xenia stopped pulsing???

[mkengr45]

Some of me xenia has decreased its pulsing over the pst few days. Last week I added a Euroreef CS-5 skimmer, do you think this is the cause? They still pulse just not near as fast. The tank has been established for about 2 years. What are your thoughts.....

Randy

[Reef69]

Check your PH..

[hobogato]

i have heard that they pulse more when the water is "dirtier". i guess meaning more nutrients, so mabe the protein skimmer affected them. i agree with diego tho, one of the best pH meters is xenia.

[alton]

PH, Alkalinity and polution reduction are probably the reasons. I don't run a skimmer at work on my 75 and the Xenia and clam are doing great. Xenia also love Phosphates.

[mkengr45]

It's not all of them doing this. I notice it more in the groups that are lower in the tank. Could it be my bulbs getting old causing this? The xenia placed higher in the tank still pulse, but the lower groups dont as much. Do ya think my bulb is getting weak? I know I should check the Ph, but it has always been stable and all I changed was that I put a skimmer on the tank.

[alton]

Is it that the ones higher in the tank are getting great circulation but the ones lower do not? Xenia love pollution and with a skimmer you might be taking some of there food away. Example I had a large clown trigger in my 75 once and I couldn't keep up harvesting the Xenia. When I took him out and replaced him with smaller fish, the Xenia harvest quit and I now have probably half of what I used to have because of less pollution. In my 155 where my water quality is close to perfect I can't get Xenia to grow. In my 200 FO with Live rock where I only have 2 watts of CF to a gallon Xenia taking over.

[BadPig]

I cant remember where, but i have read that skimming reduces the mucus of xenias. This prvents it from gathering nutriance. Ocasinal skimming was recomended.

[GaryP]

Xenia do not "eat" solid food like some corals. They don't have a mouth. Their growth is from the absorption of dissolved organics from the water as well as phtosynthesis of their zooanthellae. The reason the pulse is to make more contact with the water that they are absorbing nutrients from. I have always heard the pH thing mentioned earlier.

I have an alternate theory. Note the word theory. I have no facts to base it upon. Perhaps they don't pulse if there more then enough dissolved orgasnics in the water so they don't have to pulse to get more contact with them. I think the current theory is a possiblity too.

[Reef69]

I have an alternate theory.Note the word theory.

Its called a hypothesis Gary.. <_< ..LOL 8)

[eleyan]

I don't think the disollved organics are the reason. I had xenia in my old 72G reef where I had 0 nitrates and they didn't pulse. I moved some to my large fish tank where nitrates were over 40 and they still didn't pulse. Even in my new tank, where nitrates are 0, I have some in the main tank that are pulsating, and some in the fuge that are not. I vote for the water movment "Hypothesis" :)

[GaryP]

Nitrates and dissolved organics (DOC) are totally seperate issues. You can saturate water with sugar and it would have 0 nitrates. I don't think you could say that there was no DOC in the water.

[seamonkey2]

is water movement
the more current the less the xenia has to "work/pulse" for food, the less movement the more it has to work for its food

Jose

[mkengr45]

Water movement may have been the case. The groups near the top are in low current (these pulse like crazy), the groups near the bottom/middle pulse less and are in higher current. They are all looking very healthy though. I am loving this Euroreef skimmer, I am filling the cup about every 2-3 days. My skimmate is a little on the wet side because I have the riser tube extended to its max. I reccomend this skimmer to anyone.....

Randy