Will they make it or die???

[mikeguerrero]

Hey reefers,

As most of you know my tank is in a mini cycle with levels of ammonia and nitrite. I have brought them down considerable since my first post on Ammonia being 1.25 mg/L and my nitrite at .25 ppm.

My fish are eating and not breathing heavy at all, since I added the Bio-spira two nights ago.

I don't have the new readings yet since I haven't tested but my question is this:

My pulsating Xenias were the most affected by the ammonia and nitrite. They are still attached to the rocks but look really wilted and shruken. On the first day when I saw this I didn't know it was a mini cycle going through my tank, and it wasn't until the next day that I added the bio-spira.

Will they make it? has anyone in the past regenarted Xenias after a sudden shock like in my case? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I guess I'm looking for hope,,,,

Mike

 

[djconn]

Xenia are very weird in that sometimes mine stop pulsing all together and shrink up so I can hardly see them. Then within a few hours (or even days) they are back out in full effect.

I wouldn't take them out unless you are sure that they are dead and exhibit a yellow color and/or smell really bad. Xenia small horrible when they are dead.

I'd give it better than a 50/50 chance. Good luck!

 

[mikeguerrero]

Thanks for the hope DJ,

I needed to hear that. I have seen my xenias shrink and do funny things in the past and then all of a sudden they are back pulsating stronger than ever.

Just in this case, I slammed them with a mini cycle sorry xenia but we will see if the pull through.

Mike

 

[dragon79]

feedings

hope you are feeding your corals, perhaps it'll react to some food, but I dunno. setup the hospital tank f*g. It's for reasons like what you are going for, that you could be putting your sick or shocked items there until they make a full recovery. Good luck 8)

 

[djconn]

Xenia don't need food. They rely on solely on photosynthesis fyi.

 

[dragon79]

really?

Xenia don't need food. They rely on solely on photosynthesis fyi.

that's hella cool, didn't know that, thanks dj

 

[mikeguerrero]

I thought they feed of filtrating the water, the pulsating. Anyway, the lights are back on to normal rotation so I'll check there progress because the lights had been off during the last 2 days.

Mike

 

[djconn]

Why xenia pulsate is pretty much still a mystery. It is generally accepted though that they live almost entirely through photosynthesis and don't really require 'feeding'.

Someone chime in here if I'm incorrect but that's what I've always read and heard. All I know is they are really cool to watch.

 

[incysor]

I've never had particularly good luck with xenia. I've had 2-3 small pieces in the past that would do ok for awhile, then just close up and never really open up again. I agree that they seem to be mainly photosynthetic. They seem to be one of the corals that is easily affected by iodine levels. If you don't normally dose iodine, I'd try a small amount. Be careful with it though, as too much doesn't appear to be good for them either. Try the regular Kent's brand iodine, not the much more concentrated Lugols.

B

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Borneman's Aquarium Corals book says that they do feed. Nutrient uptake from the water along with the photosynthesis. In fact, it goes on to state that prey items have repeatedly been found in feeding studies of this coral. They also have a very high turnover of zooanthelle.

Personally, I'm not a fan of xenia. It is a pretty coral but it is so damend invasive! I ended up eradicating it form the cube because of it's tendency to grow everywhere.

 

[mikeguerrero]

I have to second Magnolia's response.

I have heard exactly word for word what she wrote. And I have seen them spread like weeds on my rocks.

They do not have a sting against other corals as they retract when they would reach the vicinity of other corals like the plate or elegance.

But I have sad news, THEY HAVE DIED :cry: Okay, with death comes re-birth and I plan on getting some new stuff, some really nice stuff.

I had an extremely difficult time scapping the dead xenia. They were all wilted and ozzed a lot of mucus all over the tank. What I did was cut them with sissors down as low as I could to there base. With a net on the other side I would catch them.

Then I had to scrape them with my finger nail. My whole tank went cloudy really bad where the HOT magnum was doing nothing to clear it up. So I pulled out the charcoal medium and placed in the Micron Filter and in the morning my tank was crystal clear.

I cannot believe how better the micron is at polishing the water over the charcoal filter.

Well, I haven't gotten a chance to test water parameters but when I left to work, I witnessed again the six line chase and hunt down another amphipod, it was amazing, it's like something out of the Discovery Channel I kid you not.

Because of my upgraded lighting, my LFS has encouraged me to purchase green and purple stone corals. I'm so excited at the thought of getting these new rare corals that I have only thought were possible in metal halide. He reassurred me that he is selling me the types that will grow well under high PC output.

So I will not have the other types that grow under MH. I forget the names, he said them last night but I didn't pay attention. I was too excited about being able to host them.

You guys, I'm venturing in where I never thought possible for my size tank. I will keep you posted with pics.....


Mike

 

[dragon79]

xenia feeding

Well Sandra feeds her corals bio-plankton, and this time around she happened to feed them last night, and she noticed the xenia shrunk up like a lil nub as if it just absorbed or fed on some of the nutrients from the coral food. That or it didn't like it. It's dilluted down as it should be per directions and added in compartment three to be shot back in through the pump. some corals she spot feeds them and they just love that stuff, but like i said the xenia closed up. Next morning (today) I saw them pulsating like normal.....i wonder about them...