Just cant seem to keep pulsing xena!!!

[Hutchball]

Hi my second attempt with a pulsing xena has gone as bad as the first!!

I buy them as perfectly happy specimens but as soon as I put them in my tank they shrivel, hide, then fall apart.

Maybe ive been unlucky twice.

Any help?

 

[carey]

I know I was told I couldn't have any xenia until I got my phosphates levels down, do you have phosphates in your tank? Just a thought.

I have a $5 frag of xenia that is actually doing really well. I hear alot of people have issues with the xenia for whatever reason, and it's usually people who totally have their tanks and acts together.

Good luck though!

 

[bavass]

have you done any tests on your water?

 

[Hutchball]

My water is fine. I tried this before about 2 months ago. I had a little more success that time, it lasted about a week, but it still went to nothing.

I will do some extensive testing and post my results!

 

[bavass]

then its probably lighting or water flow. I have mine towards the top right infront of my return pipe blowing across and they are spreading like crazy

 

[Fishguy2727]

How are you acclimating them?

They HATE change. This is probably the coral I would take the longest, by far, to acclimate. AT LEAST 45 minutes of acclimation is required IME to give them the best chance of settling in well. Even once in the tank they will probably be the first to show signs of temp or salinity changes.

 

[carey]

When I first put mine in they stayed closed and did nothing for weeks. After awhile they came around and now pulse like crazy and are spreading.

I didn't know about acclimation on them, I just temp acclim and in it went.

 

[Tomchong22]

Yeah it can be tricky at first but if u just give it time in the tank you will be surprised . It may even be weeks b4 u see it open up. Don't count it out yet.... Xenia does tend to like "dirty" water. You should place it about the middle of the tank and let it sit for 2 weeks. Try your best not to disturb it.

 

[Hutchball]

Yes, looking at it today it hasn't got any worse though it is fully closed up. It's still white in color and a close inspection it still seems intact. It was a daily healthy specimen when I got so I guess I'll just wait!

Watch this space!!

Do most corals take a few days to 'come out of their shell' so to speak ?

 

[austinsdad]

Be aware that xenia is a very mysterious coral. I've seen and hear of pristine tanks where xenia just didnt do well. Othere did fine. I've also seen and read about other, less than perffect tanks where it thrived. IME, there seems to be no logic to it.

Also, keep in mind that I've experienced and seen others where xenia does well and the owner began to wish it didn't do so well afterall. I think of it as a weed that can get on ones nerves if it does well.

Keep up on your water changes to provide needed iodine - but I am not a fan of dosing iodine.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Xenia is a great filter coral, it can actually be used in a refugium for nutrient export. It does not do well in water that is too clean.

You should not need to add anything like iodine. A high quality salt mix should provide trace elements like this. If you have evidence that something like that is lacking you need to verify this with a test kit and if you truly do need to add it, do so as needed based on testing. Don't just go buy a bottle of iodine and start adding it based on the instructions or a guy at the LFS.

 

[bavass]

Like Fishguy said if you are using a quality reef salt then you should not need to dose ioodine.

I started losing some color in my corals and was giving the advice to try Seachem Reef Plus I am usually againts adding something I can't test for but I went ahead and tried it anyway to add amino acids and some vitamins to bring back the color. Wow what a difference all my corals look healthier. I have a 55g and I do 2 5g water changes a week using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt which I love.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I have the same problem, pristine water quality, hard and soft corals propagating, but Xenia that just shrivels and sits there. I think my water may be too clean. I think they are very intolerant of the other corals in the tank and seem to be the weakest link. Funny it can become a real pest in many systems.

 

[Hutchball]

I was hoping for me to be able to try and get to spread on the back wall of my tank.

 

[Emelinda76]

I've had one of mine for three months n seem to be doing fine.. The bigger rock I got from my LFS n the other one was shipped to me from California three weeks ago.... I acclimated for about 40 minutes....
The first pic was taken two months ago n they are bigger now... Pulsating away
The second was taken at the end of first week

 

[Ibrahim]

I'd be glad to buy the xenia ppl don't want lol

 

[bavass]

Hi my second attempt with a pulsing xena has gone as bad as the first!!

I buy them as perfectly happy specimens but as soon as I put them in my tank they shrivel, hide, then fall apart.

Maybe ive been unlucky twice.

Any help?

what is your alk levels at?

 

[Hutchball]

I've never tested alk, I don't have a kit. I do regular water changes with Red Sea Reef salt.

 

[bavass]

I to use Red Sea Coral Pro and I really love the new blend! My Alk levels stay between 8-9dkh but my corals seem to like it a little higher like around 11dkh.

 

[joy13]

Don't count it out. I got a used set up and it had this little pink pink pulp in it at first I thought it was a pink star polyp or maybe anthelia. It is some kind of xenia it isn't the pulsating one but probably something like the elongated. I knew it was something I wasn't really wanting in my tank and actually tried to kill it. Now it has taken up 1/4 of my tank. I do know that leathers give off a chemical that will kill xenia.