PULSING XENIA not doing well

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Howzit guys

I received 3 small pieces of Pulsing Xenias on little rocks.

In the tank for 3 weeks but not doing well.

When I switch the wavemakers off then you can see them pulsing. Also, they are placed in a not to heavy current.

I also have bleaching coral, pincushion, zoas that's doing very well.

I dropped some in a friends tank that's 7 months younger and they are doing very well in his tank.

We tested the water and all seems fine.

I had a star polyp that just slowly died.

I am feeding plankton, Coral snow. 3 x blue T5 and 1 x white T5.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong?
 
they wont pulse if the flow is strong, they pulse to move water through the polyps to get food.
also what are your nitrates? they dont like sterile water
 
Are you running carbon?
If you are try removing it for a week or so and check to see
if there is any improvement . What size skimmer are you running
Because overskimming can also remove the nutrients from the water
Causing them to shrink.
I once ran a massive external skimmer on my 4foot tank and within
A month my xenia had almost dissapeared.
I hope im not talking crap here its just something that iv observee over the years.
also you could try buffer the water a bit
Good luck man
 
Thanks for the replies. Obviously I have have a lot to learn.
Yes I use carbon and will remove it now. It is due for replacement anyway. I also read or heard that I should not be using carbon in a marine tank.

I will test the nitrates and will let you know.

Many thanx
 
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To be very honest I cant remember. I still left mine in the sump though! I couldn't see the reason why I needed to take it out.
 
seachem actually makes a really good carbon called matrix.. Which works well in marine ..
 
You need to test your water if you have soft corals bleaching or not so happy often it is a lack of nutrients
Check your nitrates and phosphates
Do you have any SPS?
 
Matrix is awesome - we use it...

Some ppl say that carbon can lead to lateral line disease , but nothing proven , and we use it without any ill effect.

Try raising your Iodide , i heard that it helps in keeping the zenia pulsing.
D
 
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Pulsing Xenia like a Nitrate level of+- 20 and low flow. If they are happy again and you want them to spread fast then put them in a medium flow area with LR next to them, when they have spread move them back to the low flow area. They also like T5 lighting.
 
Thanks for the article , so its seems to be granulated - related ...

The Seachem matrix we use and you sugested , is spherical and once washed would cause no problems ?

Either way ive used it for years :)
 
yip, i remember reading in the AA mag its the fine dust if its fluidised, but rinsed in RO and in a bag is cool, i always use carbon and no HLLE
 
I have always had luck with pulsing xenia, Iodine works great to get it growing fast. It does grow better with higher nutrient levels. High flow does stop the pulsing to a certain extent. It prefers a soft indirect current that keeps the polys waving slowly.
Lighting does not seem to influence the growth too much either. I have had it growing in my sump under an old out of spectrum T5. If anything it grew better there.
 
Yes I have a DSB that is 1 year old.

Yes water tested.

NO2 - 0.1
NO3 - 2.5 ppm
NH3?NH4 - 0
Cal - 460
Mag - 1600
kH/Alk - 8.4
P-PO4 - 0.08

That's al the test kits that I have. If I need more results I will take it to a LFU.
 
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Here are some pics of my tank. Had quite a bit of algae lately but it is recovering well.

Durban-20140916-00780.jpg


Durban-20140916-00782.jpg


Durban-20140916-00783.jpg


IMG-20140903-00742.jpg
 
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