pulsing xenia

Discussion in 'Soft Corals' started by PorkyBubs, Jul 28, 2008.

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  1. Daniel072

    Daniel072 Giant Squid

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    do you test your iodine??? Yeah I'm sure your xenia love it. Corals can handle high iodine levels. fish can't. That's why it's so dangerous to use if you don't test for it. A good rule of thumb is don't add any thing you don't test for. You'll be sorry for it in the long run. Here's a pic of my xenia without dosing iodine.
    [​IMG]

    and a couple other coral pics.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  3. Frizza

    Frizza Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I have some Xenia isolated on a rock on the left side of my tank. I have noticed that a low ph made it stop pulsing. My tank's ph is very stable now and doesn't really budge, and with that the xenia are pulsing all of the time. Once they are happy there is no stopping it, I started with a small frag, similar to the size you have in your picture and I have sold about 6 large pieces and still have around 5 large pieces myself. That's why it's on it's own, I do not want it to spread on my other rocks. I would get rid of it completely but my other half likes it as it provides nice movement in the tank!
     
  4. PorkyBubs

    PorkyBubs Spaghetti Worm

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    I will go buy some testers tomorrow. How long can they live with the high dose? I normaly do just a few drops once a week. I added 1 cap full today meaning about 2x or 3x as much as normal.

    Frizza how long did it take it to get decent size?
     
  5. Daniel072

    Daniel072 Giant Squid

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    How often do you do WC's That's the question. When you do waterchanges, you are replacing those elements necessary for the corals. If you don't have a huge load in your tank (mainly stoney corals) you should be ok with just water changes. Like I said, the only thing I dose is alk and ca
     
  6. Frizza

    Frizza Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I didn't mention that I don't dose any iodine in my tank. The only thing I do is drip kalk when required.

    I have had it since last September (ish). Initially it took around a month to generate another stalk, in fact I have a picture of it in my gallery at that time:

    [​IMG]

    However once I had a few then the growth rate went through the roof! I left myself with two pieces (no more than 10cm in height when fully extended) about 6 weeks ago and now I'm back to 5 large pieces (around 15cm each)!

    People have said it's like a weed....they're not kidding!
     
  7. ssgheislerswife

    ssgheislerswife Ritteri Anemone

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    I've not been doing this but two months, but I have figured two things out.

    Don't add anything that you're not testing for. Do weekly water changes and your livestock will thank you. Saltwater is a carefull balance of chemicals and if you mess with that too much, you'll throw everything else off balance.

    I mean, think about it. We need iron in our bodies, but if we took 10 times the RDA every day we would die from iron poisoning. Be careful that you don't kill everything in your tank over one xenia frag.

    I've never tested nor dosed for iodine...I have a small xenia that hitch hiked in on the live rock and survived the tank cycle. Yes, it got a little weird looking a time or two, and yes it stops pulsing when the PH gets low or when it's about to split, but it's growing like a weed. I've had the tank up 2 months and it's about 2 inches tall, has split into two stalks and has numerous buds coming out at the base. It started out as a spot of slime on the live rock where someone had fragged the xenia off.
     
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  9. pwoller

    pwoller Spaghetti Worm

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  10. missionsix

    missionsix Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Is this the xenia I gave you Daniel?
    [​IMG]
     
  11. jptrson

    jptrson Feather Duster

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    I agree with Daniel072 on this, be very careful with Iodine. Easy to overdose.
    Not to say it's not good to add, just know what your levels are.
     
  12. Reeron

    Reeron Blue Ringed Angel

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    Damn, those are nice zoas! Me jealous.

    What are the long-tentacled ones called?