Zenia help please.....

[Tava176]

My pulsing zenia has been in my tank for about 6 months now. It started ut a 1 stem, then multiplied in t 2, 3, 4, and resently 5 stems.

Now for the last 3 days it has kinda shrivveled up and is dropping stems. They are floating around my tank and settleing on other rocks. Is this the normal way they split??
I am afraid tht the original colony will split into 5 and then there will no longer be one large colony. Is this the way it works?

Water peramiters are :
PH8.2
ammonia 0
trate 0
trite 0
CA 420
DKH 9
SG 1.026

 

[ReeferMac]

Re: Zenia help please.....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7281204#post7281204 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tava176
Is this the way it works?

Yup.
Now you know why some folks avoid that stuff like the plague.

- Mac

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Something sounds fishy, IMO.
Keep us informed if the Xenia is actually floating off, attaching and forming new colonies or simply breaking up and disintegrating.
You didn't post your alkalinity or aquarium temperature.

 

[draczka2]

myself i really like xenias. you just have to prune them and get rid ofthe cuttings.

 

[XeniaMania]

pH seems a tad bit low. When they break, do the bases have a different color and is more solid than the usual translucent body?

 

[Tava176]

Gary, Alk floats between 3.2 and 3.6 (depending on my dosing of "Randy's 2 part solution". Temp bounces between 80 and 82.

Xeniamania,
The colony shrivels up really small adn the base is wihte when it separates. I noticed last night when I got home from work that I could not find the pieces that floated away.

I hve a different colony from another reefer's tank that is doing just fine and looks great. I did forget to mention that I had a piece of live rock about the size of an apple fall onto this colony (the bad colony) about a week ago. I watched it fall and picked it off as soon as I saw it.

It may be dieing....yet my skimmer is not going crazy......yet.

All other corals and fish are doing great! I found some baby fish in my sump....so I think my water quality is fine.

 

[XeniaMania]

Xenias do prefer higher pH. Having a rock fall on them usually isn't too detrimental, they're fairly resilient. Looking at your lighting, could be lack of lighting for the xenia and it's trying to move to a better place. Are the 2 types of xenias you keeping different types? Where are they placed?

 

[Namyar]

I also have some xenia and they seem to like the flow but not to strong. if there isnt flow they seem to curl up and shrink

 

[Tava176]

Flow is ok. The 2 zenias are the same. both pink pulsing zenia.

I can try and move them to a different location. I use 400 watts of VHO. Should be plenty for them. Thye are right out in the open.

 

[XeniaMania]

Try moving them up as high as you can. While your xenias may be sitting 6" below VHO lights, mine sit 6" below halides, so they can definitely tolerate high lighthing.

 

[Chrsnwk]

Xenia do like alot of light, and they also seem IME to thrive in less than perfectly clean water. In my Reef, which is a 125, they are in the top 8" or so of the tank, and strain and crawl their way higher for more and more light. some of them are under 175W 10K MH light, and some under 250W 15K MH light. I agree with XeniaMania above in moving them closer to the top of your reef, especially in a 90 which is a pretty tall tank. I also personally keep my SG closer to 1.023-4 which might make a bit of a difference too.

 

[parkavenuereef]

try lowering your salt a bit, depending on your calibration of your hyrdometer, it could be a bit high. 1.025 is where you want to be.

 

[Tava176]

I will lower the salt. I do not use a hydrometer. I have a refractometer.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

IME a SG of 1.025-1.026 is preferable for Xenia. You need to avoid high temperatures and ultra clean conditions.
82 degrees might cause Xenia to start stressing (depending on your other water parameters).
Alkalinity and pH is important to Xeniids too- more so than light intensity IMO. I've seen plenty of VHO lit aquariums grow forests of Xeniid corals.

 

[Guy]

I would have to know the types of Xenia to give an opinion. "Pulsing Xenia" isn't distinct enough.

IMO the "Red Sea" love ultra high temperatures (85F+) and very salty water (37ppt) where something like Elongata would prefer average Salinty (35ppt) and cooler temps (78-80F).

 

[drbronx]

One additional thought: Xenids do seem to require iodide for good health, growth and pulsation. However, I would not dose iodide unless you are prepared to test for this. Do not add caustic forms of iodide such as Lugol's Solution. I personally reccomend Seachem's Iodide or Seachems Reef Plus which contains Iodide among other trace elements and nutrients. Like Gary states, xenids are not particular when it comes to lighting. They can thrive under a wide array of lighting schemes, as well as flow rates etc. They do prefer somewhat higher Ph, and don't like large swings in temperature. They also require some suspended nutrients.

 

[XeniaMania]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7292482#post7292482 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Guy
I would have to know the types of Xenia to give an opinion. "Pulsing Xenia" isn't distinct enough.

IMO the "Red Sea" love ultra high temperatures (85F+) and very salty water (37ppt) where something like Elongata would prefer average Salinty (35ppt) and cooler temps (78-80F).

That's interesting considering the fact they both come from the same ocean...hmmmm

 

[Guy]

The Indo-Pacific isn't exactly a small backyard.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7292833#post7292833 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by XeniaMania
That's interesting considering the fact they both come from the same ocean...hmmmm

Can you elaborate or cite any references, XM?
You sound knowledgable about Xeniids, but I'm sure Guy knows what he's talking about- he's grown many types of Xeniid corals successfully over the years. Maybe the common names are causing some confusion here?

 

[Guy]

Or it's also likely that my experience doesn't jive with logic. Wouldn't be the first time. In my experience the Red Sea (is it X. umbellata?) grows nearly twice as fast at higher temp and higher salinity than at lower where other types of Xenia that I've used seem to melt at the higher temps. None of them seem to tolerate change very well in ALK or temp.

Most of the observations I've made were in the form of using Xenia for nutrient export so I wanted to optimize growth. I consider growth rate a good indicator of health but I understand that this is very debatable.

Gary always (rightfully) calls me out on the common name stuff :/ LOL

This is what I'm referring to as Red Sea Xenia: