What do Xenias eat??

[scrapman]

I have a few Xenias which are pulsating their tentacules as if they were grabbing invisible food from the water column....
What do they eat??
Do they clean/filter the water???
Thanks

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by scrapman
I have a few Xenias which are pulsating their tentacules as if they were grabbing invisible food from the water column....
What do they eat??
Do they clean/filter the water???
Thanks
Xenia, do not need to be supplimented, they will live just fine off the nitrates in your tank, they are said to help lower trates, and i have read some people dose with IODINE as well

 

[reefkprz]

xenia cosumes ammonia nitrite and nitrate, but it is mostly photosynthetic.

 

[sharkbait9]

*this is only what I noticed in my tanks* i have found If i my organics are on the higher side all my xenia pulse crazy when they are on the lower side they slow their pulsing down to almost a stand still. My tanks run on nitrates from 0 to 15 ppm. In the two tanks with 0 trates they still pulse crazy.
I based my testing on an article I read about xenia and how that some were starting to believe that xenia filter water fast for dissolved organics. I started to test for dissolved organics and started to play with my skimmers and started to do bigger water changes and noticed the reaction I got.
So my answer would be. Its my opinion that xenia do better overall and pulse more with a higher *but safe* level of dissolved organics.

 

[tarball]

Good info, When my tank is ready & matured enough. Xenias are defiantly on my list....

 

[rbaldino]

As of yet, I don't think anyone has scientifically determined why xenia pulse. Some do, some don't. It doesn't seem to be necessary for their survival.