What's going on with my Xenia?

[crazyelvis]

Over the past couple of days my Xenia has been going crazy...
First 2 of the stalks were laying down or bent over ...
Now they are standing upright , but are much bigger and more branched out....
Also they are reacing out and grabbing other rocks... Is this the normal process of splitting? Or is somthing else going on?
And they are not pulsing as much as normal..
No changes in Params.... 0 amo, 0 ites, 10 ates, 8.4 ph... They have been in the tank 2 months , but I just started using kent Iodine a couple of weeks ago...

 

[bob the builder]

The grabing other rocks is not a start of splitting. Now, you said they were not pulsing. That means that your alk is too low. I have had a xenia before, it died after 3 weeks. Anyway, the first sing was not pulsing. So i went to the lfs to test my water, of coarse, alk was too low. Also, people say that iodine is what makes the xenias puls. Nobody know what it is that makes them just puls. The iodine seems to be a very bad idea. Alot of people who have dying xeinas, hear that they puls to get iodine out of the water, so they add a bunch of iodine. Turns out, that iodine might not be the best thing to have in the tank just at that time. Iodine doesnt seem to help, just seems to make things much worse. Xenia's are hard coral to keep in my opinion since they die very soon if your levels are not corret. Also, you say your nitrate is at 0? This might not be the best thing either. Xenias tend to like ALITTLE nitrate in the tank, about 5ppm MAX. It gives them something that makes them thrive in the tank. I would say it's a goner. Also, what lights are you keeping this under? Too much light may be stressing them out, just the smae as NO light. Just leave it and hope for the best. Some people have a nack for those corals some dont. I wish you all the luck,
Your friendly neighborhood handyman-BOB.

 

[crazyelvis]

Bob,
Thanks for the advice... I didn't say they wern't pulsing , just not as much... Also my Nitrates are 5-10 always have been .... When I say reaching out for other rocks, I mean sprouting off the sides and grabbing on to them... I also didn't add Iodine to help them beacause they wern't doing well, I started adding it 2 weeks ago and they were fine then...

 

[demosthenes]

There's a problem w/ improper wording in this post. Do you mean iodine? Or do you mean iodide? Iodine in a tank is toxic and lethal, but idodide is not, it is beneficial. Here is a simile. Chlorine-Dangerous/Chloride-Harmless. It is the same for Iodine/Iodide. If you added iodine, that is your problem. If you added iodine or iodide, make it clear and I will try to help. I use Kent Iodide, and it says the same thing on the side label. HTH

 

[bob the builder]

That explains a lot now...
About the pulsing, if they are not pulsing as much, that is normal. Sometimes they do it for no reason. Nobody knows why, they just do.
And about the rocks, not sure. I thought you meant the xenias were touching the rocks <img src="graemlins//confused2.gif" border="0" alt="[confused2]" /> .
Also,demosthenes, iodine-iodide? Never heard of iodide. Yes, IODINE is very good for the water. i use kent IODINE every week 10ml. Of coarse we are not using the powdered iodine(purple in colour). Of coarse, that iodine is very toxic, i mean, it could kill a human if you breathed that stuff in! I add liquid idone from kent. I have know idea what iodide is. Even on the lable on kent, says IODINE.
And about the iodine, that depends...
If the xenia just gets worse, stop adding the iodine, and see how they do for about a week.
Also, demone
From,
Bob the Builder

 

[crazyelvis]

Demo,
I said Iodine... By Kent Marine...
Ingredients: deionized water, potassium iodide, calcium iodide, sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium tetraborate...

 

[old hermit]

try moving the xenia around a bit. if mine start looking bad i will move them in the current, maybe up higher in the tank. that usually helps them alot. btw mine really start to look weak if i miss a dosing of iodine as well. you could try that out and see if things get better with them.

 

[bob the builder]

Originally posted by crazyelvis:
<strong>Demo,
I said Iodine... By Kent Marine...
Ingredients: potassium iodide, calcium iodide.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Oh. You have said "iodide" 2 times...
Thats strange, i hav never heard of iodide till now. Well, learn somthing everyday.

 

[javajoe]

I have to pipe in here.
I bought a small colony of pulsing xenias about 2-3 months ago. There were about 4 stalks on a small cement plug. I placed it on a rock in my tank with moderate to strong current, in an area where they would still pulse quite radidly. (with higher current, they will not pulse as much- scientists speculate this is not becuase they can't handle the higher current, but that they do not need to pulse as much). Pulsing by xenias is not fully understood- it ay be for exchanging gases, or it may be to filter small particles like plankton out of the water.
For about a month, my xenias did not change much. they just pulsed, nothing more. Then i decided to start adding Kent Tech-I to my water, and also started feeding them plankton (i use Kent Phyto-plex). Within one week, they doubled in size. They stalks then started to bend over- as if they were too heavy. within the next 3 weeks, they started to actually touch the rocks nearby, grow on to them,. then break off. Now i have almost 12 xenia stalks, and they are continuing to climb over the rocks, propagating more and more. I even have experiments by placing a shell against one of them last week, and within this past week, it has grown fast to it, and has almost broken off from the main xenia that was fisrt reaching over for it. I am going to then place that xenia against my back glass, hoping that it will start to spread up the back wall of the tank. I have been very happy with the pulsing xenia, and highly recomend using Tech-I and Phyto-plex. What i do for feeding them plankton, is fill a small cup with tank water, pour a small amount of plankton into the water, and then feed them with the baster, making sure that they are totally surronded by the plankton 'cloud'.
Soon, i will have to start selling some of them back to the LFS, or my tank will be over run!

 

[crazyelvis]

Joe,
Sounds like you are talking about the same thing I was asking about... Thanks so much !!
I am adding Kent Iodine and Live Phyto...
Once yours reached over to the new live rock , did they split on their own?

 

[javajoe]

Crazy...
When mine lean over, sometimes they split right down the middle and leave half on the part of the rock they hooked onto, and sometimes the just let go at the base of where they were.
What i have noticed is the MOST common though, is that near the base of a big one, a smaller stalk will start growing, and THAT will lean over, crab on, and finally let go. usually by the time it lets go it is almost the same size as the larger one. I have to say, i am really shocked at how well they are doing. its almost like a weed!

 

[javajoe]

OH-- make sure you read the bottle for the Tech-I-- it is time release, and you can OD if you are not carefull.