Pulsing Xenia

[rcasa]

Why isn’t my Xenia pulsing?
Looking for straight reasons to what it could be.

Getting around 200 par and water parameters

Salinity: 1.026
PH: 8.0-8.4
Temp: 78
Calcium: 480
Magnesium: around 1300
Nitrate: 5.0
Ammonia: 0
Phos: .25

Flow is moderate and also it was pulsing last night before lights out then this morning this opened up but now they’re not pulsing, like 2 days ago I did have to add PH buffer to bring up a bit but they were okay after and I tested water today and everything is okay.

Concerned and wondering what’s going on?

 

[Tikki]

How long have you had it? Sometimes it takes a while for them to settle in.

 

[Idech]

Some types of Xenia don’t pulse. Mine never did.

 

[js-3Design]

If you can, try keeping your nitrate higher..

I had pulsing xenia die on me because of low nitrates..

And then re appear 6 months later..

 

[Isaac Alves]

There are some resources out there that look at xenia and it's relationship with certain traces to help with its pulsing behavior. I'll have to dig around but it was around iodine levels in the water it's inhabiting.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Although...the iodine correlation might just be reefer/social media myth. So I'm not any help obviously.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Mine didn’t pulse if the flow was too high , but if I turned off they would all pulse

 

[Isaac Alves]

Here's a paper from pretty recently that goes into xenia pulsing as not being a chemical reaction to something but actually part of it's natural neuromuscular force...
https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2500611122

 

[CHSUB]

If you can, try keeping your nitrate higher..

I had pulsing xenia die on me because of low nitrates..

And then re appear 6 months later..

To debunk that myth two of my tanks with undetectable no3….

 

[painter1982]

Doesn’t lack of iodine cause them to stop?

 

[Isaac Alves]

Here’s an interesting snippet:

Because all xeniid corals host symbiotic algae, and because food particles are rarely found in their gastrovascular cavity (7, 8), a positive effect of pulsation on carbon acquisition via photosynthesis of their symbionts or on the uptake of dissolved matter from the surrounding waters can be especially beneficial for these animals.​

​

From:

Benefit of pulsation in soft corals​

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1301826110

These guys seem to like Dissolved organic compounds.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Was gonna say , Xenia also like “dirty” tanks more than not

 

[rcasa]

How long have you had it? Sometimes it takes a while for them to settle in.

2 weeks on the second and 3 on the first one I got. And they’ve been pulsing and doing amazing

 

[MushroomReefing]

As far as I know, some Xenias just do not have the pulsing action and has been that way!

Did they pulse when you initially got them ?

Otherwise, Xenia that pulses, typically do well in lower flow and pulses more.