Ive had my zenia frag in tha tank for a couple of months and it has done well. But now it dosent open up, it just stays balled up. Everything else is doing great and my tests all seem ok, does anyone know what else it could be?
Do you have any fish that may have gottin a taste for it. I had a pygmy angel that decided he liked it enough to pick at it just enough to keep it closed up and it eventually died.
PH fluctuations will cause them to curl up, I have had mine do it many times. Make sure your ph does not alter too much and they should open back up in a few days.
Xenia can be a frustrating thing, changes in ph or alk can make them do many strange things. In tanks past I went from one stalk to massive colonies then back to one stalk without ever tracing down why.I like Grimmett now have a dwarf angel (coral beauty) that was a model citizen for many yrs and one day it nipped my xenia and it has been downhill every since. I guess the good thing about that is the xenia never gets out of hand anymore.
I'm going to bring some of my xenia to the meeting (or actually norman since I can't make the meeting). Ask him for some. Be careful, if it likes your tank, it will take over. Mine only seems to ball up after water changes and flow changes. My tank tends to be a little salty.
i wont be able to make the meeting but maybe if Ibassfish makes it he will get some for me??? You hear me beggin'????
There are several of us that like xenia of many colors and forms. I think I have stands of 3 or 4 colors of waving hands and 2 colors of pom pom xenia. Norman can you bring 6mmedic a couple of frags of poms - that is if it is wanted. I have found that xenia loves to tell you when something is off in your tank ~ whether it be flow or imbalance. They don't like nitrates that are too high and they especially don't like ammonia. Do keep an eye on your ph/alkalinity as they have been talking about. I use Reef Buffer when I do water changes IF my ph is low. This will bring your tank to the 8.3. I have found that if you want something in your tank to be a "warning light" for imbalances add xenia and zoanthids. If something is out of whack they tend to stay closed up. By NO means do I know as much as these guys - this is just from my experience.
I don't know about the ph having to be 8.3 or higher, I have xenia and mine runs around 8 to 8.2 or so and mine pulse like crazy and spread like wild fire, I am constantly pruning them out. I sure wouldn't let my dkh get to 10 much less 12 if you have acros in the tank, as it can cause STNing. I would be very careful adding reef buffer because you can get you alk way to high as anything that well raise ph well raise alk and viza-versa. I use Reef Builder, which is different then Reef Buffer in that it is for maintaining alk levels but as stated above well effect both, to keep my alk up at around8. I have found keeping things at NSW levels work best. Also alot of Anthony's article states that they don't really know what makes them tick for sure. There was just a post a couple weeks ago by a person that was dosing to keep his ph at 8.4, not realizing that he was raising his alk and it gor to 15 dkh and he started having problems, so be careful. I have had xenia in tanks before using a calc. reactor and the ph goes down to 7.6 - 7.8 at night and only gets to 8.0 - 8.2 if your lucky during the day and had xenis doing fine.
