pulsing xenias

[gunzo]

bought about 3 branches of the xenia from LFS .. and in the LFS, the xenia extend very long and sway like branches in the wind .. very nice ..

Come home .. xenia very short .. still sway .. but no longer that nice liao ..

must the current be VERY strong ?? I put it directly under the pump outlet ..

[RAV-65]

It takes time to acclimatise... moreover, your tank conditions maybe differeent... unless you wanna list out all your parameters here, den maybe we can try to troubleshoot for you...

[ozy]

Actually, xenias that extends long are not healthy. In the healthy state, they should be stocky and "bushy". You can look at iantoh's tank pics, I believe that is how healthy xenia should look like.

For xenias, higher pH and kH are quite essential. Pulsing behaviour seems to be in proportion with lighting. If you have the white Fiji xenia, you may want to moderate the lighting too, as my previous colony is now brown. (I am also experimenting...) Regular dosing of iodine (c/w iodide) is helpful too. They seem to be the few corals who can tolerate direct exposure to iodine.

One thing to note is that if the colony starts to grow, you have to maintain the size, because general observation is that oversized colony tends to crash, probably from "self strangulation". In view of this, it is believed that strong water movement helps the coral in fluid/waste/nutrient exchange with the surrounding water.

Hope this helps.

[gunzo]

hows this??

[gunzo]

this one..

with lites off it curls into a ball.. but about 30mins after lites on.. this is wat happens.. no flash so abit blurry

[zarkon]

Actually, xenias that extends long are not healthy. In the healthy state, they should be stocky and "bushy". You can look at iantoh's tank pics, I believe that is how healthy xenia should look like.

For xenias, higher pH and kH are quite essential. Pulsing behaviour seems to be in proportion with lighting. If you have the white Fiji xenia, you may want to moderate the lighting too, as my previous colony is now brown. (I am also experimenting...) Regular dosing of iodine (c/w iodide) is helpful too. They seem to be the few corals who can tolerate direct exposure to iodine.

One thing to note is that if the colony starts to grow, you have to maintain the size, because general observation is that oversized colony tends to crash, probably from "self strangulation". In view of this, it is believed that strong water movement helps the coral in fluid/waste/nutrient exchange with the surrounding water.

Hope this helps.

I'm having hard time keeping this coral too. ... success rate zero.

how high must the ph and kh be?

[loowk]

Ph8.1 to 8.2 & Kh 10 - 12 should be ok Encounter same problem as RAV-65, my fiji white also brown out.... They need relatively strong current. Lost half of my colony when they grew to big and the current was insufficient in a night ... Very important to observe them and when they stop pumping, something is wrong...

[FuEl]

I notice if you get more blue spectrum into your lighting white xenias tend to stay that way without browning out. Remember I bought a xenia colony that was brown in a tank with yellowish lighting (MH). After I fragged it, under cool-white light (T5), the frags turned white-peach very soon.

[ozy]

Ph8.1 to 8.2 & Kh 10 - 12 should be ok Encounter same problem as RAV-65, my fiji white also brown out.... They need relatively strong current. Lost half of my colony when they grew to big and the current was insufficient in a night ... Very important to observe them and when they stop pumping, something is wrong...

I am maintaining my pH at 8.5. KH is 10. Seems to be ok so far.

[Kelmen]

...They need relatively strong current. Lost half of my colony when they grew to big and the current was insufficient in a night ... Very important to observe them and when they stop pumping, something is wrong...

under strong flow, then they wont pump loh?

My one died out too. I suspect due to temperature, as I got no chiller.

[blueheaven]

Xenia has been documented to pump in systems where iodine is dosed and present

[xpert1974]

I got my xenia as a hitch hiker on 1 of the rocks, it grew fast and furious until it touches my other Pocci sps on the same rock. I have not seen them pulsing rather they sway according to the current. Is pulsing a good indicator of the health of the colony? I did observe them pulsing in Aqua Mart's tank 1 yr ago, but that was only possible if the current is low to moderate?

[Kelmen]

In so far of my net reading the pumping has many theory and assumption.

Anyway, there are some threads on RC that the reefers stated by placing the xenia in high and low flow, the pumping action is conclude-able immediately.

Just test it, unless you have glued the xenia onto a unmovable rock.

Then maybe try put something to block the flow onto them and observe.

And dont forget to feed us back the result