Problems with Xenia caused by B-ionic

[Razor]

I have a 100 gallon reef and can't seem to keep Xenia for the life of me. I already spent hundreds of dollars only to have the Xenia close up and dissolve within a few weeks.

Recently, my LPS said that they have noticed that people who were dosing B-Ionic were having problems with Xenia. They even claimed that people who kept Xenia for years began having problems as soon as they began the B-Ionic dosing.

Can anyone confirm or deny this claim? I'm ready to toss out my B-ionic and start dosing Kalk so I can keep Xenia.

To date I dose B-Ionic, Iodide and Strontium and the only coral I have a problem with is Xenia. In fact, my Colt grows so fast all my friends have cuttings from it because otherwise it will overrun my tank.

Thanks for the Help,
Razor

 

[schubert]

I have been using B-ionic for about 4 months and my Xenia is still growing like crazy. I have not notice any ill effects at all.

Daniel

 

[mrrrkva]

Try to get some propagated Xenia, The Xenia straight from the fish store that comes from the ocean has a low survival rate. The Xenia I have is 5th and 6th generation, and everyone I have give it too has great success!! Also they tend to like a little higher salinity @1.025. Do fine in lower but pulse better in the higher. I dont think it has anything to do with B-ionic. They like high lighting and seem to like the stronger current. Although the ones who dont have both of these, just dont multiply as fast. Bottom line is get some that has been propagated in the home aquarium, and you wont be able to stop the growth. They get stressed when they come right out of ocean and than shipped.

 

[Razor]

mrrrkva - The Xenia I obtained was propagated from the stores "show" tank so I assume it wouldn't have the same problems as one which was taken directly from the ocean. The lighting I have is 4-96W PC and the flow in the tank is medium to high. Still can figure out why it doesn't last. Do you have Xenia in your tank? If so, what do you dose?

Daniel - What have you been using in addition to B-Ionic? What did you use prior to B-Ionic, and if it was Kalk did you discontinue use all together?

Thanks for the input. As you can tell I'm determined to keep Xenia. I'm hoping the next message I post is "How do you keep Xenia from growing so fast".

Thanks,
Razor

 

[schubert]

Razor

I'm mainly using B-ionic, I've been cutting back on the rest. I used to add iodine and trace elements but have slowly reduced the amounts and increased the time interval. For Calcium I used to Tropic Marin calcium but I find B-ionic to give a more stable calcium level

Daniel

[ March 13, 2002: Message edited by: Daniel Schubert ]</p>

 

[mrrrkva]

I use B-ionic for the last 2 years. One time I ran out and used Kent and the whole tank seemed to do slightly better on the B-ionic. I dont dose much of anything else. Every 3 or 4th 15%partial I add some iodine. I do water changes every other week. I've dosed Kalkwaser at times but dont do it. B-ionic just seems to be the best all around? Check you PH, they dont like REALLY high PH. WHat kit are you using?

 

[Razor]

I'm using a Tetra test for Ph and I tend to mantain a level of 8.3. My salinity is 1.021, Temp. is 77 degrees and my Nitrates, Nitrites and Phosphates are 0.

[ March 13, 2002: Message edited by: Razor ]</p>

 

[reefing in LA]

I've been using B-Ionic for two years and I have xenia (two diff species) that is growing like a weed.

I tend to agree with the other postings that the propogated xenia does best. I've moved cuttings from my main display to smaller tanks and the cuttings have survived the poorest of water conditions from lack of time to care for these smaller tanks. I just can't kill this stuff.

If you are in the Los Angeles area, I'd be happy to give you some of my xenia. Again, if you are dosing B-ionic properly, then this is not the cause for your problems.

 

[Anonymous]

Your S.G. is 1.021 not your salinity. And that may be the problem. Your S.G. should at least be a 1.023 for reef inhabitants IMO. A 1.024-1.026 is optimal. Your low S.G. may be the reason your xenia is not surviving. I prefer a temp of 79-82 but 77 is fine.

Good Luck

 

[Razor]

Thanks ANEMONEBUFF - That stinks my SG was at 1.026 and my LFS told me it was too high and I lowered it. I'll try to raise it again. Is there a prefered way to raise it? My LFS recommends to simply adjust the seawater/RO water mix when conducting a water change, but there has to be a more controlled way to do it.

reefing in LA - While I appreciate the offer, I'm probably as far as you can get from the LA area, I'm in Miami.

 

[Razor]

reefing in LA - What else do you dose other then B-Ionic?

I spoke to ESV about this "claim" and they said that the only difference between dosing B-Ionic and Kalk is the lower PH. They said that Kalk can raise the PH and the xenia may be simply reacting to low PH in the tank from using the B-Ionic.

 

[Razor]

Here's another possibility as to why my Xenia doesn't survive, actually it's just my theory.

The tank was a hand me down and was previously used as a fish only. There was some bleached coral that came with the tank, which I used for a while until I could afford the amount of live rock I wanted. I've removed all the "decoration" but am wondering if traces of copper could have been absorbed by the bleached coral and affecting my xenia. I'm not sure that they ever used a copper based treatment, but it's likely considering it was a fish only tank. All copper tests read at 0, and my other corals do fine, but maybe the Xenia is so sensitive that it is affected my "untraceable" levels of copper.

Is this possible or am I grasping at straws?

 

[Anonymous]

Copper can leach back into the water and effect livestock. So that could be your problem. To increase your SG you should do it slow. Your LFS is not as knowledgeable as you think. Raise it over the course of a week. About 0.001 per day.

 

[Razor]

Dan - what is the recommended way to raise SG in a controlled fashion? Simply topping of with a little saltwater versus RO seems to be too uncontrolled.

 

[Anonymous]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

Simply topping of with a little saltwater versus RO seems to be too uncontrolled.

hi.
Sounds OK to me.

 

[mrrrkva]

I would DEFINATELY look at your SG!!! Best way is through evaporation, As the water leaves the tank (pretty slowly) dont replace right away. When you do your partial, mix new water at what the tank currently is. Before you know it, it will be in line. I would do this in about a months time. Mine like the higher temps to. 80 degrees seems to work pretty good with them

 

[mrrrkva]

One more thing, the reason they are running low SG is that they are thinking they are preventing ICK! Called Hyposalinity (someone tell me if it is Hypo or hyper, i think i got it right) I have found that this causes more stress to fish. REMEMBER this when you buy anything else from him. Make sure you have a really slow conversion when you add anything. Make sure you just dont float the bags, slowly add your tank water to them and throw the bag water out.

 

[reefing in LA]

Razor, B-ionic is the only thing I dose other than RO water on a daily basis.

 

[Razor]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm working on raising my SG slowly over the next month or so and I'll keep using B-Ionic as usual.