Pulsing Xenia Question/Advice

[Microbot]

Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in the
shop, Is this stress?
I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
water is within specs of what I have read.
What are the main things I should be looking out for?
Any advice is very appreciated...

Cheers
Microbot

[kim gross]

To be honest I have no idea, lots of people have put out suggestions,
but so far non seem to work 100% of the time or even 50 % of the time.
I have had tanks that I could not kill xenia in and I have had tanks I
could not keep it alive in. Generally though the old more established
your tank is the easier it is to keep.

Kim


Microbot wrote:
> Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in the
> shop, Is this stress?
> I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
> moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
> water is within specs of what I have read.
> What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> Any advice is very appreciated...
>
> Cheers
> Microbot
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

I have it up high in my tank, and have had it about 2 years.
It only pulses at night when the lights are out. During
the daytime, it just looks like a soft coral.

However, take a frag of that and put it on my substrate, and
it pulses beautifully. I don't think intense lighting is
that important. Typically when Xenia start looking bad,
there is a problem with water quality in my experience (ime).

Marc


Microbot wrote:
> Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in the
> shop, Is this stress?
> I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
> moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
> water is within specs of what I have read.
> What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> Any advice is very appreciated...
>
> Cheers
> Microbot
>
>

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Dsybok]

I used to have a massive overgrown colony of Xenia that I simply couldnt get
rid of. Probably two years passed and this stuff took over my tank. One day,
I went off on a business trip, and my heater stopped working. We just
happened to have an unusual cold spell about then and my tank temp went down
into the mid 60s.

Well the Xenia crashed. Within a week it was all dead. I got back from my
trip and had another one immediately and could do nothing. Within two weeks,
just about everything else was dead from the nitrate and ammonia spike. Im
still fighting nitrates 6 months later, but at last some of the polyps I had
given up for dead are starting to return and the red slime algae that
exploded is starting to die off. The tank is essentially ruined.

All that survived were mushrooms, a plate coral, and button polyps, a few
snails and a couple of stray green star polyps. The fish seems unperturbed.

My advice with xenia, you need to monitor your tank conditions very closely,
because even in a tank that has huge growth, it can crash readily and
catastrophically. Its not a good choice for the traveling reef keeper and I
wont add it again, unless I decide to keep it very thin by pruning.

I had no trouble keeping it for years, and then one day it crashed, this is
a story you will hear about Xenia from others as well.

D

"Microbot" > wrote in message
u...
> Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in the
> shop, Is this stress?
> I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
> moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
> water is within specs of what I have read.
> What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> Any advice is very appreciated...
>
> Cheers
> Microbot
>
>

[Microbot]

I've only had mine for less than a week, mine curls right up closed at
night.
And first light they all open up....
If anything touches any one of them, then they all retract and curl up
momentarily...
What about water flow?? I read that they like alot of flow, yet when they
have alot of flow then they lean right over and they don't look like they
would benefit from that very much ....
TIA...

Cheers
Microbot


"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
om...
> I have it up high in my tank, and have had it about 2 years.
> It only pulses at night when the lights are out. During
> the daytime, it just looks like a soft coral.
>
> However, take a frag of that and put it on my substrate, and
> it pulses beautifully. I don't think intense lighting is
> that important. Typically when Xenia start looking bad,
> there is a problem with water quality in my experience (ime).
>
> Marc
>
>
> Microbot wrote:
> > Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> > I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
the
> > shop, Is this stress?
> > I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
> > moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
> > water is within specs of what I have read.
> > What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> > Any advice is very appreciated...
> >
> > Cheers
> > Microbot
> >
> >
>
> --
> Personal Page:
> http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>

[Microbot]

Thanks for your advice...
When i started off I had standard type Xenia, they died off in the new tank.
They appear to be sprouting back up again here and there, I had massive
water Temp swings and that would not have helped it at all...
Sorry to hear about your tank... It's very disappointing to lose something
you put great effort into...

Cheers
Microbot

"Dsybok" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> I used to have a massive overgrown colony of Xenia that I simply couldnt
get
> rid of. Probably two years passed and this stuff took over my tank. One
day,
> I went off on a business trip, and my heater stopped working. We just
> happened to have an unusual cold spell about then and my tank temp went
down
> into the mid 60s.
>
> Well the Xenia crashed. Within a week it was all dead. I got back from my
> trip and had another one immediately and could do nothing. Within two
weeks,
> just about everything else was dead from the nitrate and ammonia spike. Im
> still fighting nitrates 6 months later, but at last some of the polyps I
had
> given up for dead are starting to return and the red slime algae that
> exploded is starting to die off. The tank is essentially ruined.
>
> All that survived were mushrooms, a plate coral, and button polyps, a few
> snails and a couple of stray green star polyps. The fish seems
unperturbed.
>
> My advice with xenia, you need to monitor your tank conditions very
closely,
> because even in a tank that has huge growth, it can crash readily and
> catastrophically. Its not a good choice for the traveling reef keeper and
I
> wont add it again, unless I decide to keep it very thin by pruning.
>
> I had no trouble keeping it for years, and then one day it crashed, this
is
> a story you will hear about Xenia from others as well.
>
> D
>
> "Microbot" > wrote in message
> u...
> > Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> > I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
the
> > shop, Is this stress?
> > I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
> > moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
> > water is within specs of what I have read.
> > What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> > Any advice is very appreciated...
> >
> > Cheers
> > Microbot
> >
> >
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

You have too much flow. Put the Xenia on the bottom of your
tank. It will do much better.

Caveat: Xenia will grow upward. If you want to control it
from getting out of hand, it needs to be isolated or at the
peak of the tank where it has no-where to go.

Dysbok, I'm sorry to read what happened to your tank. What
a shame, and a reality at the same time.

Marc


Microbot wrote:

> I've only had mine for less than a week, mine curls right up closed at
> night.
> And first light they all open up....
> If anything touches any one of them, then they all retract and curl up
> momentarily...
> What about water flow?? I read that they like alot of flow, yet when they
> have alot of flow then they lean right over and they don't look like they
> would benefit from that very much ....
> TIA...
>
> Cheers
> Microbot
>
>
> "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> om...
>
>>I have it up high in my tank, and have had it about 2 years.
>> It only pulses at night when the lights are out. During
>>the daytime, it just looks like a soft coral.
>>
>>However, take a frag of that and put it on my substrate, and
>>it pulses beautifully. I don't think intense lighting is
>>that important. Typically when Xenia start looking bad,
>>there is a problem with water quality in my experience (ime).
>>
>>Marc
>>
>>
>>Microbot wrote:
>>
>>>Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
>>>I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
>
> the
>
>>>shop, Is this stress?
>>>I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
>>>moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
>>>water is within specs of what I have read.
>>>What are the main things I should be looking out for?
>>>Any advice is very appreciated...
>>>
>>>Cheers
>>>Microbot
>>>
>>>
>>
>>--
>>Personal Page:
>>http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
>>Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
>>Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>>
>
>
>

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Dsybok]

Its the little things that keep you going though, like today the 5 varieties
of mushrooms that were fine through the spike are all more open than I have
seen in months, and there are at least 30 scattered little green star polyps
starting to open as well. Ive almost made it through!

I try to look at the bright side, the spike killed off 20 or so aiptasias
that hadnt seemed to be able to get rid of any other way!

You know your tank is Fubared when you are killing aiptasia!

D
"Microbot" > wrote in message
u...
> Thanks for your advice...
> When i started off I had standard type Xenia, they died off in the new
tank.
> They appear to be sprouting back up again here and there, I had massive
> water Temp swings and that would not have helped it at all...
> Sorry to hear about your tank... It's very disappointing to lose something
> you put great effort into...
>
> Cheers
> Microbot
>
> "Dsybok" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> > I used to have a massive overgrown colony of Xenia that I simply couldnt
> get
> > rid of. Probably two years passed and this stuff took over my tank. One
> day,
> > I went off on a business trip, and my heater stopped working. We just
> > happened to have an unusual cold spell about then and my tank temp went
> down
> > into the mid 60s.
> >
> > Well the Xenia crashed. Within a week it was all dead. I got back from
my
> > trip and had another one immediately and could do nothing. Within two
> weeks,
> > just about everything else was dead from the nitrate and ammonia spike.
Im
> > still fighting nitrates 6 months later, but at last some of the polyps I
> had
> > given up for dead are starting to return and the red slime algae that
> > exploded is starting to die off. The tank is essentially ruined.
> >
> > All that survived were mushrooms, a plate coral, and button polyps, a
few
> > snails and a couple of stray green star polyps. The fish seems
> unperturbed.
> >
> > My advice with xenia, you need to monitor your tank conditions very
> closely,
> > because even in a tank that has huge growth, it can crash readily and
> > catastrophically. Its not a good choice for the traveling reef keeper
and
> I
> > wont add it again, unless I decide to keep it very thin by pruning.
> >
> > I had no trouble keeping it for years, and then one day it crashed, this
> is
> > a story you will hear about Xenia from others as well.
> >
> > D
> >
> > "Microbot" > wrote in message
> > u...
> > > Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> > > I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
> the
> > > shop, Is this stress?
> > > I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required
and
> > > moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but
my
> > > water is within specs of what I have read.
> > > What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> > > Any advice is very appreciated...
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > > Microbot
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Microbot]

I changed my water flow direction and now it is not being blasted over on
its side.
But out of curiousity I did a medium water change and now the Pulsing Xenia
are now Pulsing as they should, my water parameters were all good but it
must have been missing something, maybe something that was removed from the
water by the skimmer.
I have read that they dont like the water being over skimmed so I did a
water change and that did the trick.

Thanks all for your input, I didn't want to risk losing this because they
are rather rare to come accross here near Brisbane Queensland Australia were
I live, I'd be waiting for a long time to find another one in our LFS.

Cheers
Microbot


"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
om...
> You have too much flow. Put the Xenia on the bottom of your
> tank. It will do much better.
>
> Caveat: Xenia will grow upward. If you want to control it
> from getting out of hand, it needs to be isolated or at the
> peak of the tank where it has no-where to go.
>
> Dysbok, I'm sorry to read what happened to your tank. What
> a shame, and a reality at the same time.
>
> Marc
>
>
> Microbot wrote:
>
> > I've only had mine for less than a week, mine curls right up closed at
> > night.
> > And first light they all open up....
> > If anything touches any one of them, then they all retract and curl up
> > momentarily...
> > What about water flow?? I read that they like alot of flow, yet when
they
> > have alot of flow then they lean right over and they don't look like
they
> > would benefit from that very much ....
> > TIA...
> >
> > Cheers
> > Microbot
> >
> >
> > "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> > om...
> >
> >>I have it up high in my tank, and have had it about 2 years.
> >> It only pulses at night when the lights are out. During
> >>the daytime, it just looks like a soft coral.
> >>
> >>However, take a frag of that and put it on my substrate, and
> >>it pulses beautifully. I don't think intense lighting is
> >>that important. Typically when Xenia start looking bad,
> >>there is a problem with water quality in my experience (ime).
> >>
> >>Marc
> >>
> >>
> >>Microbot wrote:
> >>
> >>>Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> >>>I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
> >
> > the
> >
> >>>shop, Is this stress?
> >>>I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
> >>>moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
> >>>water is within specs of what I have read.
> >>>What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> >>>Any advice is very appreciated...
> >>>
> >>>Cheers
> >>>Microbot
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>--
> >>Personal Page:
> >>http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> >>Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> >>Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> Personal Page:
> http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>

[RicSeyler]

I've read that Iodine will help pulsing.
but that info came off the web, so YMMV....

Marc Levenson wrote:

> I have it up high in my tank, and have had it about 2 years. It only
> pulses at night when the lights are out. During the daytime, it just
> looks like a soft coral.
>
> However, take a frag of that and put it on my substrate, and it pulses
> beautifully. I don't think intense lighting is that important.
> Typically when Xenia start looking bad, there is a problem with water
> quality in my experience (ime).
>
> Marc
>
>
> Microbot wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
>> I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
>> the
>> shop, Is this stress?
>> I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
>> moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
>> water is within specs of what I have read.
>> What are the main things I should be looking out for?
>> Any advice is very appreciated...
>>
>> Cheers
>> Microbot
>>
>>
>

--
Ric Seyler

[Anthony Pruitt]

I use my xenia as a living iodine test kit. When the pulsing slows down, I
know it's getting low. You can actually watch the pulsing speed up within
minutes of adding iodine.


"RicSeyler" > wrote in message
...
> I've read that Iodine will help pulsing.
> but that info came off the web, so YMMV....
>
> Marc Levenson wrote:
>
>> I have it up high in my tank, and have had it about 2 years. It only
>> pulses at night when the lights are out. During the daytime, it just
>> looks like a soft coral.
>>
>> However, take a frag of that and put it on my substrate, and it pulses
>> beautifully. I don't think intense lighting is that important.
>> Typically when Xenia start looking bad, there is a problem with water
>> quality in my experience (ime).
>>
>> Marc
>>
>>
>> Microbot wrote:
>>
>>> Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
>>> I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
>>> the
>>> shop, Is this stress?
>>> I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required and
>>> moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but my
>>> water is within specs of what I have read.
>>> What are the main things I should be looking out for?
>>> Any advice is very appreciated...
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> Microbot
>>>
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Ric Seyler
>
>

[Microbot]

Ahh ok.
J ust noticed the Pulsing was slowing down considerably to when i did the
water change.
I might have to add some Iodine, I did last week but it was only a capful.
I cant find a test kit for Iodine so I am very cautious as to add any..
Any ideas as to how much I should be adding?
I have around 90 litres of water in my Tank...
Also noticed that my two Banded Coral Shrimp hadn't shed their shell in
ages, but one did not long after I changed the water and added the capfull
of Iodine.

Cheers
Microbot

"Anthony Pruitt" > wrote in message
.. .
> I use my xenia as a living iodine test kit. When the pulsing slows down, I
> know it's getting low. You can actually watch the pulsing speed up within
> minutes of adding iodine.
>
>
> "RicSeyler" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I've read that Iodine will help pulsing.
> > but that info came off the web, so YMMV....
> >
> > Marc Levenson wrote:
> >
> >> I have it up high in my tank, and have had it about 2 years. It only
> >> pulses at night when the lights are out. During the daytime, it just
> >> looks like a soft coral.
> >>
> >> However, take a frag of that and put it on my substrate, and it pulses
> >> beautifully. I don't think intense lighting is that important.
> >> Typically when Xenia start looking bad, there is a problem with water
> >> quality in my experience (ime).
> >>
> >> Marc
> >>
> >>
> >> Microbot wrote:
> >>
> >>> Does anyone have any tips on successfully keeping Pulsing Xenia?
> >>> I brought one home recently and noticed it isn't pulsing as it was in
> >>> the
> >>> shop, Is this stress?
> >>> I have read here and there that ideal water conditions are required
and
> >>> moderate to heavy lighting is needed, I dont have great lighting but
my
> >>> water is within specs of what I have read.
> >>> What are the main things I should be looking out for?
> >>> Any advice is very appreciated...
> >>>
> >>> Cheers
> >>> Microbot
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > Ric Seyler
> >
> >
>
>