Does Xenia "pout"?

[ellebelle]

I know that many leather corals will pout and slime when irritated, only to puff back up better than ever. Does Xenia do the same thing? My Xenia has recently shriveled and wilted... but does not seem to actually be decaying. Everything else in my tank looks fine (including much more difficult corals). My phosphates and nitrates are a little high (nitrate = 10 / phosphate = 0.03 salifert) and my Ca and Alk are still a little low (Ca = 390, alk = 7 dkH).

Literally, one day it was up and pulsing and the next day it was shriveled up. It's grown from 1 stalk to 5 stalks since 12/1/06.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I know that many leather corals will pout and slime when irritated, only to puff back up better than ever. Does Xenia do the same thing? My Xenia has recently shriveled and wilted... but does not seem to actually be decaying. Everything else in my tank looks fine (including much more difficult corals). My phosphates and nitrates are a little high (nitrate = 10 / phosphate = 0.03 salifert) and my Ca and Alk are still a little low (Ca = 390, alk = 7 dkH).

Literally, one day it was up and pulsing and the next day it was shriveled up. It's grown from 1 stalk to 5 stalks since 12/1/06.

I think there is something more than just the std PARS we usually test for. I have them grown from 3 tiny stem to 3 rocks in less than 6 months but then in less than 3 days all closed up and then slowly disappeared. Thinking they all dead, I asked the member who gave me the frag to get more. Too bad, his almost completely gone too. Recently, some of mine come back from nowhere. Interestingly, his other corals in my custody for safe keeping have tiny bits of the shriveled POM POM on it and they started to regrow and pulse again in my tank in last two three weeks. I think they are sensitive to other corals' sting or toxins released due to death or something woodoo.:birthday:

 

[crox99]

Lissa

my water parameters are very close to yours and my Xenia are groing like crazy.

 

[BroRage]

there is a trick to xenias..we just need to find out what it is... I am starting to grow both the silver and the pom pom on the sides of my nano..hoping that nothing goes wrong anytime soon...oh to add to that...like someone else wrote up above.. xenias do better when they are the only corals in the tank...it might be another coral releasing enzymes into the tank and affecting it...or the lighting cause they do well when placed in a good spot of light and flow...

 

[House of Laughter]

Iodine - when is the last time you added a drop or two of lugols?

House

 

[ellebelle]

I've never dosed iodine in my tank - I've mostly relied on water changes for iodine replenishment.

 

[Quang]

many hobbyist (myself included) believe that xenia go through a seasonal die-off period. not sure what factors trigger xenia's to do such die-offs, but i've seen the xenia's i've kept go through this. additionally, it's also believed that having different species of xenias in the tank might offset or delay such seasonal die-offs. an old issue of tropical reef hobbyist talked about this, i'll see if i can dig it up.

like house said, check iodine levels. i dosed half a drop of lugols (one drop diluted) every time i did a water change back when i had my nanos

other issues might be too intense lighting, too much flow or change in flow...etc.

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

I had the same issue with mine and I was about to get rid of it but I decided to wait. It was down to a pink bump on a rock and about 3 weeks later it started opening and now they pump like crazy and are starting to split.

 

[Spracklcat]

What's your pH? They will stop pulsing at lower pH.

 

[Awibrandy]

It's been my experience that they are also very sensitive to high temp..

 

[ellebelle]

My temp is between 78 - 82 degrees. I just ran out of pH testing fluid, so I'm not sure what my pH is. I don't want to get a new test kit because I'm planning to order the probe for my ACjr.

I'll test my iodine and wait it out and see what happens.

 

[Harif87]

I find that anthellia and other leathers are very responsive to rapid swings in temp but mostly what ive observed is rapid changes in salinity. Im pretty sure changes in pH would do the same, but i cant say that from experience.

 

[reefman]

your low alk may lead me to belive your ph swing is high n low ph. as long as ur xenia is not decaying, it can come back as soon as the water is up to par.

 

[LeslieS]

As I mentioned in the book club thread, my anthelia all shriveled up and died within 3 days it was completley gone - not dead in the tank - gone. I had no idea why. Someone mentioned s.g. stability. My anthelia lived in the sump. My ATO is on back order so I usually pour fresh water into the pump chamber. I may have added it the the refugium without thinking, but I cannot remember. My scallops that also live in the refugium are OK - well....one is missing, but I don't know when he went missing....I think maybe this is why I can never pinpoint a problem :smile:

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

As I mentioned in the book club thread, my anthelia all shriveled up and died within 3 days it was completley gone - not dead in the tank - gone. I had no idea why. Someone mentioned s.g. stability. My anthelia lived in the sump. My ATO is on back order so I usually pour fresh water into the pump chamber. I may have added it the the refugium without thinking, but I cannot remember. My scallops that also live in the refugium are OK - well....one is missing, but I don't know when he went missing....I think maybe this is why I can never pinpoint a problem :smile:

Drunk girl should not attempt problem pinpointing:biglaugh: