Xenia hurt?

Discussion in 'Coral' started by tangopa, Aug 27, 2009.

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  1. tangopa

    tangopa Bristle Worm

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    My xenia has been growing like wild for about a month now, but tonight I noticed some white stringy looking stuff on some of the polyps and those polyps are closed up tight like fists, or the "finger" of the polyp that has the "string" on it are kinda closed up. Does anyone know what this is? Also some of the newer growth seems to have stopped. Has anyone had this experience?

    I tried to take some pics but you couldn't really see it.
     
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  3. pgreef

    pgreef Fire Goby

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    They'll slime up when they get disturbed. Mine do that when I try to yank them out or frag them. I've never seen them do it on their own. Have you seen anything picking on them?
     
  4. sailorguy

    sailorguy Torch Coral

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    Could be something nearby is stinging it,I have some branching frogspawn "uphill" from mine that stings it regularly and the result sounds like what your describing.I actually like this as it keeps its growth in check,but doesent harm it enough to kill it.
     
  5. norg.

    norg. Kole Tang

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    mine bunch up if anything touches them, but as far as the stringyness goes stinging sounds like what is happening. xenia is very hardy so you shouldnt be too worried. mine was picked totally clean by my stupid peppermint shrimp before i could get it out of the tank.
     
  6. tangopa

    tangopa Bristle Worm

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    Hahaha, sorry to hear that norg, but the way you put it just struck a chord with me and I had to laugh.

    It's looking a lot better today...it's really extended far...I see what people mean about how xenia can take over your tank in a hurry, this frag has tripled in size in as many weeks.

    I think maybe my tang was nibbling it to cause it to draw up...I don't have any other corals near it. About 1.5 weeks ago I did have a hammer coral (since dead RIP) and it had some sweeper tentacles...some of them may have come loose and still have been floating around the tank, presumably with active nematocysts. Plausible? No. Possible? Maybe?

    In any event, things are looking up today. Thanks for the advice as always.
     
  7. norg.

    norg. Kole Tang

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    haha its alright my xenia has come back four times now but its going strong because there is nothing to pick at it. is it possible that your salt levels could have raised? my colt coral appeared dead for a couple days because my salt levels shot up to about 1.030. my other corals were fine but it pulled out as soon as i got a hydrometer to get an accurate reading. so that could be it.
     
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  9. tangopa

    tangopa Bristle Worm

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    Perhaps so...they sometimes get up to about 1.027-1.028. Right now they're at 1.023. I think something was picking at them. They look great now.