Xenia, good questions.

R

rynon

New member
I know this is the advanced area of the forum and for that reason posted this here. I have read so many stories about Xenia or GSP's tanking over a tank and don't totally understand it. Before you say it's higher nutrient related, please hear my story. I have both GSP's and Xenia and have not experienced an overtaking of my tank. My nitrates at introduction of Xenia and GSP's were roughly 10ppm, now read about .05 (thankfully). Here's the question. Why do so many people have issues with Xenia (mainly this coral vs. GSP's) taking over their tank if their parameters are better than mine? I am so confused on this it's annoying. I run 10K 2X250 watt XM's.......should be prime ground for Xenia take over. Something other than nutrients is feeding this coral IMO. Lighting has to be contributing and apparently 10K is not what they prefer? I have a good friend who had a tank that had undetectable nitrate and phosphate and yet had to pull Xenia weekly to keep it in check, it's been 2 years for me, she supplied me with the Xenia and the Chaeto, had a bigger fish load, similar skimmer, less flow, etc..? Hence my questions. IMO it's not nutrients alone, it's something else added to the mix. Ideas on what actually causes this? BTW my GSP's are actually dying quickly. I personally think it has very little to do with nutrient levels (mine have been 0 before) and think it has more to do with something else.
 
Having read so many stories from both ends of the spectrum (to much growth or very little) I wonder if different species or place of origin of the Xenia has more to do with the growth than any other parameters. Mine grows fairly rapidly, but the LFS will take all I harvest, so that is fine with me. My water while not perfect is very clean, so I don't take stock in the dirty water = fast growth theory.
 
definitely needs alkalinity, mine melts if the alk is low, fills out when its up around 11-12.

its certainly photosynthetic though, so the light will have a lot to do with growth.
 
I never heard the alk theory for Xenia. I have been suing RC salt (high alk) for the last yr and my xenia are doing great in my 10gl. Before that I could never get them to live for more than a few months.
 
I thought i could be an unmeasured nutrient or chemical in our tanks. I have noticed ( at least for me) that they will grow rapidly for some time forming huge colonies and then crash for no apparent reason. I think it is as if they run out of something that they need and crash. I would love to hear any other theories that could have something to do with this
 
My LFS store said to thin them and this helps prevent a crash. I have boosted alk and immediately seen a difference in the xenia pulsing.

I have a colony of GSP in high alternating current, and they get target feed- the growth is scary fast. Haven't noticed a chemical response with them...
 
I dont ever know if there will be an answer to your question. I have tested between 0 & 3 ppm NO3 with my pin point NO3 meter, and my Xenia grow just fine. I have given cutting to friends that have "dirtier" tank ( 15 - 20 ppm NO3 ) and they stop pumping and melt away. I dont test for Alk but test for Cal and its always 400+ and I test for Mag 1200, I have been dosing the same amount of kalk for years and have good coral growth so I dont worry about the Alk. I have found my xenia doesn't like temps over 81. Most people say they dont "feed" but I will drop coral frenzy into the tank and they stop pumping and swell up. So I feel like the take something from it. I have mine with adequate flow, enough to keep them spreading. I have noticed if you place a cuttig on a rock say in the sand to try to isolate them they are not going to be happy. It like the need to constantly be able to move and divide. They will split almost on a daily basis, this is a pic of my xenia after it hit the back wall, there was none on the back wall a month ago. The glass gives them an endless amount of surface area to continue to spread.


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I keep my alk at 8 and in an almost No flow area and they pump hard. I also have heard they like iodine, Not sure how true this is. I do does tropic marin trace elements everyday that has iodine in it so ....?
 
FWIW , I don't see how alkalinity would effect xenia which is not a stony doral and doesn't precipitate much if any calcium carbonate. Why would it be a bellweather for low alk?
 
FWIW , I don't see how alkalinity would effect xenia which is not a stony doral and doesn't precipitate much if any calcium carbonate. Why would it be a bellweather for low alk?
Click to expand...

Perhaps the higher alkalinity causes a higher PH and they like the higher PH.

I don't have a good answer, I have difficulty getting it to grow, it just melts away. My stony corals however are growing great.
 
I think they absorb alot of teir food. Most say they puse to expell gases and it's not a feeding response but mine sure pulse when I add baby brine shrimp. I think the alkalinity, ph and sg would be tied together . Most of those out there now are Red Sea types and that body of water has higher sg than most. Heavy skimming seems to limit their growth,`
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14380992#post14380992 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thirschmann
From what I have read they pulse more and are generally healthier at a higher PH (J. Sprung I think).
Click to expand...

IIRC, I saw Calfo state that in a thread once too.

I don't know if anyone really knows for sure though. Higher pH may help but it definitely appears that at least a couple of factors are involved regarding xenia viability. I'm sure we've all heard of perfectly fine tanks that either had great success or none at all for no obvious reasons. The topic of xenia makes me this of this article (it's not directly related but I'm wondering just how much it might apply)...

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/cj/index.php
 
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