"Xenia, Life After Death"

fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
Anyone else read the "xenia, Life After Death" article in Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine on xenia crashes?
 
vito525

vito525

Member
Have not read it, but I had my beautiful Xenia "die", be reduced to a bud no bigger than a BB, the start growing again. I lost it in a transfer to my bigger tank. What was the articles main point??
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
In a nutshell it said all xenia colonies will crash eventually, that this usually occurs due to a temp spike or overcrowding, and that you can look for the signs of an impending crash. The signs to watch out for are colonies that are begining to darken and shrink. This is considered the start of the crash and one should begin preparing for water changes, generally the largest die off period is one week into the crash. It advises frquent water changes through out, monitoring Nitrates and Phosphates to dictate frequency/quantity of H2O changes and to otherwise wait it out as the xenia will most likely recover within months of the crash.
 
danedodger

danedodger

Member
I've heard xenia can really grow like weeds and have seen pics where it's absolutely taken over the whole tank. But maybe if you DON'T have a temp spike and keep it from being overcrowded (i.e., like fragging it to keep it roughly the same size throughout it's life) it wouldn't eventually crash? Nice to know they have such great recuperative powers though!
Which month of TFH is that article in??? Sounds like I'm missing an issue!
 
fishmamma

fishmamma

Active Member
January Issue. The article was implying that all xenia crashes eventually, that it may take years to happen but it will and not to worry. I think it was basing the statement on the fact that it is a natural occurance on the reef and maybe a self-regulating mechanism of sorts since xenia does spread so fast. The is found naturally seasonally (possibly related to the moon??) so they were saying an increase of 4 degrees sustained for a certain period was often seen before a crash in aquarists tanks. It was an interesting article, I hope you have it and can check it out for yourself in case I have any of my info wrong.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
I had purchased some Xenia from a LFS here for like 60 dollars. There was a ton of pulsing xenia on that rock.. I learned to frag xenia from that rock and made about 60 back in store credit... but my AC broke during the summer and the tank got pretty hot. The only thing that actually seemed to be effected by the temperature was the xenia.. after I tried doing several water changes and anything I could think of.. the xenia slowly got smaller and smaller until they were gone..
Now around 4-6 months later I am seeing xenia popping up and growing around weird places in the tank. Some xenia that was only tiny stubs that wouldnt grow are now growing very tall and doing well :) So my colony may thrive again once more.
 
chinnyr

chinnyr

Member
Well,here's a pic of what once was my Xenia forest.It went through a hurricane,no power for 2 days,tank temp at 85+ for 12 days,and numerous other things.And,no die off.It kept growing like this for 2 years.I fragged it and made some mad loot too!I will never introduce it to my tank again.Just when you think you have it in control,it finds ways to multiply.I have seen it drop tips off and they would flow around the tank and start up new colonies.
 
ninjamini

ninjamini

Active Member
Originally Posted by chinnyr
Well,here's a pic of what once was my Xenia forest.It went through a hurricane,no power for 2 days,tank temp at 85+ for 12 days,and numerous other things.And,no die off.It kept growing like this for 2 years.I fragged it and made some mad loot too!I will never introduce it to my tank again.Just when you think you have it in control,it finds ways to multiply.I have seen it drop tips off and they would flow around the tank and start up new colonies.

Thats really cool! :cheer:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top