xenia losing color?

[JE]

what would be the reasons? i have it mid-high in my tank with only 96 watts of light. they are growing like crazy and look healthy, but seem to be fading in color............any help appreciated.....

 

[coralGoodie]

My xenia colony is doing great. It's located on top of my LR with 4-65 watts of PCs. I make sure that I put iodine every time I change the wtaer (5%). Also, please make sure that your water parameter is excellent.

 

[JE]

i tested my water and its perfect.....i have been doing 10% water change every week. i will try a little more iodine.
thanks for the help.....

 

[GTR]

If it's growing like crazy then I'd expect it to be growing closer to the lights. In my tanks they always start at the bottom and grow towards the light. The brighter light might be more than it needs and it could be expelling some zooxanthellae. Not a bad thing, it's just how they regulate.

SteveU

 

[Charles99]

are you adding any supplements/ amino acids, etc? a simple all-in-one keeps all of my stuff growing, colorful, and healthy.

 

[Kenfuzed]

My Xenia grows like crazy but I've never noticed it ever losing color. You sure you haven't been staring too long at your lights :rollface:

If they are already growing I wouldn't add anything. I rate a Xenia's health by it's growth and survivability, not necessarily by color. Adding Iodine may get them to pulse faster but it could impact other inhabitants in the process.

 

[JE]

i really thought that i was just staring and my eyes were going crazy but it is definately not as pink as when i got it. thanks for all the input.........i think ill inject it with food coloring.

 

[Siapin]

try adding a bottle of ammonia to your aquarium.

 

[JE]

thanks, ill try that dillhole.

 

[XeniaMania]

As the nutrient levels in your tank lowers, so will the color of your xenia. They will darken up and show more color when the nutrient levels are higher. The blue/pink xenia shown in my avatar was in water with nitrate levels of 80ppm, now that my nitrates at 0-5ppm, the blue has faded and it's a creamy pink.

 

[bennyinca]

Interesting, so a pale xenia could be a sign of low nutrient water for SPS?

 

[XeniaMania]

yes, if you look at the ever popular Red Sea xenias that are raised in SPS tanks, they will all be super white and feathery and pulsing very fast. If you look at them in poorly maintained tanks, chances are they will be purple, not very feathery, and slow pulsing. I always chuckle when I hear someone tell me, oh yeah, I bought these white xenias, and then I saw these purple ones which I'm gonna go buy now.

 

[bennyinca]

that is so true. does the xenia eventually melt away and die if the water it "too" much on the low nutrient side?

 

[XeniaMania]

It's a theory that when nutrient levels are exhausted, the colony crashes to ensure it's survival. Xenias can rebuild off of a single polyp. If the consumption of nutrients is lowered, then the possibility of nutrients increasing is possible thus allowing xenias to thrive again. One look at my tank, and it looks fairly pristine. Most would be surprised to find out that it gets fed 3 times a day, and plankton almost daily, but it does not show any signs of excessive nutrients. I believe this is how I'm preventing crashes in my system.

 

[XeniaMania]

In the past few weeks, I've come to a better understanding of how allelopathic chemicals affect xenias. Some may argue that my lighting is insufficient for growth, but it was not the case. I've removed 2 leather corals from my tank so far. Upon removal of the first coral, there was a slight response, but prior to it's removal, even the so called "pest of the reef" Red Sea xenias were not growing in my tank. The Red Sea I keep as my "control group" if you will. I've recently removed another green tree leather from my tank, and again, I see a growth spur in my xenias. For 2 months my xenias showed little signs of growth, the Goldenbacks being the most resistant to allelopathic chemicals. I conducted another test in the clear bin to the top right of the tank. That's my propagation container. It has served me well, but upon adding 3 frags of the pulsing sinularia from the bottom portion of the tank, the xenias in the container could no longer heal and I lost every frag that was placed in the container after the sinularias. I was able to save polyps in that container before, to being unable to grow good sized frags on to rocks. That for me was evidence enough of the detrimental abilities of leather corals. The pulsing sinularia will go to a new home later this week, I'm sure I'll see a huge response from my xenia after that coral goes.

 

[yoyoyoo123]

hey xeniamania, what types of micro algae, if any grow in your tank?

 

[XeniaMania]

I have some chaeto and prolifera in a CPR fuge that's like 12x4 hanging off the sump lit 24/7.