Xenia closing up at night

[i dont eat fish]

Well, I've been lurking here for quite a while and have now decided to post something. I couldn't find a similar problem, so if this is a repost, please excuse me.

I'm having a problem with my xenia. This is my first coral in the tank. I bought a frag at my LFS and it seems to have taken well to my tank. Originally it had one head and now it has split into three. This is within the period of about a month and a half. When I got it, I attached the original piece to some LR rubble with a sewing needle through the base and a rubber band holding the needle. It attached within a day and was pulsing within 2. They grew at a noticeable rate until about a week ago.

Here's my problem. For the last week my xenia close up for longer and longer periods of time. I originally thought someone in the tanks was bothering them, but none of the polyps are missing. They look like all the water is leaving the polyps and going into the stalk. In the past few weeks (3-5) this was just a night time thing. They would close up at night and reopen when the lights went on.

First question: Is it normal for xenia to close up at night?

Now, like I said, they stay closed longer. And, as you can see from the pictures, they are getting smaller. The fingers are slimming down and loosing their "frilly" look. A week ago, the fingers all had frills. Now they're all skinny, although they still pulse normally.

Question 2: What's wrong with my xenia?

Here are my tank's stats:

equipment:

55gallon DT, 20 gallon sump, ocean runner 3500 to modified sqwd for CL, asm g1 skimmer, 440 w of VHO (just added, I used 260 of PC until yesterday), always use ro water w/ tds < 5, IO salt, waterchange 10 gallons q 2 weeks

test results:

Tank has been up and running for about 1 year.

temp 77.7-80.1
ammonia: 0 (salifert)
pH between 8.0 and 8.3 (salifert)
salinity: 1.026 (refractometer)
KH: 9.3, alk 3.31 (salifert)
Ca: 400 (nutrafin)
No3: 5mg/L (nutrafin)
Po4: 0.1ppm (red sea)

Inhabitants:

orbicular cardinal, pair of sebae clowns, hermits, snails, 3" sailfin (will be getting a new home when he gets bigger)

these tests hover around these values most of the time ( i test q 2 weeks or so)

So, what does everyone think is my problem? Any ideas? These guys were just fine last week.

Preemptive thanks for the help.

-nick

 

[cristhiam]

It looks normal to me. Do they still come out and pulse during the day? I have lots of it and some close in clumps at night and some just stays open. Pretty normal

 

[i dont eat fish]

Thanks for the super quick reply. That's good to hear. But what about them getting less frilly and smaller? That part worries me most of all.

 

[DarkStar76]

All my Xenia close up at night - I would think that is perfectly normal. Sometimes, my Xenia patches will look bad, and appear to decline... it is probably a result of something being out of whack, but it usually results in more Xenia.

Why...?

Well.. the stalks don't reach as high, and end up leaning a bit... sometimes, they flat-out wither and droop onto the rock looking dead. But everywhere the stalk touches the rock, it connects... even when it looks dead... and the strip of flesh then attached to the rock grows multiple new stalks! I used to worry... but now when I see my Xenia fall over, I just keep doing what I've been doing, and I end up with a lot more Xenia.

One thing I've noticed, is that when my water parameters are out of line, my xenia will stop pulsing... especially when Nitrates get too high, it seems. If yours are pulsing, I would take that as a sign that they aren't on the trail of death.

It also looks like your frag moved from one rock to anohter...??? It may need some time to "regroup" after spending the energy.

Here's a short video of a baby Xenia frag just for fun....
<a href="http://distro.tomatillatech.com/video/aqua90/Xenia_Baby_01.wmv" target="_new" title="Xenia Coral"><img src="http://a1120.g.akamai.net/f/1120/23830/v0001/msnuuv1.download.akamai.com/23830/thumbs/prod/5e/33/dc/2cf934fa-2ec6-46df-b8d3-4490afdc335e.jpg" border=0 alt="Xenia Coral" width=112 height=84><br />Xenia Coral</a>

 

[blide]

Yes, your xenia looks fine and closing at night is normal.

 

[cristhiam]

I agree with the comments, once it takes over your tank it will be another matter, how to kill it Good luck with your xenia

 

[cristhiam]

Ohh I wouldn't be concern about the frilli looking or size, my xenia grows smaller closer to the lights and they streach in shadowed parts of my tank, same xenia different sizes.

 

[i dont eat fish]

Awesome, thanks everyone, you have all put my mind at ease. I might be comfortable enough to add another coral now. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something.

 

[chin_lee]

normal

normal

most softies/lps closes up at nights. Whereas i find sps (generally) opens up at nights.
so don't worry its all good

 

[cooper9177]

That is normal but when it takes over you will need a lawnmower to get rid of it.