New to corals and Pulsing Xenia.

Hello friends,
Today I went to my lfs and the owner asked if I hand any corals in my tank. I said no and he gave me a small frag of Pulsing Xenia. I have had my 20 gal high tank going for three years. I have never dealt with corals and don't know exactly what to do. From what I am reading on the internet Xenia can be pretty tricky. It can grow very well and spread fast and can die just as fast at it grew and spread. So, what do I need to do to the tank. the LFS owner said that Xenia likes dirtier water. I do a water change once a month. I have one O-Clown, which I am about to trade for two small O-clowns just so I can have a pair. I have one royal gramma, two shrimp and about eight snails and 8 crabs. Do I feed this coral? From what I understand I have to add iodide to the water to make the environment more pleasant for the Xenia. What do I feed this coral and how. Do I hand feed it or just add the feed to the water and let the Xenia filter feed. Please let me know because when it comes to these corals I am out in left field without a clue.

Thanks

Gus Gonzalez ;D

 

If it's in the tank in your sig (w/ 4 T5HO), there's not much to do other than feeding your fish. Xenia filters some dissolved organics from the water as well as being photosynthetic. As for the iodide, you do not need to dose; your monthly water changes will keep it replenished. However, you will need to keep up with changing your bulbs as they tend to lose their color spectrum long before they actually burn out- 9 to 12 months depending on the brand you use (higher quality = longer life).

Hope this helps.

 

+1 to Mr. Bill. You do not need to feed Xenia, and do not dose anything, including Iodine. Basically, I would just get it on its own rock so that you can control the growth easier. It likes light (not too much though), and low flow IMO.

 

Mr. Bill, Marshall, thanks for the reply and advice. Greatly appreciated! How about nitrate levels, from what I have read Zenia likes higher levels of nitrates. Is this correct or should I keep doing my once a month water changes? How about the carbon in the filter, should I stop using it or keep using it and changing it out every 30 days?

Thanks

 

I would just continue your routine tank maintenance schedule.

Unless you are running an ultra low nutrient system the coral should be fine.

Congrats on the Xenia, you might want to keep it isolated on rock until you see how it's going to do and how you like it.

 

+1 Keep running carbon and doing all maintenance as if it wasn't there. I will say that I have it in two tanks, and in one it pulses, and the other, it doesn't. The tank it pulses in it is pretty low in the tank and low flow. The tank it doesn't pulse in is setup higher (and has better lighting anyways) and has more flow. It is growing like weeds in both though. I run skimmers & carbon in both as well and nitrates are near 0.