Xenia is dying, but why???

[TanksLeak2Much]

so ive had this xenia frag i got for free from a friend and its been doing awesome for about 4 months now, steady but not the speed of growth i anticipated when i read up about the species.

im running a 20L mini reef tank with 130 watt of CFL above.
prizm protein with addon kit surfaces kimmer thingy
204 fluval
2 powerheads
clean the tank often
dont do water changes until levels change.

so my xenia is all shrunk up after i cleaned my tank and i have no clue why i didnt touch it or anything. its acting as if there is too much salt in the water and is shriveling away but im right at a good level for salt. all my other levels are fine, my nitrates were wicked high recently but i just lowered them back to around 25-30, ideally i want them around 10. but anyways why is my xenis dying on me if there is no apparent problem that would cause it to die!?!?

 

[Fluff]

dont do water changes until levels change.

This could be the reason your xenya isn't thriving. Xenya needs water changes. Water changes aren't just for lowering your parameters, it also replenishes necessary trace elements which the xenya thrives on. Stepping up on your water change regime should help. Good luck.

 

[austinsdad]

Any recent ph swing?

Could be just a reaction to current change or something during the tank cleaning. Mine just kinda sat there for months when I first got mine, but when it started spreading - - lemme just say, careful what you ask for.

Garf has some good writeups on xenia.

 

[oyf709]

iodine is the important factor for xenia to spread and grow, do water change every week since u have a small tank , it won't hurt if do more often as long as u don't do major water change such as 40-50%, a 10-20% every 4-5 days will be good.tbh, i won't worry about xenia not spreading, in fact i would more worry about if they actrually start to spread, with 20g (assuming wat u have) it probly will become a "weed" very fast before u realize. Mine grow from a 1 inch frag then spread to my 16 inch rock full of it within 3 weeks
wish u best luck