Are my Xenia dead or just adjusting?

[iechy]

I bought the Xenia I asked about a few days ago and they looked great a for few hours pulsing and beautiful. A little while later they shrunk up beyond recognition and have been that way for the last three days. How do Iknow if they're dead or just pissed at the change of location?
BTW, they are at the top of a 55 with 220w VHO with medium-high current. Everything else looks awesome and my water params are all perfect except for calcium which is a little high at 500. I also have been adding tectra-I the last two weeks as I've heard they like Iodine.

 

[slothy]

mine do this once in awhile, then they are back to pumping like nothing was happening... id just keep a eye on em..

 

[iechy]

Good I hope they come back open. They were really beautiful for a few hours when they were open. The problem is, I don't know how I'll know if they do die. I don't want them to cause a loss of water quality and affect anything else in the tank if I leave them in dead and don't know. They are fairly small so they shouldn't cause too much of a spike I guess. Would hermits etc. start eating at them when they die? That might tip me off.

 

[jonthefb]

you will be able to tell if they die, as they generaly develow a brown slime that surrounds the polyps and base. I got two xenia frags and one of them did this, were good for a few days, then shrunk up and slimed, i took it out as soon as i saw the brown stuff. teh other colony shrunk up and stayed this way for about 3 weeks, adn is just now startign to come out of it, and is expanding and pulsing like normal. just keep a very close eye on them, they might just be getting used to your light, from the one they were originally under. With your water parms as they are, they should be fine, just keep your eyes open!
goodluck
jon

 

[tjkohler]

When I first got mine they were pulsing and waving all over the place. I had them at high current and about 8 inches below the water with 72 total watts of PC lighting. They then retracted and started smoking. I then moved them to medium current and to where their 'fingers' were about 2 inches from the surface of the water. That was about 1 month ago and they have doubled to tripled since then.
To answer your question. If they start smoking I think that is a sign that they are dying. Mine smoked from their base. About once a week it will be completely closed up for a while. I haven't figured out what causes that yet. Seems that when they like their environment though they grow very fast. Just watch for the 'smoke' at the base and/or maybe move it from the medium-high current to a more moderate current.

 

[iechy]

Thanks a bunch guys. I'm much happier now that it sounds like they are not dead but only getting used to the new home. There is no slime or anything on them. I'll wait it out. Who knows, they could be open when I get home today

 

[jonthefb]

keep us posted rich! if they do develop the brown slime/smoking decay, if it is on a solo colony i would remove the colony and dispose of it, if it with another colony, get a hose and vacuem it off, because if this touches another colony, it can quickly lead to its demise as well!
jon

 

[pyro383]

it also seems if there is too much calcium they retract quite a bit. I had 2 occasions where i had supersaturated calcium and my xenia went into withdrawl, wel they stayed small for over 2 full weeks, did a massive water change and they are coming back.