Xenia

[allan]

I've had a rock of Xenia in my tank for over a month now and have noticed a strange behavior lately.

This morning I was doing some research (should have been working) when I came across an article by GARF that spoke to the ease in which this animal grows.

I haven't experienced any phenomenal growth, actually appears to be non-existant.

The article mentioned the use of something called Iodide, wasn't sure if this was a typo and should be Iodine? They mention SeaChem Reef Plus.

The particular strange behavior mentioned above is that my Xenia seems to flourish the majority of the day, but near the end of the light cycle parts of the colony seem to wither away to little replicas. The next day about an hour into the light cycle they are all again flourishing. 12 hour blue/8 hour with white. Total of 4 36" HO T5 across 72". The animal is about 11" from the surface.

Should I be feeding this guy? From what I understand they pull their food from the water column.

[brewercm]

Xenia is a strange animal and seem to do a little better in "dirty" water. Some people have even put them in their fuges to help with filtering. It may have more to do with PH levels during the time they are active but most likely to the light source itself. Here is a good article on them.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/ac/feature/index.php

[Dee]

Mine will only stay alive in my fuge. In my main tank it shrivels and dies within days no matter where I've put it.

Dee

[allan]

excellent article, thanks. I'm halfway through it (have to close out the screen when boss comes by).

I would hardly think that I have super clean water but perhaps I do need to thin out my fuge a bit. I run my light in there 24/7, will this be a problem for the xenia?

[brewercm]

Not sure as I've never put xenia in my fuge before but I also run my fuge light 24/7.

[camaroracer214]

i have xenia in my tank and i have ultra low nutrients since i'm running zeovit. my phosphates are typically at 0.02 mg/L (hanna digital tester) and i keep the xenia in my fuge where it seems to do fine.

i don't recommend adding anything to your tank that you cannot test for. your salt should be providing plenty of the needed elements as long as you are doing frequent and regular water changes.