts of PC lighting. They also need a lot of current.

[Fishmonger]

Thanks, i'll try that out. What do you use for supplements with you're xenia and do you feed them ?

[reefrunner]

What do you use for supplements with you're xenia

I do regular waterchanges, I add kalk and a two part CA and ALK additive to maintain CA and ALK, nothing else is required for good xenia growth, IME.

do you feed them ?
Nope, xenia doesn't have a gut, therefore it does not "eat" persay. Xenia will adsorb (or is it absorb, I get them confused) DOCs from the water column and is actually a decent form of nutrient export, if the xenia grows well and is pruned regularly ;)

[Fishmonger]

How often do you do water changes, i do them about every two weeks, i also have an essential elements additive, coral accel, and phytoplex which i occaisionally add to compliment my kalk regime. Do you use carbon filtration ??

[reefrunner]

I do waterchanges every 2 weeks.

Do you use carbon filtration ??

I run carbon 24/7 exchanging the carbon weekly and rinsing once between exchanges.

[Fishmonger]

Some people argue that carbon depletes trace elements , thats why i add them in , do you think thats necessary, then again if you're doing water changes every 2 weeks it shouldn't be a problem should it ?

[reefrunner]

I have not had a problem for the last thirteen years ;)

[Fishmonger]

Thats good enough for me :mrgreen:

[Chloe]

I feed Photoplanktin 4 times weekly for the xenia and other softies. I change my water once a week and keep my calcium around 400. I also add a product called Reef Solution (http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com/html/reef.html) (this product helps you fish to portray their true colors and does wonders in helping you corals grow and become healthy)

[Fishmonger]

My xenia is in my tank and its great, but about once a day it curls all of its polyps up into little balls, it looks neat but what is it doing ?

[Sean Smith]

I'd like to know the answer to that too !

[reefrunner]

My xenia does this about once per second or two. The coral is pulsing (hence the name pulsing xenia). Not sure why yours is doing this only once per day (probably is acually more often, that's juat how often you notice it), What kind of flow do you have it in and how much light. The xenia pulses to expell water and bring new water too it, this will be lass necessary in higher water flows.

[Sean Smith]

Mine is non-pulsing. It curls up tightly once a day at least.

[Fishmonger]

Mine pulses all day long, but then it curls up into tight balls about once a day.