Xenia Bulb - Pic

mkzimms

Member
does it have yellowish spots on it? could be the start of a pathogenic infection. can you get a closer pic?
 

apos

Member
If you mean the one stalk that's sort of shrunken up into a bulb at the base, with the heads withered, mine does that too. Random heads do it, and then seem to get better on their own. It almost looks like the fingery ends clogged up, and the tube then balloons out from pressure or something. But I've never seen any heads die after this, and it always clears up within a day without any trace.
Maybe it's part of their growth cycle? Xenia are actually not well understood, from what I've read.
 

vayapues

Member
Originally Posted by Apos
http:///forum/post/2570601
If you mean the one stalk that's sort of shrunken up into a bulb at the base, with the heads withered, mine does that too. Random heads do it, and then seem to get better on their own. It almost looks like the fingery ends clogged up, and the tube then balloons out from pressure or something. But I've never seen any heads die after this, and it always clears up within a day without any trace.
Maybe it's part of their growth cycle? Xenia are actually not well understood, from what I've read.
Thank you Apos. That is a huge relief.

That is exactly what it looks like. all the ends have tiny balloons as well, as if they are clogged up.
Thanks again.
 

apos

Member
Well, that's not good. That's not what happens with mine. Now that I look closer at that pic, I see that it's the entire TRUNK that's balled up. In my case, it's only the individual heads/branches that do it (though of course at night the entire thing shrinks back down into a sort of stump).
Are you testing your iodine levels? Xenia need it to thrive, I'm told (though you should NEVER dose iodine without testing for it, I'm also told) I also hear that xenia need some nitrate in the system (a reading of around 5 or so they say)
I honestly wish I understood how xenia grows to know if mine is okay. It has two stalks, and in the month I've had them, they've grown tons of new little heads at the end and the existing ones got longer. But so far it doesn't seem to be spreading or creating new trunks at all. And like, it has a ridiculous number of heads at this point.
 

mkzimms

Member
Originally Posted by mkzimms
http:///forum/post/2570369
does it have yellowish spots on it? could be the start of a pathogenic infection. can you get a closer pic?
bump
pathogenic infections can often cause xenia to bulge at the base like that. they grow like weeds, your best bet would be to just pluck it and remove it from the tank to be on the safe side. a new one will grow in its place before you know it.
 
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