got my first coral...a xenia!

[tripleup05]

I recenty bought a pulsing Xenia. It was fully open in the store, and pulsing like mad. It stayed half way open in the bag during acclimation, closed while i placed it, and within 30 minutes opened about 50%. This was Friday afternoon, and since then, it has been opening and closing. Today it opened up what I believe to be 100% for the first time for awhile, which excites me, but it still closes up and only stays about 50% open alot, too. Is this normal? Stupidly, as this is my first coral and did not research acclimation well enough, i turned the lights on in the tank after only 45minutes or so after placing him. This didn't seem to harm it too much though. Also, what exactly does moderate to heavy water motion entitle. Right now, to keep from blowing it all over and making it close up, i only have one powerhead on and i used to have three running before adding it. Is it normal for it to be blowing around, or should it only gently sway while it pulses? My guess is gentle...basically i just need a little advice, and am wondering if it is normal for it to continue to randomly open and close on me. right now its little arms are fully extended, but the fingers aren't opening all of the way. they are going from closed to only slightly opening, then closing again instead of fully extending before contracting. dont know if this means anything... thanks for any input folks!!!

 

[pwj1286]

Some people have no luck with Xenia. It sounds like yours will be ok. Sometimes it will do bad in your tank and die, but if it likes your tank, it will turn into a weed. To the point where you will rip it out of your tank saying "@#$%ing Xenia!"

No joke. Its a great starter color, and a indicator of iodine levels.
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Confucianism Forum

 

[Anonymous]

Not trying to start a Xenia/iodine debate in this thread, but sufficient to say that rather it is a good indicator of iodine level is still a matter of opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

In my experience Xenia are sensitive to Alkalinity extremes (too low or too high) Calcium extremes, and low Salinity (should be at least 35ppt).

 

[Anonymous]

IME xenia is a good starter coral and as said above has now become a plague to the tank so that I have to "weed" my tank every couple weeks now lol. It is a cool coral as it pulses, but if you are looking at having SPS later then make sure it is in a spot where it isn't touching your main aquascaping. Solitary rock on the substrate is where mine is currently. Congrats on your first coral.

 

[tripleup05]

Thanks for the comments. I'm still trying to work out the water flow though. It seems as if my tank is still, or the water is laying the Xenia over. Cant seem to find a balance, but I"m sure I will. By the way, how stressful is it on the little dude to move it around. Today it did the usual open some, close some deal, but if for some reason I decide to move it closer or farther from the lights, will this be very stressful on it?

 

[Anonymous]

Really depends on the type of lighting you have, if you have PC lights then it probably won't matter very much, MH may be a different story. I have MH and I moved my xenia often to try to find it a spot where it wouldn't spread to teh main aquascaping but was still visible and happy, so I was moving mine about daily for quite some time. I finally just put it on the substrate. It never seemed to bother it except for the one time I put it up on the top rock so I could move some corals and forgot to put it back down. It was only about 7 inches from the halides, and it didn't care for that much. Other than that it is pretty happy wherever there is light and indirect water movement.