strange things i've noticed

[sharkboy1410]

1st: an odd feather duster that is normal at the base, but the tips are curled-up and a yellowish color, never seen one look like that

2nd: the small xenia rock i bought from petland that appeared to stay still, turned out to be pulsing xenia when i added it to my tank

3rd: the zoa rock i bought from petland that was brown, orange and redish there, but in my tank it is red skirt, blue center, orange mouth

4th: the littls growth near my clove polyps are star polyps, and there's a 1 inch are behind the GSP mother colony growing on a rock-- cool!

quick question: don't pulsing xenia grow slower than elongata? wish that was what i bought, that's why i did, it looked like elongata in the store, but it my tank it pulses- strange.

also what are my chances with buying a peppermint shrimp that'll eat aptasia?

[mojo]

Originally Posted by sharkboy1410

2nd: the small xenia rock i bought from petland that appeared to stay still, turned out to be pulsing xenia when i added it to my tank

Most all Xenia pulses. It pulses more or less or not at all depending tank conditions, mostly pH.

3rd: the zoa rock i bought from petland that was brown, orange and redish there, but in my tank it is red skirt, blue center, orange mouth

Most corals look different in different tanks because of lighting and water chemistry differences

quick question: don't pulsing xenia grow slower than elongata? wish that was what i bought, that's why i did, it looked like elongata in the store, but it my tank it pulses- strange.

In a healthy tank, you don't really need to worry about the growth rate of any Xenia species. Some Xenia will grow longer stalks to reach more light, if they need it.

also what are my chances with buying a peppermint shrimp that'll eat aptasia?

I'd say that there's a pretty good chance that you'll end up buying a peppermint shrimp.

[GLXTRIX]

agree

[Stevhan]

Ive bought zoanthids before and under the right conditions they take a couple fo months before they can change thier color to a much nicer color. I forgot where I read it (maybe in Coral magazine), but supposedly some corals can turn brown when first brought in from the wild and will after several months under the right conditions return to a more desirable color.


Xenia will also pulse faster under more lighting from my experience. The closer it is the faster it goes.

It sometimes takes a small army of peppermints to clean a whole tank of aiptasia and they only eat the smaller ones. Joes Juice works good for the bigger guys.

[sharkboy1410]

my xenia are about 7-9 inches from the ights, I have 3 atinics, 1 blue, one white, one a normal daylight, something above 50 watts each, i don't know the exact wattage, but they're 4 feet long each. Is that enough for them, or do I need more?

[Stevhan]

The more the merrier. However your daylights will make your corals grow faster than actinics they just wont look as good to our eye. Also the blue/green spectrum on artificial lights runs out of color spectrum much faster than the lower kelvin such as reds/yellows.
Corals grow faster under 6500k as compared to 20000k of the same wattage. So you decide if you want them to grow fast or if you like the blue/green colors that the actinics produce.
Ive had xenia grow in 2-3 watts per gallon and now Ive got some that loves sitting about 4 inches from 250 watt halides. You just have to give them time to acclimate to any lighting changes.

[Loverotties]

Originally Posted by mojo

Most all Xenia pulses. It pulses more or less or not at all depending tank conditions, mostly pH.


Most corals look different in different tanks because of lighting and water chemistry differences


In a healthy tank, you don't really need to worry about the growth rate of any Xenia species. Some Xenia will grow longer stalks to reach more light, if they need it.


I'd say that there's a pretty good chance that you'll end up buying a peppermint shrimp.

I also agree!

[Flipturn88]

I've found temperature makes the difference for my xenia's' pulsations, but sometimes it just depends on the day. Mine migrated from the middle of the tank all the way to the top glass side and hence multiplied like crazy, so I assume lighting is an important factor as well.

Kayla

[georgiajams]

Most all Xenia pulses. It pulses more or less or not at all depending tank conditions, mostly pH.

I think it was Calfo that said he can tell whether the pH of his tank is over a certain amount by whether the xenia is pulsing. Since he said that, I have found it to be true as well.

-Chris

[mojo]

Originally Posted by georgiajams

I think it was Calfo that said he can tell whether the pH of his tank is over a certain amount by whether the xenia is pulsing. Since he said that, I have found it to be true as well.

I'm my experience, anything 8.0 or lower, the Xenia polyps are just all the way open. At 8.4, they're usually closed tight. The closer the polyps are to 8.4, the closer and tighter the polyps are.