Help with Pumping Xenia

[weemanpow3]

I bought a 2inch peice of white Pom Pom Xenia and Pink pulsing xenia about 4 inches. I put them in my tank yesyterday and they are still closed. They are compresses about half inch. Do I need alot of flow on them or should I very little flow on them. What do I feed them and when will they start oppening up.

Thanks

[Fluff]

You don't need to feed them and you should have a moderate flow. To much will blow them off the rock so I'd go for med to low flow. It's not uncommon for the coral to stay closed up for a day or so after adding them to the tank. They need to adjust to the new lights and flows. How did you acclimate them?

[Hara]

Don't feed them anything. You will just ruin your water quality. Where in your tank did you put them? They may be adjusting to your light. Xenia likes a decent amount of flow. That is not to say tsunami type flow, but they do like water movement.

[angelscrx]

Give them a couple of days to adjust. Mine took about four days before they opened up and another day to start pulsing.

[weemanpow3]

right now they are on my sand. I put the bag in the tank for 15-20 minuts so they can ajust to the temp. Then I added 50 percent of my water in the bag . Then wated 40-45 minutes. Then I put them on my sand. I will be putting them directly under my light later today.

[Fluff]

They should have been slowly drip acclimated over the course of a few hours. That quick of an acclimation could be part of the problem. The shock of being put in your tank without enough time to slowly get accustomed to it, could kill them. If not a drip, then maybe a shot of tank water every 15 min or so for a few hours would be my suggestion. Also, they would be happier on the rocks. HTH

[angelscrx]

Since I don't drip acclimate I use the follwoing method.

Drain half the water out of the bag.
Place 1/2 cup of tank water in the bag every fifteen minutes.
When the bag is full empty to half and repeat until full again.
Then empty and place the animal in the tank.

Takes anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2 hours depending on the bag size and the type of animal.

[weemanpow3]

good news. I put them on the rock under the light and they are opening up more and more fast.

[SeeDemTails]

I dont understand why people dont choose to drip acclimate.....you can buy everything you need to drip acclimate for less than $2.

All you need is some air hose, adjustment valve, a tupperware container, and a stool to put next to the tank.

These arent neon tetras!

Also, dont be surprised if it closes on occasion....mine coses atleast once or twice a day...I think it splits stalks faster when it is closed, because mine is growing like hair algae under 9.6 WPG of CF.