Pulsing zenia and Purple mushrooms?

[brndfrb]

I got a pulsing zenia and a purple mushroom rock last night and the guy told me to put the zenia in the middle half of the tank. "But he also told me that it shouldn't be in alot of current or it won't pulse as much. So where should i put it? Does it need alot of light or not. Also is it ok to have a purple mushroom rock on the bottom of the tank? And how much flow should they have?

Thanks

 

[ReefLady]

Moderate flow, moderate-high lighting. IME, Xenia loves light, and does best in moderate current.

As far as the mushrooms, usually the bottom of the tank is fine, but it depends on what your lighting is. Low current is fine for 'shrooms.

 

[BBReef]

i had my pulsing xenia in a spot that had a lower water current, but they all moved up and across the rock to an area with more current, go figure huh.

 

[thorn]

I just got a nice "double" frag of pumping Xenia myself yesterday afternoon. I normally keep mushrooms, ricordia (still mushrooms) and polyps. The Xenia seemed to adapt very quickly after I made some flow adjustments around it. It's high in the tank and in an area where it gets a moderate blast of water flow every 2 minutes or so. The mushrooms I tend to keep wherever there is no flow (or very little) and they've been splitting nicely. The ricordia acts a little different and seems to open up and divide more when I put it in a steady low flow area.

From all I've read, so long as you give *some* flow, lots of light, maintain your pH above 8.0 and keep on top of the water quality, your Xenia should be growing like a weed. On that note, you may want to make sure it's surrounded by smaller rock fragments so when it does grow, it's easier to prune.

Hope that helps!

 

[wseaton]

My experience with Xenia is they like moderate current that tends to change direction, and moderate light.

By moderate current I mean the Xenia shouldn't be bent completely over or look like an elm tree in a hurricane. I've also had specimens that woulnd't pulse at all even in near dead current, yet grew like a frikken weed. If you have them in a strong current moving one direction try placing an obstruction in the current and the Xenia on the other side of it.

Lighting is a bit trickier with this critter. Xenia prefer more actinic light and will close up if moved too close to high intensity white light. Xenia also require very low nitrate levels, so in a way they act as 'test pigeons' in terms of water quality.

 

[ReefLady]

Xenia also require very low nitrate levels, so in a way they act as 'test pigeons' in terms of water quality.

I'll offer a differing opinion, here ... When we had our 75g tank - cruddy skimmer, CC substrate, always moderate nitrate levels, our Xenia grew like there was no tomorrow. We weeded it out weekly. Moved everything to the 180g with a good skimmer, 'fuge, DSB, etc., zero nitrate levels. Xenia was quite healthy, but didn't exhibit much growth at all

I've heard Xenia referred to as a "nutrient sink" - similar to Caulerpa. As a matter of fact, there are ppl who use Xenia for nutrient uptake in refugiums.

JME

 

[thorn]

I've heard Xenia referred to as a "nutrient sink" - similar to Caulerpa. As a matter of fact, there are ppl who use Xenia for nutrient uptake in refugiums.

That seems amazing to me! I'd love to have a refugium with Xenia in it!! Certianly more exciting then macro and critters only!

 

[ReefLady]

thorn,

Take a peek at this article: >>Down the Drain, Exports from Reef Aquaria<< ~ Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D.

The article is lengthy, and gets into the *cough* toxic metal discussion. However, the article also discusses different methods of "export materials", Xenia being one of the materials analyzed. It's a long read, but contains some good info.