Xenia and feather help

[Alysiak00]

Hello, my Xenia has not even opened since i brought it home from the lfs, same with my green feathers (i believe. it was an unmarked frag for $10) but the purple tipped anemone (thats been in there for 6 months) is doing amazing. All my parameters are good, my ph could be a little higher. its at 8.1 but everything else is in check. I also had brought the frags home and noticed my fixture decided to take a dump so they went 3 days with no 10k only actinic. The picture is of them today after putting the new dual satellite on. Any ideas?

 

[DustinB]

Can't see anything in the pics, too small.

 

[Alysiak00]

I'll upload bigger pictures when I get home. I shrunk them down to upload quicker lol

 

[drew1]

What size is the tank and how long have they been in there? It sounds like at least 3 days. Temperature is around 80 and salinity around 1.025? The lighting is PC? What kind of lighting were they under at the LFS? How much flow is in the tank?

 

[Alysiak00]

20 gal with probly 10-14 lbs lr. Good flow from powerhead and filter. Sg is 1.025. Temp 78-79. Idk about Lfs lifhting.

 

[Alysiak00]

Also the tanks been set up for about 6 months but I just moved it to my new house about 2 weeks ago. Same water though.

 

[drew1]

The only time mine close up tight is when they get too hot. It could be from any number of parameters, but if the parameters (no mini cycle from the move?) look good I'd start experimenting with flow. My xenia always look worse with no flow but the will open up and just kind of float. Some of my other soft corals (mainly kenya tries and toadstools) will close up for extended periods and look even better when they open up. Kind of like they're sloughing or something. Fortunately both of your corals are hardy. I don't worry about the xenia until it looks limp.

 

[Alysiak00]

What do u mean limp. Because if u look at the picture its real taught together and a light purple. It used to be pink.

 

[drew1]

By limp I mean almost opposite of really taught. Kind of like a wet noodle. If it is tight it's still using it's "muscle" to stay closed. Usually when they close up tight they appear to change colors - compare it to clenching your fist or gripping something really tight - white knuckles - but your skin is still flesh colored. My Kenya trees do exactly what you're describing. They clench really tight and turn pale purple but then open back up to their normal pinkish selves. As long as the parameters are good I wouldn't give up on them. My son swears by iodide for the soft corals, but I haven't made the corellation yet so I can't recommend it personally, nor do I know how an anemone will react to iodide

 

[Alysiak00]

I add iodide not iodine. It's a little easier on the coral than straight iodine

 

[Alysiak00]

I'm wondering if their acclimating to the new lights or if I'm not testing for something. I don't test for calcium or strontium yet. I'm Getn the test kit tmrw.

 

[drew1]

Yeh, iodine is more toxic so there is less room for error. We don't tert for strontium, so I'm not sure about that one. Calcium isn't as important to soft corals, but it's goodvto know anyway. I would have thought light acclimation too if you had something stronger than PC's. Usually going to more powerful lights would cause them to close up for a while. But maybe compared to the lfs the pc's are more intensive.

 

[Alysiak00]

here's the beginning pictures again just seeing if they come out better.

 

[Alysiak00]

When i came home from work the xenia looked a "wee-bit" better. It seems to have stood up a tiny bit but still has not opened or turned pink. I think your correct by saying its not dead because it does seem to be holding itself closed, its not limp like a "wet noodle" lol. Here are some pictures and the current parameters.

*Dual satellite (brand new)
- 10,000k & 6,700k
- 420 & 460nm actinic
*Moderate flow rate
*tank mates include: 2 damsels, 1 percula clown, 3 hermits, 1 snail, a cleaner shrimp, and a lawnmower blenny.
*anemones: Purple tipped anemone with porcelain crab


*parameters
PH - 8.1
NH3/NH4 - 0.0 mg/l
NO2 - <0.3 mg/l
Salinity (SG) - 1.025
KH (hardness) - 14dH (because i added some ph buffer)

Still holding itself together

My purple tipped anemone. Still doing good

The way the tank is set-up!

 

[Alysiak00]

Well this morning the xenia looks a little better still but Idk about the feathers. They still haven't moved at all :'(

 

[drew1]

The xenia look OK. Obviously not great but just stressed, not dead. Were the "feathers" open when you bought them? They can lock up tight for weeks at a time. But they are tough. I was working with one this morning that had mounted itself to a large bubble algea. Really weird. Anyway, I had it out of the tank longer than any coral I've messed with in the past. Hopefully it will be open this evening. Again, as long as your parameters are good and stable these guys will most likely come around

 

[Alysiak00]

Yes both the xenia and feathers looked good when I bought them. The xenia looked a little taller but it was still holding itself closed. I have a t5 light I might put on it too to see if it helps.

 

[drew1]

I have found that the less light the xenia has the more it tends to open and the taller it is. Like it is trying to get to the light. Being closed up, if light is the issue, seems to indicate that the light is too bright. But that doesn't seem as though it should be the case. My xenia under PCs are almost out of the water (they are up high in the tank) reaching for the light. Under MH's they are low to medium in the tank. Have you tried messing with flow or relocating to a lower flow and see if they open?

 

[Alysiak00]

Yea I just think they're getting over being stressed really bad. My ph was low, they had no good light for 4 days and they were transported from the Lfs. That's a lot to take in but what do I know. These r my first softies other than the purple tip.

 

[drew1]

I still get kind of freaked when they all close up, even though they do it daily (yes, they do it daily). When they are all closed is the only time you really need to worry. Yesterday all the kenya trees in my frag tank were closed at the same time. Really weird. Looked into it a little and it turns out there was no flow in the chiller and they were getting warm (85). So we did a quick filter change, flow starts up, temp comes down and today they are back to normal. Keep me informed on when they finally open. I'm sure they will.