xenia shrunk

[dmanshep]

Hello,

I have a 7 gallon bow front that I have some coral in... I have been having alot of luck with this xenia except I have a ?...

XENIA LINK

just tonight the xenia in the picture to the right seems to have shrunk down alot and isn't happy... my water params are as follows

SG = 1.024
temp = 76.9
Nitrite = 0
Amonia = 0
Nitrate = 4 - 5 ppm
calcium = 480ish
PH = 8.43 - 8.45

plenty of water flow and light 2 13watt smartlights.. can anyone shed some light on possible problems.. oh and all I have fed is some brine about once a week... not sure what else to feed just a coral tank... sorry i'm kinda new to coral..

thanks

dan

 

[Anonymous]

Occasionally xenia will shrink and close the polyps and that is completely natural. However, if it is constant and it continues it shows us that there is something wrong. If there is a problem with that colony I would suspect a lack of trace elements or nutrients(food).

Lighting could be an issue, but I would think that the other colony would react the same as well.

It doesn't appear bacteria because it doesn't have that tell tale yellow stuff around the base.

 

[Anonymous]

Lighting could also be an issue, but I think that the other colony would react as well.

Sorry about the double post but it would not let me edit.

 

[Sea Serpent]

Hi dmanshep,
I had always had trouble keeping Xenia - while everyone else was cursing its rapid spread. The problem was Alkalinity - One more thing to test for. The balance between Ph, Calcium and ALK can be tricky. If you have had a quick Alk drop, it may be the reason. They seem to be two differnt kinds of xenia - maybe one is more sensitive to Alk than the other.
Another test kit to buy!
HTH,
Sea Serpent

 

[czarclint]

How long has the Xenia been closed for? Mine closes every once in a while for a day and then reopens. I think it just a normal reaction. If it closes for more than three days, it may not like its location or current. The lighting should be fine since your other colonies are doing fine.

http://members.toast.net/photos/slideshow.asp?user=clint.mccormick&album=Aquarium&index=2&PictDisp=1

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
Xenia colony is tricky, but they typically not picky about light or calcium. As SeaSerpent said, alk and pH are two things that you need to watch for, and in my experience, it is true. Your nitrate is a bit on the high side, but it does not seem to affect the other Xenia, so don't be too concern unless you have this problem all the time.

Sometimes two clone colonies in the same tank will behave very differently. One will pulse and "happy" (I asked them, and they said they are happy!), while the other one next to it dies within 20 hours.

Good luck.
(I am not going to mention Iodine :roll: )

 

[MarkO1]

In my tank, the Xenia prefer the higher parts of the tank (light) and faster moving water.
My Xenia are out of control, and my nitrates have always been between 20 and 50 ppm. Everything else in my tank is normal.
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[dmanshep]

thanks for the replies... these guys have been down now for about 24hrs.. can someone shed some light on additives/food? ie. coralvite, phytoplankton etc... I am dosing daily with that 2 part alk/calcium buffer stuff....

thanks a ton

dan

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
...Xenia has no real digestive system, so phyto is not important...

 

[Anonymous]

7! i love your avatar! :wink:

 

[mrmeola]

I have read somewhere that xenia will die out in summer months due to tempature. I cannot find the page that references this but to sum it up from memory by early summer the xenia almost takes over the reef but by the end of summer with the water tempatures approaching 81 deg F the xenia dies off...article says happens every year in the natural reef environment that was studied.

E

 

[linuxpng]

but when my got sickly looking, I took the lugol's iodine advice. I took about 2-3 gallons of tank water in a bucket and put approx 30 drops of iodine in it. (read the back of the bottle for these instructions) I then mixed it with a powerhead and put the xenia in it for about 15 minutes. It will usually look pretty beat up when you put it back in. Since I've done that and maintained the high alkalinity (and the regular dose of iodine in the tank) my xenia has been growing like mad. It also never pulsed before I took those actions.

 

[MarkO1]

Well, FWIW, 3 weeks ago I added a refugium to my tank and have seen my nitrates drop from about 30 to around 5ppm. My xenia do not seem to like it very much.... almost look like they are going to crash, especially my white pom pom. The only thing I think it could be is the Nitrate... everything else is normal. For me, this is a good thing!
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[Reefguide]

I've tried everything in hopes of keeping Xenias, they have never lasted for more than 4-5 months... My params are all perfect including Alk & Ph. I've tried dosing Iodine, moving frags to different locations, lighting... you name it... they all eventually crash on me. Frustrating cause I love the little bastards ! Ironically the first batch I ever tried did the best. My tank was new at the time and I didnt ever know any better to even add B-Ionic. The only thing I was doing was water chnages every 2 weeks and adding Ph buffer to top off water... Go figure...

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
Sometimes the more gadgets you have, the more additives you dose, the more you look after the tank, the worst it gets... :?

 

[ekudl]

Hi MarkO,

I too just added a fuge about 1 week ago and now my Xenia looks awful. Before the addition of my fuge the Xenia was growing like mad. However I also started using Red Sea Salt instead of IO that I thought might of been the culprit. Has your Xenia rebounded OK?

 

[hcr22]

Check your phosphates and get them down, that was my problem because I was feeding brime shrimps. pH and temperature are also most important.
If the main body desintegrates (bacterial infection), you can cut the polyp stalks (They seem to be more resistant) and distribute them in the tank in well lit areas. I had good luck this way to save Xenias in my tank.

 

[CAT]

One other issue you might have to contend with is the feather duster. I've never been able to keep them alive for more than a year. They're heavy feeders of very fine food particles in the water. Even target feeding with photoplankton didn't seem to help.

According to Ron Shimek, these guys will starve to death in most tanks. I don't think that feeding once a week will be enough for it.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I would do large water change 50% or more. Often the Xenia will do poorly because there is 'something in then water' and water change may help.
FWIW, my Xenia like very bright light and fast water movement (like under a 400 W MH with enough water movent to sway the whole Xenia stalk. They spread like crazy under this condition.
Minh Nguyen