Xenia

[AquaMan815]

I recently was given a rock with quite a few pulsing xenia colonies after the one i had just all of a sudden died on me

ive check my water and everything is fine

and all of my other corals and fish are doing just fine

ive read that iodine helps xenia and ive always had that at hand to help but that didnt seem to keep them from dieing

now my new frag is all withered and im afraid it may die soon



does anyone else have this problem with xenia? I read online that some tanks just dont support it, and i've talked to guys at the LFS that have supported that claim


would anyone be willing to trade me anything for it?
im looking for zoos, frogspawn or something in that nature

id just rather not have them die on me

 

[skinnyjoe1976]

what are the parameters? i bet you ph is low. btw be careful dosing iodine, if you don't have a test kit don't dose or you may end up od'ing and have alot more problems on your hands

 

[fish4jun]

got the same problem with xenia

 

[AquaMan815]

PH: between 8.0 and 8.2
Nitrite: doesn't even show .1 on my test
Ammonia: doesn't show up
Nitrate: between 25 and 50
Salinity: is a little low but i can fix that with no problem

 

[skinnyjoe1976]

well the ph is not bad, xenia will start looking melted when ph drops below 8.0. check it first thing in the moring and see what it reads. the nitrates are high, what test kits are you using? no need to worry about the nitrite or ammonia at this time. how low is the salninty/ and how are you testing it? what about temp?

 

[AquaMan815]

salinity is around 30 ppm

temperature is around 78-80

 

[skinnyjoe1976]

assuming you are talking about ppt then 1.022-23 is low for a reef tank to start. raise it up to 1.025-26 or a week and see how things start doing. the hydrometer uses there target for general references, fish only it's okay but the reef needs to be higher.

try a larger water change and start increasing the salinity and you will also start reducing the nitrates, and feed a little less to help with the nitrates along with wet skimming.

i think the myth of some tanks can't support xenia is more for the newbie that can't keep them. when the lfs see's people that can't keep them i bet 90% of them are new to the hobby.

also do you have auto top off to the tank? if not how much water do ypu add and how often?