new reefkeeper problem

[zeromgb]

hi first off i want to say i love the site its very helpful but i have a problem i have a 55 gallon fish only tank well it was a fish only tank a friend of mine was gettin ride of his 150 reef tank and got stuck with one xania aka pulsing coral? i think. the guy he was giving most of his stuff to said that it was to much of a pest and he didnt want so i got it and i know nothing about corral at all i dont know do i need to feed it? my lighting is a aqualitght t-5 that 10,00k daylight & true actinic 03 blue is that enof to keep it alive i aslo dont have a protien skimmer i do have a power head tho to help with circulation any help would be appriatted ty for all the help

 

[Len]

Hi. Xenias are often very hardy and grow like weeds, which is why some consider them pests in tanks with other corals. How many T5s do you have? Four 39 or 54 watts over a 55 gallon should be fine for Xenia. While this coral is pretty tolerant of nutrient rich water, you should still try to keep the water clean with regular water changes (or buy a skimmer). Soft, gentle flow is ideal for this coral. You don't have to feed it anything, although some people choose to dose two part additives like Bionic or iodine supplements for soft corals. Hope that helps.

 

[zeromgb]

ty alot well this is were i show that im new i have 1 double linear strips with a 28 watt ture actnic 03 blue t5 and a 28 watt 10,000k daylight t5 from what u said this sounds like no were close to enof light
and wut do u think of DIY protiens (im very cheap if u cant tell) my fish seem do be doin fine in my tank so i thought the light was enof but for coral it looks like me way off

 

[Len]

You'll need more lights then that. About 4x as much, actually. As for DIY skimmers, they can be excellent. If you're good with PVC or Acrylic, go for it! There's also some pretty cheap manufacturers out there that likely won't cost much more then if you DIYed (might even be cheaper if you aren't a good/accurate DIYer). Skimmers made by Coralife, ASM, Octopus, etc .... they're all affordable and excellent.

 

[southiessmallest]

i would suggest looking for a smartlite made by customsealife on ebay, they aren'tmade anymore and you should be able to get on cheap, the lights are still made but by a different company aslong as they are sqaure pinned

 

[zeromgb]

Update well after what i was told i figured well i would soon have a piece of dead xania in my tank after 2 days i look at it and sure enof one of the heads died but then i looked at it today and it has almost DOUBLED in size so im not sure whats going on i also have another qustion my tank was set up with 60pds of live sand but i have never seen any thing live in it or on it i also put about 25pds of dead rocks in my tank and none of them have any thing on them ether im wondering is it possible my sand is all dead? i didnt think my tank would survive with dead sand alot of people have pics of the little worms and other little guys livin in there sand but i havnt seen any thing any ideas ty

Zero

 

[zeromgb]

now it looks like it going to split not sure tho could just be me

 

[IslandCrow]

Dude, you have plenty of light for xenia! I grow xenia and mushrooms in my fuge under a 26 watt compact flourescent bulb from Home Depot. If you want to grow higher light corals (especially hard corals), you'll need to upgrade the lighting. T-5s are great, but it sounds like you have normal output. I run 4 39w T-5s with individual reflectors over my 46g, and I grow everything from mushrooms to acropora. I have a blue staghorn that's growing absolutely out of control. One more note on T-5s, don't try to use any of the watts per gallon rules that people love to throw around. T-5s tend to be much more efficient per watt than any other light out there. That's why people like me choose them. You get pretty good PAR with low heat and low energy usage.