(probably wrong part of forum..sorry)xenias

[reeffanatic247]

i have just recently bought a small rock clipped off with xenias,the pulsing ones i believe. they havent been seen recently pusling in the store but in my tank they wont open up fully and look dryed up purple tannish and the hands on them are barely moving. once again i just got it so im not sure iff its acclimating to new conditions or light but i have heard that it its a more experienced owner coral.. can someone help please

[reginanmc]

have you tested your water lately? I have found that when my water is lacking in Calcium and Alkalinity my xenia begins to shrival and stops pulsing.

[reeffanatic247]

well my xenias dissapeared frommyrock i think my urchin ate it.(dunno if possible)myalk.was around 14 found itn to be a bit high but fine ....calcium idont check but i add and i think its fine.. ty anyhows is it to be found a more expert coral or more delicate?

[Dragonist]

Originally Posted by reeffanatic247

well my xenias dissapeared frommyrock i think my urchin ate it.(dunno if possible)myalk.was around 14 found itn to be a bit high but fine ....calcium idont check but i add and i think its fine.. ty anyhows is it to be found a more expert coral or more delicate?

I am confused on the statement above(don't understand the text). Can I get a translation?

[OneDummHikk]

Don't feel bad Dragon, I didn't understand a word of that either. I think what it says is that his xenias disappeared. And wants to know if its a hard coral to keep or an easy one to keep. Although I could be wrong.

[YLChik]

Originally Posted by reeffanatic247

well my xenias disappeared from my rock i think my urchin ate it.(dunno if possible)
It is possible that your urchin ate your xenia, but it could also be your water chemistry, or your lights, there are a bunch of factors.

my alk.was around 14 found it to be a bit high but fine ....

I am assuming that your alk measurement is in DKH - if so 14 is pretty high, you want to shoot for 9 dkh with a salt content or specific gravity of 1.025.

calcium i don't check but i add (calcium) and i think its fine..

This could be part of your issue - It is unwise to add things to your aquarium with out testing for them. May I suggest you stop adding calcium, or start testing for it.



ty anyhows is it to be found a more expert coral or more delicate?
Xenia is considered a starter/ beginner/ lower light coral.

If you would like more help we are going to need more info on your set up.

what size is your tank?
how long has it been running?
lights?
skimmer?
sump?

What is in your tank?
Do you run carbon or anything else?


what is your specific gravity and what do you test it with?
temperature?
Ammonia?
Nitrites?
Nitrates?

Pictures are always helpful too!

Hope that helps you!

[mitchmac]

you could have bought waving xenias not pulsing...and theier pulsing look could have come from the flow in theier system....just a thought

[reeffanatic247]

sorry for not seeing what everyone wrote i was saying be4 that they disseapered or died and my urchin ate them or somthing as i saw him the whole day on top of it anyways they were pulsing and i have a 36 bow 5t lightin 2 actnics 4 standars white light total of 244watts i have a red sea prizm skimmer a 8 watt uv sterilkizer i have a canister filter and i have carbon but its special package that was supposed to help with phospate and for slawater i paid aroudn 20 dollars for 1 peice. not sure what u mean by a sump or u mean filter... i have a gravity of 1.025-1.026 nitrite-nitrate 0 ph is bout 8.2 and ammonia is less the n 0.25 and i was askin before if it was more delicate or w/e necuz it wasnt opening and dying anways the only problems im havin right now is with my akh alkalnity annd phospate my akh.. is very low around 3.5 is this becuz of circulation or air???? alsoo... my phospate is really high arund 2 i se special packets they give me and ro water but tit dooesnt seem to be helping.

[YLChik]

Reef fanatic,
I would love to be able to help yuo more, but can you do me a favor and use periods and spell check . I don't spell so hot either, but your posts are a little cumbersome to read.

Originally Posted by reeffanatic247

sorry for not seeing what everyone wrote i was saying be4 that they disseapered or died and my urchin ate them or somthing as i saw him the whole day on top of it anyways they were pulsing
while it's a possibility I think you have some other things going on here!

and i have a 36 bow 5t lightin 2 actnics 4 standars white light total of 244watts
are they retro fit or a fixture? Can I see a picture? I do better with pictures. That should be plenty of light.

i have a red sea prizm skimmer
I am not real familiar with that so maybe someone else can chime in on if it fits your system...

a 8 watt uv sterilkizer
are you running it? If so why? ( I am curious, I know some people do, but have never understood why.) and Where are you running it? Does it just hang on the tank?

i have a canister filter and i have carbon but its special package that was supposed to help with phospate and for slawater
Do you run this all the time? How often do you change out the carbon? My understanding of a canister filter on a reef tank is that it can be used to polish the water for a day after a water change, but should not be run constantly due to nitrates building up with in the canister. Can someone else chime in on that.

i paid aroudn 20 dollars for 1 peice. not sure what u mean by a sump or u mean filter...
sump= a second tank that all your filtration equipment is usually kept in, usually under the tank or in a near by room, connected to the main tank.

i have a gravity of 1.025-1.026
nitrite-nitrate 0
ph is bout 8.2
ammonia is less the n 0.25
There shouldn't be ANY reading of ammonia in your tank - I am fairly certain this is what killed your xenia. What sort of testkit are you using?
Everything else looks spot on.

and i was askin before if it was more delicate or w/e necuz it wasnt opening and dying anways
I am sorry but I couldn't figure this line out.
I think you were asking if xenia is a difficult coral and the answer is no, it's not.

the only problems im havin right now is with my akh alkalnity annd phospate my akh.. is very low around 3.5

I think you mean dhk for the measurement of your alkalnity... or are you talking about something else? You will measure in dKh, meq, or ppm.
If it is dkh at 3.5 yes that is very low. I think most reefers shoot for 8-9 dkh.


is this becuz of circulation or air???? alsoo...
I am more inclined to think that your calcium and or magnisum are out of balance. What are those numbers if you have them?

my phospate is really high arund 2 i se special packets they give me and ro water but tit dooesnt seem to be helping.

If your phospahates are registering on a test kit they are WAY TOO HIGH.
what kind of packates are you being given with your ro water? What is in them?

My understanding is that we keep phosphates under control with a regular water changes, and a good set up with flow, an apropraite skimmer for the tank size, proper stocking of our tanks ( not too many fish) and keeping our nitrates down.

If you would please answer any questions in my last post to you as well as the ones in this so we can help you further.

[reeffanatic247]

my canister is my primary source of filtration its always running my uv ster. is for killing all the bacteria with a very powerful light hidden in a black casket it keeps running through a sep. pump because it wont fit on my filter. i use ro water and i use especial carbon with sum mix to kill phospate and it wont help. the prizm skimmer is a sep thing very long and thing hang on the side of my tank its for 100 gall so 36 its should be fine my am. is always lwoer then .25 i dunno why i cant make it lower even with a water change so how do i control my po4? and also wat bout my dkh is it becuz of poor circulation or low air qaulity? its master test kit 30$ or so . the fixture i hung on my celing with 2 metal cabless and it has 3 sep wire for 3 switches. i will post pics of the tan k and lights tommorow how do i add em here..

[bulletmagnet1337]

my xenias close and open randomly, they dont like nitrates and with lower phs they will pulse asynchronously with higher ph they pulse together. It took a week before mine would pulse and just before a water change they are a little weaker.

[REEFIN'ROB]

did nobody notice that htis guy doesn't test his calcium but adds calcium? i'm pretty sure that is a big part of his problem. if he is overdosing calcium that would explain his alkalinity problems. i know this thread is old but reefanatic you need do a little research. i dose calcium maybe once a week to my tank and could probably not bother because it needs to be done about 2 days before i do my huge water change. i'm sure that will change as my sps corals and clams continue to grow. adding stuff to a closed system is potentially dangerous and will eventually cost you a lot of money and kill a lot of animals if you don't moitor what you do. my advice would be to do about a 20 to 30 percent water change every week and stop adding anything to the tank until your alkalinity is in line. if you don't overload or overfeed after that and you continue with 20 percent weekly water changes you shouldn't need to add calcium unless you have some monster sized colonies. less is better in a new reef. xenia is a weed in my tank it never closes but does stop pulsing at night. get your tank straight and i'll give you a healthy colony of xenia.