Pulsing Xenia... newbie needs help!

[campgrrl]

Hi everyone!
I am a newbie here as well as to the saltwater world. I have a 27gal saltwater tank that has been up and running for about 5 months. I have two clownfish, two peppermint shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 5 blue hermit crabs and one dying xenia! The xenia has been in my tank for about 4 weeks. It has never fully opened in the tank and now it is loosing its branches? I have tested the ph,calcium,nitrates,ammonia, and salinity. Everything is where is should be. I have only used ro/do water and have added trace minerals to it. What am i missing that is making my Xenia die? I have uploaded a picture of it. Also i am starting to get black hairlike algae? Don't know if this is part of the problem? I am raking it off the sand on a weekly basis. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Mufasa31]

What type of lighting do you have?

 

[dakotasreef]

I personally can't keep it. In my softies tank it will stay alive but never spreads.

I have heard that xenia likes iodine, but maybe someone can chime in who is successful with it.

That has to be the cleanest sand I have ever seen.

 

[campgrrl]

My lighting is a Marineland Double Bright Led with blue night phase. I have a Marineland canister filter and a protein skimmer. I keep the sand raked to keep the algae off of it.. don't know if thats good or not?

 

[boehm742]

I am able to keep just about every coral but xenia. It will stay put and partially open but thats all the clump ive had for over a year now has ever done.

 

[Mufasa31]

I have xenia in my 14 biocube with leds. It likes to be about a 3rd of the way up in the tank. It grows very fast.

 

[campgrrl]

I am able to keep just about every coral but xenia. It will stay put and partially open but thats all the clump ive had for over a year now has ever done.

I have xenia in my 14 biocube with leds. It likes to be about a 3rd of the way up in the tank. It grows very fast.

I picked the xenia up from my lfs and according to them it is super easy to adapt and takes over the tank when conditions are ideal. The tank if came from was overrun with them and it was absolutely beautiful when I got it. However its been on a steady decline since i put it in my tank. I've tried putting it closer to the lights, moving it out of water flow. Putting it in the water flow.. etc. Nothing seems to help. Starting to feel sorry for the guy! This is the only coral I have and I thought it would be a good beginner piece for me.

 

[GrouperStupor]

I have that same light and my xenias seemed to prefer 10k light over that 6700k light. Or maybe it just wasn't bright enough. When I added more coral to that tank, in addtion to a light like yours, I added a T5 HO 10k and a actinic for 5 hours and the xenias went crazy. They jumped rocks to get up to the light and multiplied.

I don't know good they are at acclimating...maybe they were shocked from day one? I dripped mine.

 

[campgrrl]

I did the drip method with it. I dripped it for an hour and a half just to be sure. I haven't thought about the lighting... I figured since the tank seems so bright to me that it would be fine for the coral. But I am new to this and don't know a whole lot. Guess I need to do some more research.

 

[mmustafa]

What is your Alkalinity at?

 

[STL]

I've got a 55g tank that's apparently xenia paradise as it has gone anywhere it could touch, even up the back glass! Getting xenia to thrive is a bit of a black art, even those of us who have had success with it aren't sure why. Some thoughts:

1 - temperature, xenia gets grumpy over 80 and under the upper 70s, aim for a stable 78-80
2 - what's your nitrate level? Xenia does better in slightly nutrient-rich water
3 - try using Seachem Reef Plus, this seems to be xenia fuel when you're trying to get it established. I haven't used it in a long time, but early on the xenia responded to it
4 - check out the GARF site: garf xenia farming XENIA POM POM REEF AQUARIUM
5 - keep the water parameters stable - especially pH and alkalinity
6 - if you're dosing 2-part or kalk, do it at night only when the pH is lower and do it very slowly
7 - I've read crazy stuff like xenia likes to be in a tank with a leather - not sure if that's true, but I do have a huge finger leather. I'm guessing it's more that both of those corals thrive under the same conditions

Based on the clean sand in the photo, #2 is likely the "problem" and #3 will likely make up for the lack of nitrate.

When I first started out, I had a xenia colony crash for no apparent reason. I waited a few weeks and tried again. This one liked my tank and took off like wild fire. There are many different breeds of xenia that are hard to tell apart - if one doesn't grow well, look for a replacement that has slightly different color or slightly different base shape and you may have luck with that.

If anyone's in the Orlando area and would like some xenia, PM me... I've got a -LOT-..

 

[campgrrl]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! My temperature is 77, i'm gonna bump it up a few degrees. My nitrate level is zero. My ph is a steady 8.3 and I honestly don't know what my alkalinity is? I thought that if the ph was steady that the alkalinity was in check? Like i say i'm new at this and that's why I came here! I'm heading to my lfs to get some Seachem Reef Plus and a kit that tests for Alkalinity. I'm not dosing with anything, I've read reviews that say to dose with Kalk and some are totally against it so I have held off. As far as adding a leather or anything else.. I would love to, but I feel if I can't get the Xenia to thrive I'm just setting myself up for failure. I'm not giving up on it.. hopefully with all the feedback I've got I can get it kickstarted in the right direction!

 

[subielover]

Although xenia doesn't require very strong lighting, I don't know if that marineland fixture packs enough punch for corals.

 

[GrouperStupor]

I figured since the tank seems so bright to me that it would be fine for the coral.

Mine is bright also. I like it. But it is not enough for coral. Should be enough to keep xenia alive if your tank is shallow. But I think you'll need more for it to prosper. You could add an LED strip to it. Or a small dual T5.

Mine seem to like warm also as mentioned.

 

[peppip]

ive had xenia a few times and fragged it a bunch - but as soon as my ph/alk went too high or too low it melted away. i got it to grow back by not buffing my ph but then my other corals would suffer. then i would buff the ph again and lose the xenia again. turned out i was using the wrong type of ph buffer that was pushing my alk too high and not raising the ph much. so if your ph is in check, u may wanna check your alk or scale back on buffing ph until u can check to be sure on which type of buffer you are using. may need to change it. you could buy a test kit or get it tested at a store

 

[campgrrl]

ive had xenia a few times and fragged it a bunch - but as soon as my ph/alk went too high or too low it melted away. i got it to grow back by not buffing my ph but then my other corals would suffer. then i would buff the ph again and lose the xenia again. turned out i was using the wrong type of ph buffer that was pushing my alk too high and not raising the ph much. so if your ph is in check, u may wanna check your alk or scale back on buffing ph until u can check to be sure on which type of buffer you are using. may need to change it. you could buy a test kit or get it tested at a store

My lfs didn't have a kit to check for alk ( I kinda live in the boonies ) so I've ordered a kit. Meanwhile I raised my temp a few degrees, and started adding Fuel for Reefs by aquavitro my Xenia actually perked up! It was opened more then it ever has been, even looked like it had a few little grows popping up... I was starting to feel confident and I came home today and my Xenia had 2 hermit crabs on it and now it looks terrible can't find the new growth and its all closed up... does hermit crabs eat it??

 

[Chrisz]

I have been told that they love phosphates. I had them growing wild in my old tank and cant get them to grow in my new tank, same water source and salt.

 

[ssreef]

They like dirtier water unlike most corals try using nutrient supplements and back off the protein skimmer a little and dose with iodine. Don't over do the iodine.

 

[Captain Nemo]

I think your problem is ALK probably. Also how often are you changing water? And where is the Xenia in your tank? May want to move it closer to the lights as the marineland isnt a super powerful fixture. Just my .02

 

[2bafish]

I placed mine on top of the tank with some current on it. I've got t5 lights on 10 hours and 4 strips of moon led on all night. Rodi water and I add trace elements to water every week. Temperature is at 80. Salinity at 1.026. Growing like crazy! Bought it at a coin size in is 4 inches in 2 or 3 weeks.