Xenia issues...

[Dogwood]

So I've been given the responsibility of caring for my daughter's 12 G nano reef while she's at university. The learning curve at this point is near vertical and I have many questions, but the first one is this picture I've attached. Is this the way this Xenia should look? It doesn't open all the way and there are some "blisters" at the base of the smaller one to the left. It seems to have changed recently. They used to have a transparent base, but now it's white and more solid looking. Salinity has been a bit high, but I think it's down now. Also, just changed the bulbs to one 50/50 and one 100% daylight, both 13w flourescent. Ph seems normal at 8.3

That's it for now, but any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[mr_X]

i don't think that i've ever seen transparent xenia, so i'd say they are better off now.
they appear healthy.
what bulbs did you replace?

 

[Dogwood]

Thanks for the reply, my main concern is that they don't open as much as they used to, the smaller one to the upper left shrinks at night, but it never gets the full fronds like the larger one in the center. As far as the bulbs, the replaced bulbs were a 100% actinic blue and a 100% daylight. The LFS sold me what was labeled "blue" but it turned out it was 50/50. They didn't have any 100% blue, so this is what I'm stuck with at the moment.

 

[mr_X]

i don't think the blue light is used nearly as much as the white light. i wouldn't worry too much about adding actinic bulbs, for reasons other than aesthetics.
i think you are better off with a 50/50, rather than straight actinic. your current configuration should work fine.

as for the shrinking, mine do it every night when the halides go off. about the not opening issue, i have 2 tanks. one tank my xenia open and pulse like they should, and the other, they appear alot thinner, and pulse less. i don't know what causes this. both colonies seem to grow and split fine though. :?

 

[Dogwood]

That's good to know about the lights, but the xenia still concern me as they used to grow and split also, but now, they seem to be stalled. What kind of growth rate should I expect?

 

[mr_X]

well, my xenia seem to grow thicker and not branch off too much when they are at the top of a rock structure. when they are down low, they seem to create new "offspring" as they creep up the rock work.
i don't know how to answer the growth rate question, except- this picture started as a single colony about 8 months ago. since then i have sold about 10 frags of it too, and have actually cut pieces off and discarded them to the refugium(they are growing in there, but they look thin and not pulse much-i am using a 65 watt 6400k compact flourescent over a 21" tank...maybe they don't like the lower kelvin light?)


here is the main tank with halides over it:

and here is one of the pieces in the sump (6400k lighting?)

 

[Dogwood]

Hmm, my xenia looks nothing like yours. In fact today, the little one hasn't opened at all. When they were new to the tank, they began at the bottom and moved up, and left a few little ones along the way. What kind of supplements do you add? I know this is a real generic question, but any pointer in the right direction would be very helpful.

thanks,
Jeff

 

[Anonymous]

Xenia grow in an upward pattern, and seem to stall if the newer colonies shade the older ones. I always started them at the bottom and left them room to climb upwards onto new rocks (easy way to frag them). They aren't totally photosynthetic and pull nutrients from the water column and are a great indicator of overall water quality. If the SG was high and/or water quality low for a while, that may explain things. Oh, and be cautious now that you have changed bulbs for signs the corals are stressed (due to them being used to one light intensity and the new bulns putting out more-think sunburn).

Looking at the picture, the "blisters" could be new polyps growing up from the base. As far as supplements, as long as you do water changes weekly you shouldn't need any, but please post a full stocking list so I can comment from knowledge. If there are lots of stony corals in there, you may need to add kalkwasser to maintain the calcium levels. In a nano it is super easy to OD a tank on supplements so I'd be cautious. Your biggest challenge is to keep that SG level at all times, and with a nano that usually means adding freshwater every day.

 

[mr_X]

i don't add anything. a little calcium to bring my salt mix up to 400 or so(it comes out at 370ish), but nothing in the way of vitamins.

 

[Dogwood]

Thanks for all your tips, I'm beginning to think this tank may be suffering from too much attention...from someone with info overload!

This is what I've been adding:

Tech CB(Kent Marine) 2week interval
Strontium & Molybdenum(KM) 1 week interval
Iodine(KM) 1 week interval
Reef Builder(Seachem)
Microvert(4 day interval or as I remember)

As I use tap water for replenishment and changes, I suspect that I have too much of everything!