Rose moving...Xenia dying?

eejjrr · 01-13-2005, 10:23 AM

So I get up this AM and my Rose Anemone has moved off his rock and across the tank and is now stuck on in the back corner wall next to the filter intake. My Xenia has not opened at all to day and I'm wondering if the Rose stung the hell out of it. Why did my rose move so much overnight? It seems to be doing just fine. (Ate a nice chunk of shrimp earlier this week - My wife says it's looking for food) Basic Chemistry in the tank looks alright: pH 8.4, Sp. Gr. 1.022, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 40 (stubbornly stays at 40) I have no tests for Fe, Cu, or Ca++, but I do add a few drops a week of Reef Complete which has Ca++, MG+ and Sr.

What to do?

amcarrig · 01-14-2005, 11:58 AM

What kind of lighting does the tank with the anemone have? How old is the tank?

My first suspect for your xenia's death is your nitrates. Xenia cannot and will not tolerate high nitrate levels.

You should never add supplements without testing for them first. You could easily overdose your tank and kill everything.

Malachi · 01-14-2005, 01:01 PM

My Xenia actual killed my BTA. BTA like to wonder, that is normal. I agree with amcraig about the nitrates.

Do Bio wheels increase nitrates after time?

00nothing · 01-14-2005, 07:13 PM

xenia while being a very hardy coral also stress extremly easy it could jsut be that your anemone moved over him on the way and now hes pissed my pink tip moved in with one of my xenia and after 2 days the xenia went back to pulsing again once he was use to the anemone

eejjrr · 01-19-2005, 11:12 AM

Thank you all..

My Xenia is back, pulsing away. I think that he was stung as the Rose moved passed him and he was "pissed off" as you say!

My tank has 18 watts of light. 9 watts each of a white and blue florescent light. Coraline is appearing on my base rock now and little sponges are showing up on my live rock. (I was told when I started here by several members that 18 watts would NEVER be enough to support my xenia, rose and rock. So far thats not even close to being true. Since then I have been told by far more saltwater tankowners that I have plenty of light for my little micro-reef

Nitrates still continue to hover at 40. I was thinking of adding more live rock, maybe another 1-2 lbs. Does anyone think that may help with the nitrates?

OoNickoC · 01-19-2005, 01:10 PM

If your nitrates are stable and dont fluctuate you should be fine. But if you battle to keep it at 40 i would cut back on feeding and/or change your water changing routine.

eejjrr · 01-19-2005, 02:14 PM

Thanks Splenda', I was hoping that would be the answer...I don't struggle to keep it at 40...it's pretty stable there. I will cut back a little on the feeding though. As for water changes, I do about one gallon a week and will probably keep it there..

Thanks again!

OoNickoC · 01-19-2005, 05:13 PM

I have an eclipse hex 5 (same filter as yours) and do a bit less than that....but consistency is the key. Sounds good.

00nothing · 01-20-2005, 09:05 PM

when i ahd my 6 gallon running i added macro right to my tank since i did not have a fuge and it made a diffrence in my nitrates jsut a thought

i used cheato

eejjrr · 01-20-2005, 09:09 PM

That sound good...I was also thinking of adding more rock.

Where do I get Cheato Macro Algae?