XeniidFAQs

FAQs about Pulsing Corals, the Xeniids 1

Related Articles: Pulsing Soft Corals, Family Xeniidae,

A pulsing coral in an aquarium

Injured xenia First of all, thanks for providing such a great wealth of knowledge. <always welcome> I have had fresh and brackish water aquariums for the past eighteen years and have just started my first marine setup. The past 3 months have been quite involved, not just in setting up the aquarium but in trying to digest a huge amount of information available. I purchased the CMA and constantly use it as a reference (great book can't wait for the Reef version) <it may happen sooner than you think <G>> My setup is a 20 gal. reef that started out FOWLR but after receiving a "freebie" Ricordea frag that came with some reef janitors I decided to purchase some additional Frags. All was well until I noticed a cut near the base of a Xenia frag that severed one of the polyps. Within a few hours the frag had shrunk in size and was closed up for the rest of the day. I'm suspecting a crab did more than the usual cleaning......It opened partially today and still responds to light changes but doesn't look good, Is there anything I can do for it? <infected Xeniids wipe out (as in dissolve!) with blinding speed (hours). If your animal is simply shriveled... be patient and just maintain good water flow and quality. A little iodine wouldn't hurt either> Also, I fabricated a light enclosure that has 2 -28w flat quad compact fluorescents with one 28w actinic quad, I've seen literature that says these 28w bulbs are equal to a 120w NO bulb. What is your opinion on the total wattage I should have available ? <such figures/marketing are very misleading. In a VERY shallow tank (16" or less) the lights are fine.. else not strong enough to penetrate at depth no matter how many are atop (all to do with intensity... not quantity of lamps)> The tank has Ricordea, Mushrooms, Button polyps, Purple Ribbon and Xenia Frags <WOW... you have a very incongruous group to survive in the long run. The Purple ribbon needs very nigh water flow to survive long term and the Zoantharians (buttons, Ricordea and mushrooms) and arguably inhibited by excess water flow. Please do research these animals before bringing them home and plan a targeted group in advance (Zoantharians, SPS, LPS, etc)> all are about 8" from the surface and seem to be happy there. <excellent for the lamps you are using> I am not planning on adding anything else... already depressed about the Xenia. <yes... another incongruous species... high light Xenia while all else mentioned are mid to low light> Thanks for your help, Steve R. <best regards, Anthony>

Re: injured xenia Anthony, Thanks for the reply, Iodine seems to have done the trick ! <very glad to hear it. There is a very strong body of anecdotal evidence in testimony to the merits of iodine with reef invertebrates (antiseptic, improves Redox, etc). Just know that with iodine like most supplements... more IS NOT better. sudden brown diatom algae growth can be an indication of heavy handedness with iodine> the scarred Xenia seems to be healing and is open today. as for the Purple Ribbon it was not my choice, it came with a frag. package that was recommended when I bought The Ricordea. <Ughhhh! I just hate hearing that... I just went off on a rant last week about some places (Gulfview and Tampa Bay Saltwater came up this past week) that think this is good business. I swear we get weekly e-mails from people mentioning or having inappropriate invertebrates "given" to them unsolicited to by dealers. A truly dreadful practice in the big picture that kills most of these animals forced to live in ill-prepared or entirely inappropriate tanks> I placed it closest to the water return with the Xenia to increase the flow which is strong enough to make it sway. <helpful... polyp extension (regularity and/or cycles) will tell in time> The Ricordea and Mushrooms are farthest away from the outlet in a low current area. I have another question, I have noticed white spots approx. 1/8" in diameter on my glass that with a magnifying glass appear to have smaller yellowish color dots inside, Eggs of some sort? Snail maybe? <many possibilities.. the wonder of live rock> I haven't been able to find any info anywhere. Also have seen a small worm in the gravel that looks like a tiny slinky, haven't been able to find anything on that either........ Thanks, Steve <Hmmm... do browse for your edification/amusement: http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_rock3.htm and http://www.rshimek.com/odd_critters.htm best regards, Anthony>

Xenia... are elongatas and Heteroxenia the same thing? <nope... elongata is a species of the genus, Xenia (X. elongata being known as the "common fast-pulse Xenia). Heteroxenia is a genus that stands on its own with Xenia and several other genera in the family Xeniidae. So to recap: "elongata" is species, "Heteroxenia" is a genus> and are there really light purple bluish ones? <yes... several Xeniids from two or more genera are a breathtaking blue/purple and or green color. Most notably is the Xeniid, Cespitularia which includes species that are robin's egg blue! with spicules that reflect silver! Gorgeous!!! And more commonly "blue Xenia" is available that is a like species or synonymous with X. elongata types... and more specifically, the "sliver-tip" fast pulse Xeniids. Under heavy VHO actinic light these animals will become a striking blue or green color. Purple depending on your perspective. Best regards, Anthony>

Xenia How many different kinds of Xenia are there? <Eric Borneman lists six separate species in his excellent work "Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History" and mentions there maybe as many as 60 other species not described. -Steven Pro>

Re: pulsing Sinularia...hmmm Cespitularia? Hi Bob: Got this on the ReefCentral board and responded to it - it isn't Sinularia - probably Xeniidae of some sort - Cespitularia, Efflatounaria or some such critter. <Thank you Eric (Borneman). Had a daydream about you this AM (Yikes!). About begging you to help us out on WetWebMedia.com... and also wanted to chat with you re M/TFH (am getting no response...). Back on the issue: have cut-pasted the boyz input re this soft coral on the daily WWM FAQs. Will paste here for your enjoyment... maybe amusement. Bob Fenner> Eric Pulsing Sinularia? I bought a real beautiful nice light blue colored Sinularia sp. a couple of weeks ago and it is doing very well. One thing I have noticed is that all (not at one time) its tiny polyp open and close (pulse) regularly. Most of the time they are hit and miss all over the place and yet at other times an entire group will pulse at once. It really is neat. I have never heard of this before and was wondering if it was normal? Zimmy <Very interesting. Please send us a picture if you can or some frags, just kidding about the frags. It could be a Heteroxenia, but the picture would help. -Steven Pro>

Pulsing Sinularia? I bought a real beautiful nice light blue colored Sinularia sp. a couple of weeks ago and it is doing very well. One thing I have noticed is that all (not at one time) its tiny polyp open and close (pulse) regularly. Most of the time they are hit and miss all over the place and yet at other times an entire group will pulse at once. It really is neat. I have never heard of this before and was wondering if it was normal? Zimmy <Very interesting. Please send us a picture if you can or some frags, just kidding about the frags. It could be a Heteroxenia, but the picture would help. -Steven Pro>

RE: pulsing Sinularia I posted about this pulsing action of my Sinularia on Reef Central and indeed someone else has had this. I will post a link here if you don't mind so that others can check it out. There is also a video clip from an owner of one such coral. It has already in less than three weeks shown good growth promise. After six months or so I will frag it a couple of times. Here is the thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=27581&highlight =pulsing+sinularia Go down about half way and there is a link to the video clip. It is worth the download! I had to go through all kinds of hell (Chicago rush hour) to buy it. I just wouldn't let it pass me by. I paid $55 for it. Worth every cent. Thanks Zimmy <Zimmy... thank you kindly for passing along this fascinating tidbit. I did look briefly at the video and suspect that it is a Cespitularia. But let's pass this along to our good friend and coral expert Eric Borneman. I/we can only offer an aquaristic perspective based on trade experience (imports and the name of the week game with pack manifests). I'd feel better to hear from an academic. Still... I'll put my money on a Cespitularia or something altogether uncommon in the trade. Best regards and thank you for sharing! Anthony.>

Pulsing Xenia Is there any secret to getting pulsing Xenia to grow? I have 1000 watts of lighting in my 125. Great water quality. PH is 8.3-8.5 and calc and alk ok 425 of 9dkh. The issue is current. I have a wavemaker and it is on randomly for between 1 and 10 minutes and off randomly for the same. Is there any pattern that Xenia will grow more rapidly in? Thanks and any help is greatly appreciated. <All of this sounds good. Regular additions of iodine would be helpful, small amounts daily is better than larger amounts weekly. Also, Xenia are known to feed through absorption, so feedings your tank and increasing nutrients could be helpful. -Steven Pro>

Pulsing Xenia Hello, I purchased a good sized pulsing Xenia this past Saturday. It is on a piece of rock, and there are three good sized stalks attached to the rock. All of the Xenia in the tank were pulsing when I made the purchase. I have made an observation. When water circulation is low, they pulse. At one LFS (not the one I made the purchase from) I noticed that Xenia in one tank were pulsing and in another tank they weren't. When I commented to one of the sales clerks, he promptly placed his thumb over that water return in the tank where the Xenia were not pulsing. They started to pulse almost immediately. He held his thumb over the return for about 15 seconds, then let go. When he let go, the pulsing behavior stopped. The Xenia I purchased were pulsing when I obtained them, but have never pulsed in my tank. I have them fairly high in the water column on top of a piece of rock. They are clearly in the path of the Hagen 402 powerhead, but are a good 30+ inches from it. The Xenia are briskly moved by the water flow from the powerhead. I have read that they like good water flow, but I am starting to wonder... <Your observation is correct. I have two species of Xenia in my tank and neither will pulse when being moved about by the circulation.> In going through the archives, the 'big' issue is ph. I currently have the ph at 8.6 (daytime). ph was raised slowly by adding 0.5 teaspoons of straight sodium bicarbonate several times per day to the sump. Ammonia / Nitrite / Nitrate all 0 ppm. Temp is somewhat warm at 82-83 by day, and about 80-81 by night. <Not bad.> Carbonate hardness, however, is an astounding 21 (tested two days ago). <Yes, astounding. Several larger water changes will help correct this imbalance.> Lighting is a JBJ Formosa Deluxe 4x65 watt (2x 10K + 2x 7100) plus a second hood with one 40W Coralife 6500k. Total 300 watts on a standard 75 gallon tank (20 inches deep, but the Xenia are about 10 inches from the surface). <Seems good.> I add 4 ml of SeaChem Reef Iodide daily straight to the tank. I add 2 ml in the morning, 1 ml when I get home from work, and 1 ml around 10:00 pm. I also have SeaChem Reef Plus, but have temporarily stopped dosing it (exact same dosage used as with the Iodide) because of persistent algae problems. <If my memory serves me, Reef Plus is Iodide with added vitamins and would not be needed in conjunction with straight Iodide. 4ml seems like a lot to me, but I would go with the manufacture's directions as long as you are not getting accelerated diatom growths, often the first sign of Iodide over usage.> Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. If you require additional info, please let me know. Sincerely, Mark Schwartz <I would probably correct the alkalinity imbalance and redirect the PH and see if the Xenia does not begin to pulse. -Steven Pro>

Re: attempt to re-send a confusing question (Xeniids, call/cause for book writing, reading, clubs...) Alexander, Bob forwarded your query to me and for our mutual convenience, I have replied within the body of each of the messages. Anthony Calfo <<Yikes... and I'll respond here as a place-marker to send all off to Buffalo (the FAQs maam, nothing but). Bob F> > HI, Bob, sorry for the unintelligible e-mail last > night. I had sent in a > question asking for a 2nd opinion on something from > Eric B. on RC. Steve > responded saying he'd like me to cut and paste the > original Q&A before > really commenting, so I tried but it got too > garbled. I'll try again and > will try to be concise with my questions after the > Q&A. Here goes: > <Ahh, okay. Will leave this for Anthony... El Rey de > Pulsaros! Bob F> *************** > related xenia death question > I have 2 colonies of pulsing xenia in my 46 gallon; > they were doing great <"doing great" meaning that they established and demonstrated normal pulsatory behavior? And if so how long?> > until first one , and now the other is starting, to > shrivel up and virtually > disintegrate. One is clearly dead, and I'm afraid > the other is terminal. The > one thing I can possibly attribute this to is a > change in my additives. I > was using the Kent 2-part supplement with Kent CaCl. > My pH was staying at > 8.0 <dangerously low for most Xeniids. Actually.. Xenia corals often can be observed to stop pulsing when the pH drops to below 8.3 and that should only happen at night. If you tested your pH when the lights were on at 8.0 (assuming that the test was even accurate and wasn't reading high!) the we can infer that your nighttime pH was below 7.8...that alone will stress/kill many Xeniids. They are notoriously sensitive to low pH.> and I was having a hard time getting the alk and > Ca to proper levels. So > after a bunch of posts with Randy on the chem. forum > here, I changed to the > ESV B-Ionic which is much more alkaline and I needed > to increase the volume > of additive. The pH, alk, and Ca all responded very > well, but I'm afraid I > "burned" the Xenia; <not likely.. in my greenhouse culturing vessels (over 5,000 colonies of Xenia at one point), I would dump a raw slurry of Kalkwasser (measured portions not to raise the tank pH by not more than .1-.2 within hours) in the same fashion that you have described> I add it to the outflow of my > Eheim (have no sump); I > probably should have added it much more slowly since > the volume increased > from 10>20 ml/each. <agreed. always safer> Does this sound plausible? <nope. the low pH from go was a more significant factor> Or > more like the mystery > death you're referring to? I could add the B-Ionic > to the outflow side of my > CPR BakPak instead or dilute it with tank water and > just add very slowly, I > guess. A <the latter will be fine> my ideas much appreciated. I finally have a > pH of 8.2-8.3, an alk of > 3.3-3.5, and a Ca of 410-430, so I think I'm on > track with my supplements > and wouldn't want to change them. Sorry for such a > long post!!!!Thanks in > advance. <other than the low pH, all else is reasonable> > Alexander, we need much more information about your > tank that the type of > additives you use. Light, feeding water flow, other > corals present, water > test results, temperature, salinity, etc. Why are you > using an Eheim on a > reef tank? > Hi, let me fill you in: 46 gallons, up since late > Oct., 70 # LR, 60# LS > (about 3" deep), <please maintain sand at more than three inches deep for denitrification> 2x96 watt PC's, one 10k and one > actinic (?color temp). > temp=80, SG=1023-1024, NH4,NO3,NO2 all zero, > pH/alk/Ca as in previous > post/Corals- two Sarcophytons, one bubble, one > Fungia, one Clavularia, one > zoanthid, and the two xenias one dead and one > really struggling). one open > brain. All seem to be doing great except the xenia > and one Sarcophyton has > remained contracted for several days, approx since > the first xenia > meltdown and it's also in the Eheim's flow pattern, > but the second xenia > which is now sick isn't in that current). Water flow > is the Eheim (more on > that later) 250 gph, a MaxiJet 270 gph, a CPR > skimmer-200 gph, and a hang-on > magnum just running carbon-250 gph, so almost 1000 > gph total. <not exactly as dynamic, though, as a 1000 gph dedicated return pump by which the standard is measured> Foods: DT > phyto <a fine food supplement but nothing you have eats it. The xenia and Clavularia are nearly autotrophic and have no physical mechanism for capturing/digesting phyto prey...they feed largely by absorption and the products of their symbionts. The Bubble coral and Fungia are dedicated zooplankton feeders... both will die within 18 months if not fed meaty foods weekly. The zoanthid and Sarcos feeding on phyto is marginal at best. Unless you keep Neptheids or gorgonians, for example, ease up on the phyto substitutes and focus on zooplankton (from a refugium or from culture...baby brine, rotifers, etc) alternating with Coralife Invert Smorgasbord, <easily pollutes a system> > and small pieces of > shrimp for the bubble, brain, and Fungia. <very good> > When I set up the system I was corresponding with > Bob Fenner on e-mail, and > since I don't have a sump, and wanted lots of > circulation, and thought I > might need back-up bio. filtration, he advised going > with an Eheim which I > always used with Freshwater. I'm aware of possible > nitrate producing > problems, but have been monitoring for that --so far > not a problem. Also, I > didn't think I'd be getting so much LR; and wanted > some mechanical > filtration because I'm fanatic about crystal clear > h2o! > Only other additive is Kent Tech-Iodine, 2 tsp/wk x > 3 weeks, then 1 > tsp/week. > Critters: 2 false percs, 2 Banggais, 2 emerald > crabs, scarlet hermits, > cleaner shrimp, feather dusters, assorted snails. > I think that covers your questions; thanks for your > time and interest. <best of luck to you in your endeavors. Anthony>

Pulsating Xenia no longer pulsing Bob, <Xeniid farmer and enthusiast, Anthony Calfo in your service> I had purchased a pulsating Xenia frag about 6 months ago. About 3 months ago I noticed they stopped pulsating but they continue to grow like weeds. <two most common causes are declining pH (you will want to always be above 8.3 at all times...including night... otherwise, many Xeniid pulsatory behaviors stop cold. Are you around 8.6 by day? No lower than 8.6 at night? Another common cause for abrupt cessation is an increase in water flow (increased, cleaned, or directionally changed sources?)> I have a 50gal reef, 2 yrs old, w/3-4" sand (all live now), about 20lbs live rock (35 total), with an overflow skimmer going into a 10gal refugium w/return to a U/W spray bar, UV sterilizer, and surface return. I also have a Berlin Classic P/S powered by a Dolphin Tankmaster 800. I have been performing about a 10-15 gal water change using a tap water filter cartridge, every other week. My nitrates continue to be high around 30-40. <not that big of a deal in this case> Alkalinity is 10dkH, Calcium is 350-400, Magnesium is 900, Phosphates are .05-.1, Temp is 80 w/salinity of 1.023. I also have 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Maroon Clown, 1 Blue Damsel, 1 Hippo Tang, a few Scarlet hermits, 2 Emerald Green Crabs, 5 Trochus snails, and 1 Stripped sand shifting star w/Gammarus shrimp and other creatures in the refugium. Corals include Red & Green Open Brain, yellow polyps, frilly mushrooms, green striped mushroom, metallic mushroom, Ricordea, toadstool leather, brown polyps, green polyps, candy cane, and 2 bubble corals. <excluding the Caulastrea (Candy coral) you have a dominating collection of some of the most noxious and aggressive (chemical allelopathy) animals in the trade. This could also be contributing to the inhibition of the Xeniids> With each water change I usually add trace elements, Iodine (need test kit), <a small daily dose is better than a weekly dose of Iodine for Xeniids... the efficacy of iodine supplements in tank is only a matter of hours. Weekly doses will not support Xeniids> Strontium/Molybdenum (need test kit), and Baking Soda (2tsp) with each water change. I have been guilty of adding some chemicals w/o testing, but it is done sparingly. I would add that the shafts of the xenia are noticeably elongated compared to when they were pulsating. All other corals are fully opened and doing extremely well including the fish. I realize I need to somehow control the high nitrates... is this the problem or is there something missing? Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance. <do check out your pH (deep night and mid day readings to be sure)... this is the most common problem. Kindly, Anthony> Glenn Koenig

Attempt to re-send a confusing question (Xeniid Health) HI, Bob, sorry for the unintelligible e-mail last night. I had sent in a question asking for a 2nd opinion on something from Eric B. on RC. Steve responded saying he'd like me to cut and paste the original Q&A before really commenting, so I tried but it got too garbled. I'll try again and will try to be concise with my questions after the Q&A. Here goes: related xenia death question I have 2 colonies of pulsing xenia in my 46 gallon; they were doing great until first one , and now the other is starting, to shrivel up and virtually disintegrate. One is clearly dead, and I'm afraid the other is terminal. <A few comments as we go along here. For whatever reasons, apparent causes, if/when I have Pulsing Coral colonies crashing, I move a part of same to other systems ASAP.> The one thing I can possibly attribute this to is a change in my additives. I was using the Kent 2-part supplement with Kent CaCl. My pH was staying at 8.0 and I was having a hard time getting the alk and Ca to proper levels. So after a bunch of posts with Randy on the chem. forum here, I changed to the ESV B-Ionic which is much more alkaline and I needed to increase the volume of additive. The pH, alk, and Ca all responded very well, but I'm afraid I "burned" the Xenia; I add it to the outflow of my Eheim (have no sump); I probably should have added it much more slowly since the volume increased from 10>20 ml/each. Does this sound plausible? <Yes, very> Or more like the mystery death you're referring to? I could add the B-Ionic to the outflow side of my CPR BakPak instead or dilute it with tank water and just add very slowly, I guess. Any ideas much appreciated. I finally have a pH of 8.2-8.3, an alk of 3.3-3.5, and a Ca of 410-430, so I think I'm on track with my supplements and wouldn't want to change them. Sorry for such a long post!!!!Thanks in advance. Alexander, we need much more information about your tank that the type of additives you use. Light, feeding water flow, other corals present, water test results, temperature, salinity, etc. Why are you using an Eheim on a reef tank? Hi, let me fill you in: 46 gallons, up since late Oct., 70 # LR, 60# LS (about 3" deep), 2x96 watt PC's, one 10k and one actinic (?color temp). temp=80, SG=1023-1024, NH4,NO3,NO2 all zero, pH/alk/Ca as in previous post/Corals- two Sarcophytons, one bubble, one Fungia, one Clavularia, one zoanthid, and the two xenias one dead and one really struggling). one open brain. All seem to be doing great except the xenia and one Sarcophyton has remained contracted for several days, approx since the first xenia meltdown and it's also in the Eheim's flow pattern, but the second xenia which is now sick isn't in that current). Water flow is the Eheim (more on that later) 250 gph, a MaxiJet 270 gph, a CPR skimmer-200 gph, and a hang-on magnum just running carbon-250 gph, so almost 1000 gph total. Foods: DT phyto alternating with Coralife Invert Smorgasbord, and small pieces of shrimp for the bubble, brain, and Fungia. When I set up the system I was corresponding with Bob Fenner on e-mail, and since I don't have a sump, and wanted lots of circulation, and thought I might need back-up bio. filtration, he advised going with an Eheim which I always used with Freshwater. I'm aware of possible nitrate producing problems, but have been monitoring for that --so far not a problem. Also, I didn't think I'd be getting so much LR; and wanted some mechanical filtration because I'm fanatic about crystal clear h2o! Only other additive is Kent Tech-Iodine, 2 tsp/wk x 3 weeks, then 1 tsp/week. Critters: 2 false percs, 2 Banggais, 2 emerald crabs, scarlet hermits, cleaner shrimp, feather dusters, assorted snails. I think that covers your questions; thanks for your time and interest. Alexander: Numerous problems, many revolving around set-up. The magnum and Eheim are part - relatively low circulations a second (the gph is lost with the way canister filters and skimmers provide flow). Large biomass for a small tank, and especially set up for three months. Oxygen demand is probably real high with all the bacteria - things might be near death during the night, and this might be a prob with Xenia. Tons of live rock. Can't even imagine how much microbial mass you must have!! All demanding oxygen. Eric, Thanks for the reply, but it sure sounds discouraging! Could you elaborate on the problems you see with the Eheim and Magnum? What would you advise to try to remedy things other than starting over, which I can't even contemplate? Would measuring oxygen levels at different times of day give relevant info? If the total biomass is that excessive because of excess LR, wouldn't one expect some of the other organisms to be having trouble? Should I remove the Eheim and add more powerheads? I'm very confused...did tons of reading and research before the initial set-up and thought I was doing pretty well till the xenia meltdown and now, of course, I'm hoping for that as the diagnosis rather than the larger issues you're pointing out), but I'd appreciate any specific suggestions you might have. Thanks in advance. I'll let the others offer some advice on your set-up and add comments where I see fit. I don't like to recommend one way or the other. Your set-up can work, but I think will ultimately be hard to keep going well without a lot of needless work. The reason for this is that those canister filters, live rock and live sand are all ways to accomplish the same thing...providing substrate for bacterial growth - most of it is aerobic. As are the fish, corals, etc. At night, when there is no photosynthesis happening to keep oxygen levels high, you will see all the animals plus all the aerobic microbes start to suck up oxygen. With all that lie rock, and water flow that mostly runs through devices and isn't really stirring the surface or flushing the surfaces in the tank, you will have thick boundary layers, also populated by aerobic bacteria. This is my best guess on your scenario and my explanation is oversimplified, but it will hopefully let you see what I consider to be the problem. You want to use the animals and skimming to "polish the water", not filter material where it is all broken down into dissolved nutrients, feeds algae, reduces good water flow and ultimately creates demands on a small volume of water. END OF QUOTE, whew...... So, I'd really appreciate your opinion on these many problems with my set-up. I thought everything was going great till the xenia meltdown; all the fish and other inverts seem just fine; a few days ago, on the daily Q&A on WWM, Anthony, I think, advised someone else with a H.O.T Magnum to rinse it frequently "to prevent it from going biological". I don't understand that; is that related to Eric's concerns? <Yes, likely... probably in reference to the canister becoming another (unnecessary) source of enhanced nitrification... an oxygen using massive bacterial bed... You don't want, need more nitrate et al. production...> He didn't reply past the last quote above. Would any of you suggest any specific changes at all in my system? What do you think about my total flow/circulation? <Mmm, waving the magic wand... there are definite changes you could make that would improve the health of your livestock, make the system more trouble-proof... I would gladly make the tank larger for the life you list... add a lighted sump/refugium either alternating the light/dark cycle with the main/display system or leaving the lighting on continuously... and would either trade out/sell the canister filtration or use them with Siporax (fused glass beads) or ceramic material as denitrators... and use larger volume external or submersed pump/s instead.> Thanks in advance for your patience reviewing all this and for any advice you might have. <We'll be chatting. I'll cc Eric.B here as his name is mentioned, his words excerpted. Bob Fenner>

Pumping xenia and pH hi! there, <Buona sera. Antonio> I just got a batch of silver P.X. and it looked great in the stores tank, all out and open, I bought it still with the rock it was on, and when I got home, I put on aquarium happy gloves, let the bag with the P.X. settle in the water for about 20 min.s. an will with the gloves on put the xenia in, near the top of the tank (I even put in new lights, I needed to anyways) <very good handling> and its been about a week and the P.X. isn't anything like it was in the store, its just a single stalk, not even looking like a P.X. is something wrong with it or is it just settling? <Hard to say just yet. see below> will it grow back to full health? <likely... the most common cause of Xenia not pulsing is low pH. Many will not tolerate a pH below 8.3 in the NIGHT (your lowest pH)...and so you should test your pH and hope it is towards 8.6 by day. Then test it fist thing in the morning before the lights turn on. Anything below 8.3 is a very likely cause for the non-pulsatory behavior. Use buffers to raise pH and alkalinity> Here's a list of what I have in the tank, if anything is the reason why, please tell me <do write back and let us know if this helps. Anthony> Fish: 3 Yellow Tangs 1 Fox Face 1 Flame Angel 1 Non spiky Puffer 1 Sand Goby 1 Rock Goby 2 Orange and white clowns 2 PJs Inverts 2 Green Serpent Stars 1 Yellow " " 1 Cleaner Shrimp 1 Urchin 2 Snails 3 Green Sea Stars (?) Blue hermit crabs Corals 2 Pink Bubbles 1 Batch of Green Grass 1 Batch of Blue Mushrooms 1 Batch of Brown Mushrooms 1 Huge Toadstool 1 Colony of orange polyp 6 Leather stem things (All came from one original) 1 Green Brain 2 Feather Dusters 5 Elephant Ear on one rock And of course the Silver Pumping Xenia Please email me back soon. Thank you much Alex

Xenia woes I appreciate taking time to answer my questions and others. <Chad... Anthony Calfo in your service> Some background: 110 Gallon tank, 330 watts of lights (mixed with Blue and 10k), protein skimmer. Tank Temp is around 77 degrees, Ph is 8.2, salinity is 1.22, 5ppm Nitrate, 0 Nitrite, 0 ammonia. Don't know what my Calcium numbers are but use Kent Marine Liquid Calcium (use 2 cap full per week), Kent Marine Strontium Molybdenum (use 2 cap full per week) and Lugol's Iodine (4 drops per week). Fed them Freeze dried Phytoplankton twice a week too. <hmmm? no mention of alkalinity or use of carbonate buffer? pH is too low for some coral like Xenia species... nothing under 8.3 during night-time LOWS (daytime is higher and 8.2 day reading is a bit scary> Critters: 1 Foxface, 1 Christmas Wrasse, 1 Ocellaris Clown, 1 Banggai Cardinal, 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Regal Tang, 2 Cleaner Shrimp, 1 Green Brittle Star, Green Flower Pot, and a Large Leather. Problem. Purchased 3 stalks of Xenia's from a local Fish store. I read from previous FAQ's that they are very hard to move. <agreed, but grow like a weed once established. I fragged over 10,000 colonies in nearly a decade at my coral propagation greenhouse> Immediately I lost one stalk. <perhaps pH shock, among other possibilities (like handling with ungloved hand...big no-no> However the other two stalks seemed to establish themselves very nicely and started to grow. The flower pot and Leather both were big with no signs of problems. Then suddenly last week the Xenias shriveled up to nothing, stalks turned white and they all died. They weren't moved, they were in the middle to the top of the tank for light, good current movement. Ideas on what might have happened and how to prevent it from happening again? <above citations for alkalinity and pH. A well documented problem with Xeniids. Get a good pH and alkalinity kit and some buffer if necessary. Xenia enjoy (and pulse better) high alkalinity. Above 8.3 for deep night reading is bare minimum> Thanks again for the help, CV <my pleasure, bud. Anthony Calfo>

A merry Christmas (and Xeniid questions) Dear Mr. Fenner. Just wanted to send you a quick e-missive wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year. Also the same to everyone else that has been so helpful answering all of my various and sundry posts. <Thank you> I received your book for Christmas :) I am sure that you have heard enough about how wonderful it is :) (It is very helpful) <A great opportunity, blessing to have met up with Mr. James Lawrence... the owner, manager, editor, publisher of Microcosm> Now I can quote page numbers for you. Actually that seems a little obsessive. I have a question about corals. I am looking at buying some pulsing Xenia and the price seems very high. $90.00 for a med sized branch. I have been reading several other posts and, presuming that all is ok that it can spread like wildfire. <Ninety dollars!? This is high. I would "make a deal" for a smaller species/colony (maybe this is considered a rare one)... or look about in your region, trade with an aquarist who "has too much"> My water quality is excellent, all test readings are within their given parameters. Should I see if I can find a smaller/cheaper specimen and wait for it to grow? <Ah! Yes> Also I read that they are not particularly light sensitive. I have 4 watts per gallon, and in the future, when the tank is upgraded am looking at doing VHO metal halides. <No problems with little or bright light with Xeniids> My bubble tip anemone is apparently acting in reverse as it is very full and open at night and half closed during the day. Also If I were to place light sensitive species nearer the top of the tank does this increase the amount of light that they receive? <Yes. Please read over the WetWebMedia.com site re this anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) and Pulsing Corals. I sense the FAQs there you'll find useful> I got one Mithrax crab as recommended by either yourself or Jason and it is doing a great job clearing off the hair algae. The snails also helped a lot. Everything seems quiet and the tank is progressing nicely. I am just starting to get the urge to start buying corals and was looking for advice re hardy species. <Keep making your lists, checking about for "frag" opportunities.> Ok just a quick hello for today. I look forward to hearing from you soon. <And I to further interchanges. Bob Fenner> Cheers. Julian Hunt

Pulsing Xenia Mr Fenner, I hope my writing to you is not a bother! <No my friend> I think I am too much of a worry wart. :( This afternoon I got my pulsing xenia from FFX. Good size and color but not attached to anything such as rock. I called to ask what to do (had naively assumed it would come with some sort of stable base) and they suggested that I place it on my LR but held down by other smaller pieces of LR to keep it in place until it attaches. So I found a good spot and did just that. It is out and pulsing but I do not like the feel of what I have done by bracing it down. I cannot see if it is settled into place on the LR (will take a few days I'm sure.) <Yes, generally only a few> It looks to be floating above the rock. Should I leave it be and let it attach or do you think it would be better to use some other method to hold it into place. Some sort of band to hold it to a smaller piece of LR? <Leave it be. To relate a pertinent anecdote: a friend of mine used to cut up and re-sell his Xeniids... by splicing them with a water-pik (tm) underwater, letting the bits float about and attach themselves to whatever... and I mean "whatever"...> It looks very healthy and I want to lessen the stress as much as possible. Thank you for any help you can give. <No worries. Bob Fenner>

Out of Power, Pulse During the last hurricane we lost power for about 14 hrs. shortly after , I lost 4 types of xenia including a blue pom pom that I had had for many years. could the low barometric pressure or the loss of water motion be involved? I would appreciate any information on the care of xenia that you could provide including basic info because I might be over looking something that is very simple. thanks doc Sam < Gosh, what a shame. I really like the pulsing soft corals of the family Xeniidae. I suspect that you know more than myself re practical matters re these animals. There could be so many root causes for your losses; I don't believe barometric pressure had much/anything to do with it, but loss of water motion is at least indirectly related. I'd also like to mention low dissolved oxygen and the possibilities of nutrient, stress-chemicals from other reef life... Most of the Xeniids in the world (that I've observed first hand), are found in "open", constant circulating water circumstances. Not in stagnant reef flats, lagoons, etc. Many do positively respond to iodine prep. treatments as you know, and negatively to a dearth of alkaline earth materials. Many people in the west don't purposely feed their Xeniids, but some other places do sprits them occasionally with a water-nutrient basting, sometimes with "aquatic source protein" very finely blended in. At our and other friends intensive coral farming operations, better growth and reproduction (or repair from intentional splitting of colonies) is achieved through NNR systems that incorporate "mud" filtration, and best growth and reproduction by systems incorporating these features PLUS calcium reactors. Don't give up on the Xeniids, Do look around for other more storm-fortunate reef keepers (maybe someone who you graciously gave some animals to) for "local" colonies to restart yours. As you know, these animals ship and acclimate poorly to new conditions. Good luck, Your friend in fish, Bob Fenner>

Pom Pom Xenia Hi Bob, I don't know if you remember, but you sent me few replies about my pom pom xenia and what I thought was a disintegration problem. I increased calc from 485 to about 540 and my PH from 8.3 to 8.4. I also increased my Iodine by about 50% and started adding it on a daily basis instead of once a week. All of this seemed to have helped as the xenia perked up a little and the "dissolved" tissue seemed to have healed up. But he was still not as open and nice looking as he was the first week, so I kept looking for something else. Well last night I found the it! About 3 hours after the lights went off I was looking at the xenia and noticed a piece that I thought was separating off, but it was a Nudibranch. It was actively eating the tissue at the base of the Xenia. It's body blended in perfectly with the xenia and the filter/hairs I forgot what they are called) on its back mimics xenia polyps very well! With its camouflage and the fact that it was living on/in the rock the xenia was attached to it almost seems like this thing is specialized to feed on xenia. I tried taking a picture of it but I don't have a dig camera and my connectix camera doesn't work for up close stuff. I have not heard of a Nudibranch attaching xenia or found any info on it. The bite marks which were quit raw last night healed up at least 50% by this morning and look smooth like the tissue has dissolved away instead of having been chewed on, so I reasonably sure that this has been my problem all along. You mentioned that you had some friend who propagate xenia commercially - do they have a web site or some way to order from them?- have they seen this before? Is it likely that there are more or that this one laid eggs? >> Have heard of Nudibranchs on pulsing corals, and do agree that this one is very likely a specialized feeder. Pretty curious as so much of the Xeniids are (appropriately) cultured at local levels around the planet. Not much chance for wild-predator introduction. May have laid eggs... you'll just have to keep your eyes open. A few propagationist friends do have sites, best for you to search them (and who knows who else) out via your search engines. Bob Fenner

Xenia I just added a pulsing xenia to my tank, but it is not pulsing. I have a 100 watt metal halide and two 55 watt PCs. It is a 40 gallon tank. I have the xenia in medium-heavy current. What should I do? <Perhaps nothing, maybe a few things. I would move the animal out of direct "medium-heavy current" as this is more likely a problem than useful. I might look into aspects of my water quality (calcium, alkalinity, phosphate, nitrate) and adjust them environmentally if way out of whack. Many pulsing corals respond positively to iodine supplementation. Do you use such? Lastly, have patience. If you have "just added" the specimen, it may well be in "transport shock". Give it a few days to get situated. Bob Fenner>

Xenia... Another question for ya, just to get another opinion. My father has a 75 gal tank, 2-175W 5500K MH and 2-110W VHOs. Uses RO water, B-ionic, Kalk, and the typical other additives. Does water changed about once every 1-2 weeks, about 10%. He got some pumping xenia about 6-8 mths ago, just a small stalk. Right when we added it was great, and after a while it had spread all over the place. Then slowly, it began to shrink in size. What was once a 3" high stalk turned into a 1/4" high stalk. At this point it has stopped pumping and is almost non-existent. Recently I took a few of his rocks into my tank, and lo' and behold, it has all come back to superpower status. He has tried everything from changing Iodine additives, to staring using B-ionic, to doing more water changes. Most of the other corals in the tank are great, except a colt coral, which started out strong again but has recently shrank and turned from a brown to a white color. He is running out of idea, and is frustrated because it was once thriving, and has now gone to heck. I know the love iodine, but this is a mix Soft/LPS tank with a few clams and I know overdoing the Iodine would not be enjoyed by all. Any suggestions with the ever moody xenia would be appreciated. Chris <Hmm, most likely the problem is traceable to either a chemical mix/additive problem or a chemical toxin release circumstance... Do you have a way of measuring alkalinity and calcium concentration? Have a feeling the former is too low... Otherwise, the soft corals are "terp"ing (releasing enough terpenoid compounds to toxify) the Xeniids... A few things could be tried for both possibilities... using chemical filtrants, like activated carbon and PolyFilter... Boosting biological filtration... like using a mud/muck filter and Caulerpa... Making larger water changes... the "dilution-solution"... Or maybe just setting up another tank! Bob Fenner>

Re: Xeniid pulsing, health, co-stocking/lighting Hi Bob, Hope this finds you well amidst all the recent chaos. <Yes my friend, thank you> Quick lighting question. Am trying to isolate causes for my xenia not pumping, am thinking it may be lighting. <Hmm, unlikely... as you likely know these soft corals are not photosynthetic> I have a 60 gallon, 20 inch deep tank, with 130 gallons in blue/white pc lighting. I am also keeping a derasa clam, and hope to acquire a toadstool and other leathers as well (no hard corals planned). Is my lighting enough? Is it worth the $300 to upgrade to a 220 pc watt for the animals I hope to keep? <For the other animals yes. Look to alkalinity, biomineral, iodide deficiency, testing, augmentation for your Xeniids though. Bob Fenner> Cheers, Javier

Xenia coral how long does it take for a xenia coral to grow big, at least until it grows a new colony at the base that branches off? <Can be a matter of weeks> Any tips on how to increase growth rate? <Lots of water movement, frequent, small feedings to other livestock... punctuated, weekly addition of vitamins, iodide supplements... addition of a mud-filter, living sump/refugium... > I also have a brown algae problem, and I was wondering if a bicolor blenny would do that job? <Mmm, an Ecsenius species? Please read over our site starting here: http://wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm Bob Fenner> -Matt

Strontium, Iodine, and Xenia ?'s Hello Bob. You may not remember me but I'm the 17 yr old who asked you about future careers with corals and their inhabitants. <Yes, I frequently see your query/statement... it's posted at the end of my "to be posted images"...> I'm currently in Vanderbilt on a summer program and learning about engineering and very confused about the studies. <Ah, the beginning of enlightenment!> Anyway I was reading through FAMA about a month ago and I came across the article about Strontium. Apparently according to the author of the article can't remember it all too well), strontium may inhibit coral growth. Have you heard or found any evidence to support this? <Yes... makes sense as this alkaline earth element needs to be "in proportion" with others (prominently magnesium, calcium)...> Well that really gave me a scare seeing as how I add Strontium/Molybdenum to my tank weekly, stop that addition. <These supplements are very dilute... not much to worry about here> Also by the way the wrote another article on the potential dangers of Lugol's iodine, saying the concentration of each solution from different manufacturers is different. What is your opinion on this product? <It's a valid source of iodine... can be overdosed/misused as any material can... Should be administered with testing... as all should be.> I'm currently looking for an iodine supplement and had considered the use of Lugol's iodine supplement but came across different manufacturers' price differences and then this article. Now I'm worried. <Don't be... get a test kit, and use one that fits your budget... no trouble here> Last question I've heard and read different requirements on Xenia. I've heard that they need intense lighting and I've heard that they don't. <They (family Xeniidae) don't> Well currently I'm keeping some in 10 gallon under 40 watts of RO fluorescents and they're doing fine. Just curious as to if Xenia really need intense lighting or not. Wow I wrote a lot. I thank you in advance for answering these questions. P.S By the way I know now that I want to do something in the fish and coral fields and definitely not engineering. I'm lost!!! <Again, don't let your feelings about this state cloud your drive and focus to understand. Take all incrementally, a bit, step at a time. Strive to grasp underlying principles; and build on your understanding. Be chatting my friend. Bob Fenner> Thanks again, Eric

Xenia questions Thank you for all your excellent advice to me and others. I've learned so much from reading others questions and your responses. <Ahh, thank goodness for the Internet> I have a 46 gallon tank with 50+ lbs of live rock, live sand, Berlin filter system in a 20 gallon sump. The tank contains 2 clarkii clowns, a pacific long tentacle anemone (I am hoping for babies), a yellow damsel (couldn't catch the little bugger to get rid of him), a brittle star, and some pulsing xenia. My nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, pH, etc are fine, salinity at 1.022, temp tries to stay at around 75, I live in GA so it gets pretty hot and is a battle to keep the temp steady. <You might want to try "reversing" much of the day/light cycle, having the lights on at the cooler parts of the night if this is practical> I don't know my lighting system off the top of my head but it was bought custom made for the anemone and corals if I ever decide I want them. <Good idea, planning> My question is about the xenia. I put them out of the way of the strong current as they looked like they were getting pushed over. They are on top of the rocks near the light. Now they are not opening as much and kinda shrinking down. Don't look healthy. I feed invert food once a week and shut down the filter for about 15-20 min. I also feed the fish 3 -4 times a week with flakes, oyster mixed with Nori and vitamins, or live or frozen brine shrimp. Should I move them into more current? away from the light? <Often such Pulsing Soft Corals don't appreciate being moved... by species, individual colonies some thrive in higher (by aquarium standards) current... I would likely move them back to more brisk water conditions... and do try adding an iodide (often described as iodine) solution to their water about once a week... decidedly positive effect.> Thank you for any info you could give me. Olivia Guthrie <Be chatting my friend. Bob Fenner>

The one-armed Xeniid did it! <Lorenzo again, 'playing Bob'>
Question:
Just today I noticed that on my of my main stalks of pumping xenia one limb has turned a whitish-yellow and has shriveled to the base of the limb. Yet the rest of the stalk is fine, what could be wrong with it? I really don't want to lose it because it has been doing great and growing fine. Thanks for you time. <Probably somebody else 'took a taste'. Got any butterflies or angels? Xeniids of the pulsing sort are mostly hard-to-kill, unless your tank conditions are just horrible... -Lorenzo>

Xenia's and tank inhabitants Hey Bob Just found your web paged and spent have the night reading through a lot of the questions and answers pages. I have sent in several questions to you before thru F.F.E. and really learned a lot from you. <With me, my friend> I have been running for almost 3 years now and am very happy with the system I have finally put together a 105 gallon oceanic show tank with a 25 gallon sump not wet-dry). Moderately skimmed thru a marketed oceanic skimmer. My xenia's are growing great(2-varieties) tree xenias and pom-pom one type at each end of the tank. They are growing and spreading great. I started out with one of each and have raised more than hundreds of each type. Sometimes I will put shells, pvc pipe which my Gramma enjoys for a short time), and some of the older aquariums parts in with the xenia's just to watch it spread. I do take a lot of the xenia's into local pet stores for trade and sell. Wow what a hobby!!!! <Indeed> Some of the things that I have noticed with my animals: 1. Blistering on the sides near the base: I noticed if they get thick and nothing close to attach to they literally will start producing another foot they can eventually reach solid ground with and split off. Sometime when I notice this happening I will put something close to it and PRESTO a whole new animal. <Yes> 2. Twisting its head. Sometimes their heads will get twisted in the current and completely twist off. Believe it or not but where the head ends up resting it will grow out into it's own colony. Unfortunately this means they have ended up all over the tank including on the glass, on top of power heads, and end the bottom of the external over flow. In every circumstance I have gotten them after they reach a few inches in size and took them to the LFS for $20. <Great> 3. As far a controlling where they go in the tank: I have utilized stinging cell corals to control that out ling boundaries with a Elegance, torches, and Etc. <A worthwhile practice, strategy> 4. Knobby starfish loves xenias!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enough bragging Now for a few questions 1. Is there any way to control the star polyp type gorgonian? I have tried the torches and other corals to line out its boundaries but it grows right up their shafts and then around it looks like a neat combo but it is still tanking over the tank. <Best to keep this curtailed by isolating material it can spread to, staying diligent about removing it from where you don't want it> 2. I want to add either a flame angel or a Scott's fairy wrasse to my set up Problem is I have heard the angel likes to eat at soft corals. and I know nothing about the Scott's fairy wrasse. <The latter much less likely to experimentally chew... but both should be okay> 3. Is their any good way to ship xenia's. <Not really... best sold locally...> I would love to get in good with FFE and other as far as trade offs, ETC. Kevin Johnson Thanks a whole lot. I'll send you some pictures of the tank later. <Be chatting my friend. Bob Fenner>

Xenia question Hi Bob, I just purchased a beautiful Xenia and have gathered that these guys are pretty finicky. <Hmm, not really... most Pulsing Corals just have difficulties in being moved... once adjusted, they tend to take off, over a system> The guy at the aquarium store said that all they need is light and nitrate? I understand the light part, but nitrate? <Hmm, well... not photosynthetic, so not really light... yes to some (a few ppm) nitrate (all plants utilize nitrogen in one or more formats... as well as phosphate... And for Xeniids, biominerals, alkalinity, some iodide...> I tried to research this but could only find the contrary. Also, I wanted to know the best way to lower my nitrate levels (they're around 25-30 ppm at the moment, with a goal of 0). <Please see the "Nitrates" section FAQs posted on our website: www.WetWebMedia.com here> Would changing a little water every day (say about 3 gal; I've got a 55 gal aquarium) wise or folly? If not, what's a good way to ease my nitrates down without stressing the corals in the tank? <Better to use/grow marine macrophytes, improve skimming... see the WWM site> I would really appreciate your advice...and my Xenia thanks you ahead of time as well. Filemon <Bob Fenner>

Cespitularia Dear Bob, I want to know how to take care this species, I have tried two times and all failed. <This genus of Pulsing Soft Corals (family Xeniidae) can be a joy, growing vigorously once established... but often is lost as has been your experience... mainly due to its sensitivity to CHANGES in water quality and damage in movement (very common with all Xeniids)> My tank is 55G and the water condition is SG=1.023, pH=8.1, Ca=380, Mg=1350, PO4=<0.03, dKH=10.2 and do 24L water change every week. <Hmm, a couple of things to emphasize here... the importance of maintaining "near seawater conditions" with these animals (particularly for you, a NSW spg of 1.025), and the fact that you should be pre-mixing and storing your water a week or more ahead of use... See the "Seawater" use sections of our site: www.WetWebMedia.com re this> I use one 25W Triton and one Marine-Glo as light source for 12 hour daily, From 11:00am to 10:30pm. My water is from tap water with a tap-water filter. The salt is from Tropic marine. <You might want to have the tap-water filtered water checked by your water district/supplier and/or an independent lab for quality/content... the salt mix is fine. Bob Fenner> Rdgs

Re: Cespitularia] Dear Bob, I in Hong Kong have started the reef aquarium since March 2000. My tank is about 59G (34Lx18Wx22H), no sump with 100lbs live rocks and 3" coral sand substrate and using one 25W Triton, one Marine-Glo and one 9W PC as light source for 12 hour daily, From 11:00am to 10:30pm. <Hmm, not much light...> My water is from tap water with a tap-water filter. The salt is from Tropic Marin. I run Tunze Standard Skimmer 210/2 24x7. <Very nice> Water circulation by Juwel Compact H filter on left side (back) <Very well built tanks> Reverse Undergravel filter fitted with Otto ph2000 on right bottom (back) Otto ph800 for current flow on right top (back) Eden 214 Self-Rotating Power Head (500l/h) for current flow on center top (back) Supplements using : Salifert : Bio Coral, Coral Grower, Trace Soft, Magnesium Powder, Phosphate Eliminator (when need) Two Little Fishes : CombiSan, C-Balance, Performance Iodine, Performance Strontium Kent : Iron I have 20 fishes: 2 Green Chromis (Chromis viridis) from 22-Apr-2000 1 Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum) from 29-Apr-2000 1 Six Line, Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia) from 10-May-2000 1 Bartlett's Fairy Basslet (Mirolabrichthys bartletti) from 22-May-2000 1 Sea Goldie (Pseudanthias squamipinnis) from 24-Jun-2000 4 Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani) from 2-Jul-2000 2 Black footed Clownfish (Amphiprion nigripes) from 31-Jul-2000 1 Flame Angelfish (Centropyge loricula) from 15-Aug-2000 1 Firefish, Purple (Nemateleotris decora) from 29-Aug-2000 1 Flame, Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus jordani) from 24-Sep-2000 1 Gold Neon Goby (Gobiosoma evelynae) from 12-Nov-2000 2 Red Scooter Blenny (Synchiropus stellatus) from 26-Dec-2000, 27-Dec-2000 2 Firefish, Helfrich's (Nemateleotris helfrichi) from 10-Mar-2001 <This is a bunch of fishes!> I have 6 Invertebrates: 1 Ritteri Anemone (Heteractis magnifica) from 8-Mar-2000 2 Cleaner, Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) from 12-Mar-2000, 10-May-2000 1 Sea urchin (Echinometra mahtaei) from 17-Jun-2000 1 Giant Clam (Tridacna crocea) from 3-Aug-2000 1 Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius) from 3-Sep-2000 Also, I have 21 corals: 1 Disk Anemone, Red (Actinodiscus sp) from 5-Mar-2000, offspring many 1 Green Star Polyps (Briareum stechei) from 5-Mar-2000, offspring 2 piece 1 Fine Grape Coral (Euphyllia paradivisa) from 5-Mar-2000 1 Leather Coral, Green (Sarcophyton cinereum) from 10-Apr-2000, offspring 1 piece 1 Blue Sponge (Halichondria madaepora) from 26-May-2000 2 Mushroom, Green (Rhodactis Sp) from 5-Aug-2000, 3-Sep-2000, offspring 3 piece 1 Turret Coral (Litophyton viscidum) from 10-Aug-2000 1 Cocoworm (Hard Tube), White (Protula magnifica) from 24-Nov-2000 1 Velvet coral (Montipora digitata) from 7-Dec-2000 1 Button Coral, Green (Zoanthus sp) from 15-Dec-2000 1 Clove Polyps, Green at Center (Acrossota sp) from 20-Dec-2000 1 Flowerpot, Green (Goniopora stokesii) from 26-Dec-2000 2 Cocoworm (Hard Tube), Red (Protula magnifica) from 26-Dec-2000, 2-Mar-2001 1 Nepthea Tree Orange (Scleronephthya sp) from 27-Dec-2000 1 Xenia (left after the Cespitularia lost) from 1-Jan-2001 1 Nepthea Tree Pink (Scleronephthya sp) from 7-Jan-2001 1 Orange Tree Sponge () from 2-Mar-2001 1 Orange ball Sponge () from 2-Mar-2001 1 Bubble Coral, Multi-color (Plerogyra sinuosa) from 22-Mar-2001 <Wow! Good record-keeping... but what a lot of life in a fifty nine gallon volume... maybe less gallons just due to so much biomass!> My water condition is SG=1.023 (by Waterlife - Seadrometer) pH=7.85 to 8.06 (by iks - AquaStar Alpha pH Meter) Ca=380, Mg=1350, PO4=<0.03, dKH=10.2 (by Salifert test kit) temp=24-28?C (chiller setting) and do 24L water change every week. You suggest me to increase the SG to 1.025, will it affect the fishes, corals and invertebrates? And should I change to RO water if want to add this species in the tank? <I would raise the spg... slowly... in your case, a thousandth per week... and yes to using RO... But, really, do consider trading out some of your livestock, or at least keeping the corals trimmed back... Or (I know space is at a premium), getting a larger system... or an additional one... for safety's sake> And live in HK, the place is small and keeping 24L premixed salt water for a week is a problem between family member. <I understand> Also, your advise on using the Miracle Mud from EcoSystem. <A very good idea... good concept... am friends with Leng Sy (he lives up North of us in California> Many thanks, CY <Be chatting my friend. Bob Fenner>

Blue pom pom changing drastically? Mr. Fenner, I just have a quick question which I was hoping you could help me with. I have a blue pom pom xenia and the head of the stalk is turning a much lighter color white). I would suspect bleaching except all of the polyps remain open and pulsating. My tank was recently at 140ppm of nitrates. I have since reduced in half over about two weeks. This is when the xenia began to change. <I'll bet!> I noticed the difference over night. I have also noticed slight changes in other corals but they seem to be doing better. My brown Capnella now has a green hue to it. I know that corals adapt to their systems but a sudden change in the corals appearance frightens me. <Learn from your fear... and anger... nothing unusual here...> My second question is on a business end. In your opinion what would be a fair price for a blue zoanthid frag or a blue chalice Acropora frag. both were very hard to come by and seem to be in high demand? <Somewhere between free (to friends, fellow hobbyists) to ten-twenty dollars US depending on size...> Thank you very much, Ryan Alexaki <Thank you my friend. Bob Fenner>

(Not) Sick Xenia Dear Bob, I was surfing the internet looking for discussions on xenia diseases and came across your name. Since your book "Conscientious Marine Aquarist" was the one that kicked off my two year marine aquarium adventure (well, mania!), I thought that I should say hello and thanks! Also, how about a bit of advice... <Salutem dicit. Hello there> I bought a colony of pulsing xenia about a year ago. The colony grows and is expanding. Since it often splits and the partners move away from each other, the colony is not crowded. Every so often, the pulsing heads shrink, often fall off (disappear) and I am left with a fat stem and no heads. However, in a week or two, new heads reappear and I have normal looking colonies. This event starts with one colony and migrates to others-but not 100% of the time. I have digital pictures of the effected colonies if it would help identify the malady. No issues with the rest of the tank inhabitants. I am fairly religious about following your maintenance routine. Any thoughts? Dan Pilipauskas <Yes, not really a malady, but more of a combination "reflex defensive mechanism" for coping with periodic "poor conditions" (lack of "food", current, toxicity...) and device for distribution in space and time. In another way, this is nothing to be really worried about, happens in the wild... Bob Fenner>

Xenia Hi Bob I just mail ordered some white pulsing xenia. It came in pretty rough. <Typical... all should try to get this family of soft corals as local as possible... like from fellow aquarists with excess> The stalks limp to the side and look pretty bad. I put it 8 inches from the lighting and left them alone. Any ideas or suggestions to maximize their recovery? <Perhaps a dose of iodine/iodide... and time going by> Water conditions are great. How do xenia normally look after shipping. <Mush to okay> I know leather coral look real bad but will usually perk back out after a day or so. Well I hope some of the xenia makes it. I really appreciate all your help this past year. Your generous use of your time is a great asset to the hobby. The following are some updates on previous questions you have helped me with. The blue faced angel that was eating brains is doing great now. I took the brains and candy corals out for a month. I added the candies back to see if the fish forgot they were nibble worthy and he had. For the past few months the only things he really picks on is my huge colt that grows 3" or so a month. This is cool because now I don't have to cut it back so much anymore. The fish is doing great he just got the first yellow splotches in the back of his blue face. When I bought the fish it was in the adolescent color stage. Now it is turning bright yellow from the tail back. This is the neatest thing I've seen yet in the hobby. <Sounds great> My Evans anthias are all doing great as well. The male is really pink now and herds his female around all day long. Its pretty funny. What do you think about adding another little yellow female or two so he can have a harem? They live in a 8 ft long 240g tank. <Yes to adding another couple or more females> Thanks Again, Everett <Thank you, my friend. Bob Fenner>

Xenia Questions and Nano Reef Bragging Bob, Knowing your caution regarding nano reefs, I have in past asked you livestock-related questions without mentioning my setup, but since it has done so amazingly well over the last three months, I thought I could brag to you about my pet project. <Glad to hear of your success... Do know of, have even had less than one gallon systems myself... but the vast majority of folks who might try them... would fail... and leave the hobby/interest... You may be aware of the fact that the "average" (mean) marine hobbyist has been "in the life" for less than a year... Where do they go, and why?> If you like, I have a large collection of pictures to share, too. Using an Eclipse System 6, retrofitted with 2 28 watt power compact bulbs, one actinic and one 10K, utilizing a lot of PolyFilter and some Super Aquarium purifier, I have been able to successfully keep a large collection of life in such a small tank. <Hmm, no skimmer?> I have: 1 Ocellaris clown, 2" 1 Lawnmower blenny 3" <In such a small volume? Make sure it gets enough to eat> 1 Fire shrimp 2" 1 Emerald Mithrax crab 1" 4 Scarlet Reef hermits 1/2" 5 Cerith Snails 1/2" 1 Frogspawn - 4 polyps 1 Green Torch frag - 1 polyp 1 White Torch frag - 1 polyp 1 Flower Pot frag - 1 polyp 1 White tipped xenia - 2" 9 Mushrooms - 2 Racemosa, 7 varied (green, red, blue, striped) 1 Halimeda Money plant - 4" 1 Caulerpa Racemosa - 4" 1 Halimeda (growing straight up, instead of as a bush) - 5" <Impressive> My only losses have been - one left handed hermit that crawled out the top, and one red Fromia starfish that was partially devoured alive by ??? (the crabs?), moved to another refugium, where he died shortly thereafter. My question is about the xenia in my tank - back when my frogspawn became infected with some bacterial disease (treated successfully with reduced salinity dip and malachite green), the xenia folded up and stopped pulsing, and seemed to be on the verge of death: polyps disintegrating, discoloration, etc. Now, though, he's on the mend, and new polyps are growing at a startling rate. The odd thing is, though, that they're growing almost like an anthelia mat - right out of his "foot." <This happens... Heteroxenia is poly/dimorphic...> He still has a central stalk, crowned with 15 or so small polyps, but his foot, with which he's attached to the live rock, is growing at least twice that many polyps - small still, but already pulsing. I read somewhere that xenia have the ability to assume different morphologies under different conditions, but can they so radically turn into a polyp "mat"? <Yes, some types, species of the Xeniid family... in fact, this trait is used as a dividing point between genera...> Thanks for any insight you have into my xenia/anthelia colony, and sorry if my enthusiasm for my tank makes this a long read. Josh <No worries, thank you for sharing. Do read over the skimmer and small systems sections on the www.wetwebmedia.com site for others input on how they've modified their Eclipse systems as well. Bob Fenner>

Re: Xenia Questions and Nano Reef Bragging Bob, Thanks for the quick reply! In reading your response, I see I neglected to mention one or two things: no, I have no skimmer for my tank. I just received a Red Sea Prizm HOT skimmer, but after leaving it on for several hours and coming up clean, I decided to move it to a newly-cycling marine tank in the next room. <Good idea... as you and I know (but many browsers may be unaware), substantially up and going reef type systems don't require or use skimmers/skimming> I also forgot to mention my star polyp colony, which is a recent addition, and a fast-growing favorite of mine. I do have one more question for you - what kind of prepared foods could the blenny be induced to eat? <Not much... Atrosalarias and Salarias blennies pretty much consume filamentous algae and associated life (aufwuchs to you Deutschen types)> I originally purchased him with the intention of leaving him in the system for a short time (to control an algal bloom), but I left him in there because he's so ugly that he's cute. What sort of algae-based foods will he take, if any? Or will I have to move him to the planted refugium in my FOWLR tank? Thanks, Josh <Likely the latter. Bob Fenner>

Xenia problem Hello Bob! Just found your website - and read every FAQ I could find on corals... very helpful! <Thank you. Much more to post...> I recently went on vacation to Australia (maybe I saw you?) <Hmm, maybe! I was the third fish on the right!> and left my 25 gallon tank in the care of a friend who took great care of it. I have retrofitted compact fluorescents in an Eclipse hood w/filter and also use a protein skimmer. <Sounds good. Whose skimmer? Could you tell me/us how you retrofitted the Eclipse/top?> I have 2 colonies of mushroom corals (purple/blue and green), colonies of green button polyps, yellow polyps, large toadstool leather with 3 offspring that are growing profusely, large colony of cabbage coral and a Dendronephthya (Carnation Coral?)<Yep, one common name>, 3 scarlet legged hermits, a clown, yellow tailed blue tang, sand and live rock. All corals other than the Xenia are doing wonderfully! <Sounds good so far> I do bi-weekly 5-10 gallon water changes and religiously check my calcium, nitrate, nitrite, etc. and have virtually no problems. Calcium has been stable since I started the tank. I dose with Lugol's Solution once a week as well as feed phytoplankton and supplement with Reef Complete about once a week. My problem started (I'm assuming) when my heater went out and the warm, California weather I had left dropped to 38 degrees - and no heat on in the house. The Xenia had doubled in size in a little over 2 months and was pumping away....until the temperature dropped. Do you think it will come back? Or...sob...should I pull it out? <Yikes... this family of Soft Corals is tough, but what a thermal shock! Don't pull it though... it's been my experience (first and other hand) that Pulsing Corals do rally after/despite tremendous challenges... unless your colonies are flat out dissolving, I would leave them be> Thanks so much for your help! Maryann <Maybe a back up heater with its thermostat set a bit lower would help going forward? "These are the times that try (sic)(wo)men's souls"... You sound strong/perseverant... hang in there. No chemical/cathartic/restorative protocols needed or suggested otherwise. Bob Fenner>

Xenia rash ??Dear Mr. Fenner, I am writing you again to pick your brain. Question 1: I have a 125G Reef tank which is about 5 months old. I purchased several "generic" Pulsing Xenia in the beginning of the reef. I now know why no one else was purchasing them... THEY GROW LIKE WEEDS !!! And worst of all, I can't seem to get anyone to take the excess. Now that being said, I have been thinning out the "Crop" about ever 3 to 4 weeks by removing about half of the stalks. The "Crop" is not getting any smaller even with the thinning. I've come to terms with these little tan dancers and don't mind them in the tank, and actually have come to enjoy watching them. Now for the issue. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that some of the Xenia had what I refer to as a "rash", the base of the stalk looks fine but moving up, as you approach the branches, there is an area of pitting and blistering of the flesh. They, are mainly symmetrical in appearance and vary in size from very small to .25" in diameter. This is the case on about 90% of the Xenia in the Tank, young and old. The Xenia are in small colonies spread from one end of the tank to the other; so I doubt that this is a case of physical aggression from another Coral body. If you disagree I will send a list of them, just don't want to bother you with an even longer message. I'm concerned because I have read that Xenia do not like, to the extent of fatality, high levels of Calcium. I recently achieved calcium levels of 475 by increasing the frequency at which I add my 2 part B-ionic solution. I now add it every couple of days.<Hmm, could be the calcium... or some matter that has/is becoming rate-limited by the pulsing corals abundant growth... or possible predation of some sort... but I would not be overly concerned... A die-off is not likely imminent> Question 2: I've recently seen two snail like critter in the tank. The first one was small and I removed. The second, have not removed and is about .75" long identical from the bottom (outside of glass) as the Astrea snails in color and physical appearance (head, foot, antenna). But, it doesn't have a SHELL !! instead it totes around what reminds me of a Medieval shield starting just above the head and ending about 1/2 way down it's back. As I'm sure you can tell the heart of my question would be: what is it and is it "bad" for the tank ? <Likely not... I would enjoy it, and other life until they prove to be deleterious... the vast majority of such "recruits" are innocuous> Here are the stat's checked monthly; these have been stable for 4 months now, save Calcium: SpecGr = 1.024 pH = 8.4 Alk = 3.43 Ammonia = <.25 <Really? as in zero?> Nitrate = 2.5 Calcium = 480ppm I'll not bother you with the list of Corals and such, since this spans the entirety of the tank. Fish: 3 Green Chromis 2 Kupang Damsels 1 Yellow Tang 1 Cirrhilabrus rubripinnis (Dwarf Parrot Wrasse) I think 1 Cleaner Shrimp 1 Clark's Clown fish w/ Anemone 1 Bicolor Blenny As always, Thank you in advance. John John Boiger <You're certainly welcome. Bob Fenner>

Xenia Hello Bob, I'm having a horrible time keeping my Xenia under control, they are spreading like wild fire all over my tank. I have removed 90% by cutting them at the base using a scalpel. Unfortunately within a week what I was unable to remove of their bases has turned right back into little growing Xenia again. Do you know anyways of keeping these guys under control, or even removing them if it comes to that). Any advise is greatly appreciated, Rob. Rob cook >> Really? If it were me, I'd arrange for some sorts of easy to remove and transport base material, and sell off your "excess" to local stores. The pulsing (soft) corals (family Xeniidae) are crummy shippers, and you might well use the added income... To buy, outfit (yes) yet another marine/reef system!!!! That you can keep separate from the "xenia that ate Detroit" colonies you have going... I am serious, this is what I would do. Bob Fenner

Sick Xeniids bob....pulsing Xenia starting developing sores. these turned into yellow scabs that smelled to high heaven. have lost about six stalks so far. started flushing infested ones. not all of the stalks infested. still have about six or seven that are okay. any treatment. never had to ask for treatment of corals. have 55, sump, 15w UV; Berlin skimmer, 403 Fluval; 2-110 VHO; 2-40 actinic 03. have quit eating pizza's late with anchovies but we still have the flat black Nudibranch. haven't moved to Florida yet but am pricing 180 gal. for the new house. thanks, Jim nix >> Yeehikes... at first try, would change a huge amount of water (like half), stop all other additive use... but do apply a source of iodine to your water... a small amount... daily... If losses continue, consider taking colony out and dipping in half freshwater and seawater and half dose of malachite (freshwater ich remedy) for ten minutes to arrest bacterial (secondary?) infection... Bob Fenner

Feather Dusters and Xenia Hi Bob, I'm planning out my tank's future inhabitants. Was wondering on the hardiness of Feather Dusters and Xenia. Are they easy to keep? Do they pose any threat to other inverts/corals? Are "common" ( crabs/snails/fish) reef additions a threat to them? <Feather Duster worms are highly variable in survivability. Do well in only well-conditioned, "dirty" (nutrient, mulm laden) water. Are subject to predation by many crabs, fishes. Pulsing Corals can do very well, given the chance to acquire initially healthy specimens... they take a beating in transit/shipping distantly... One of the reasons that locally some areas have all sorts (from hobbyist culture/sale) whereas others have no "founder/flounder effect"... like yours?. Some crabs will eat some Xeniids, most Shrimp and fishes leave them alone.> I have "The Reef Aquarium II", and they have a section on Xenia farming. The photo of a tank full of Xenia looked spectacular. And they give the impression that they are easily maintained. My local shop won't sell them, but will get them if someone makes the request. Says they don't fair we'll with the average aquarist. Can you shed some light on this subject? Thanks, Tony Revinski <Once you get Xeniids going, they do take off... no special lighting required, no feeding... Just high, steady alkalinity, biomineral content, and weekly or so addition of iodine. Bob Fenner>

Xenia I am having an extremely tough time maintaining Xenia. Each time I have purchase them, they seem to do well for about a week and then suddenly die. I have a 110 gallon and am using 4 - VHO lights. 2 blue and 2 white. Each bulb is 140 watts. My water readings have been as follows: Ph - 7.0 - 8.3 Calcium 500+ Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 20 KH - 8 -11 What am I doing wrong? Do Xenia's prefer metal halide lighting? >> Lighting is relatively unimportant to pulsing corals... It may be your calcium has something to do with it... I would allow (through cutting back on supplementing) your levels to hover more around the 400ppm level... Do you utilize iodine supplements? I would, at least once a week, and in "the bag" or in quarantine/dips in acclimating new specimens. And do look for more "local" sources of Xeniids... those raised by hobbyists near by are much tougher than ship-ins.... these animals are notoriously poor shippers. Bob Fenner

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