xenia looks like crap..help

[®eefer]

My pulsing zenia looks terrible. My amonia is at zero, nitrates, zero, ca is at 440, Ph is always about 8.2, never drops below 8.18 or higher than 8.28. Temp doesnt swing much (79.0-80.5).
The only thing that i know is out of wack is alk. It was up to 16dkh last week, now it's 13.1dkh. Funnny thing is that the xenia looked better last week. Is there anything else I should be testing for?

 

[bromion]

Can you get a picture?

 

[oosurfin]

if it makes you feel better i can keep clams sps and anything else happy and growing... but xenia dies every single time i try it

 

[jdieck]

Alkalinity might have affected it but IME they are very sensitive to small amounts of organic chemicals in the water. Any painting, special cleanning or such around the house?
Also belive it or not if the water is very very clean they are also affected. Ozone also bothers them a bit if using iodate as a supplement at the same time.

 

[Sk8r]

Funny thing, when I saw the title of your post, I said to myself, say I, "I wonder if he'll list his alkalinity." It is sensitive to that. S/B between 8.3-11.

 

[®eefer]

Here is a crappy cell phone pic. My digi is at the office. Maybe it is my alk. No household cleaning products going on.

 

[Tachyon]

shot in the dark, lack of iodine?

 

[Sk8r]

Tachyon's right. They won't pulse if they're short of iodine. Not a call to start dosing with it regularly, but maybe a little dose this once, see if it helps. Having a test for it would be a good idea if this becomes a regular additive.

 

[®eefer]

I dose 3 drops a week of lugol's solution...pretty much my only additive.

 

[GTR]

I don't see any connection between iodine and Xenia health. I can keep it in both my softie and SPS systems. It just grows faster in the higher nutrient system. A dip in Lugos might help clear up any bacterial problem and increasing flow to the area might help as well.
My experience with Xenia though is once it "shows signs" of ill health it may be to late.

SteveU

 

[®eefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7428297#post7428297 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gtrestoration
I don't see any connection between iodine and Xenia health. I can keep it in both my softie and SPS systems. It just grows faster in the higher nutrient system. A dip in Lugos might help clear up any bacterial problem and increasing flow to the area might help as well.
My experience with Xenia though is once it "shows signs" of ill health it may be to late.

SteveU

Yea, that's what I'm afraid of...it may be too late. I did do something strange to my tank this past weekend. I torched some hydroids off of some rock. Maybe the burnt particles are having a worse effect on my water parameters than I thought. Everything else looks ok for now.

Hey...anyone want to buy some cheap xenia? lol.

 

[GTR]

If you think you might have a chemical problem from that process adding an extra dose of quality carbon should help remove it.

SteveU

 

[coralGoodie]

Xenia

Xenia

I add lugol's ioding every week (2 drops) and they keep multiplying and getting bigger as well. What kind of light are you using? Is it time to replace the bulbs?

 

[GTR]

I go to Carl's Jr every Tuesday and have a spicy chicken sandwich for lunch and my Xenia grows like weeds.

All that algae in that tank isn't an illusion

SteveU

 

[jdieck]

Steve... that pic of what I think is a species dedicated tank is obcene! I love Res Sea Xenia. Unfortunately once I started upgrading my water quality for SPS and to prevent recurrance of Cyano mine starting declining fast.

 

[GTR]

There's at least three types of Xenia in that tank. And yes they sem to like the water somewhat like soup. That's why I set this tank up since it quit growing in a low nutrient system.
This system consists of 2-20g tanks with mainly Xenia and hooked to the same sump is a 100g tank with BTA/RBTA. Only 1/2 the 100g tank is lit and the other side only gets overspray light as well as some light from a skylight. On the dark side I have a collection of sponges and maybe some ascidians.
This system has gone without a water change for about 6 months and during that time I've treated for cyno with Maracyn and used a liquid PO4 binder. No skimmer, no mechanical filtration, only about 1-1/2 - 2 cups cheap carbon changed monthly.
For that picture I cleaned the glass but I normally look at things in those tanks top-down. :lol:
SteveU

 

[Bebo77]

Xenia always dies on my as well but that ok because i hear its grows like a week once it takes hold...