Xenia Crash

Hey all....just started adding corals to my 75g reef setup. Kenya tree, acan, zooas, duncan...all doing fine, as are the fishies, anemones, crabs, snails and starfish...but my newly purchased Xenia has crashed within a few days of introduction. I test water every week and use trace element supplement as per directions on the bottle. All levels are great...nitrites, nitrates and amonia at zero, PH running about 8.2. Xenia was placed very near the top of the reef in a high light, moderately high flow spot.
Any suggestions for what I might be doing wrong?
I really like the Xenia and would like to try again, but wonder if there's something additional I need to do to be successful.

 

Xenia is a hit or miss coral..I had success with it in all my tanks so far. But some people can honestly not even keep it in their tanks, not for any specific reason, just for the point that xenia just doesn't like their tanks..I kept my params at this when i had it growing well.

Nitrate 5-10ppm
nitrite-0
ammonia-0
salinity-1.025
PH-8.0-8.2
alk-7-8dkh
Calcium and mag dont really matter with softies.

Xenia is VERY easy to keep as long as you CAN keep it. I would maybe try moving it down in the tank and put it in medium flow..

 

i agree with the post above. xenia is a very strange coral. it takes to some tanks and not to others. and no one seems to know why.
my tank i had a few years back i couldnt get xenia to grow to save my life. this tank i recently set up, xenia thrives in and is spreading all over. wish i could say why. its strange.

this is interesting write up on xenia http://www.garf.org/-2010/xeniafarm.html

 

Xenia usually like to be closer to the substrate in med to low flow. They also like a bit of nitrate and phosphate in the water not high but detectable. Most people who have trouble keeping them usually have prestine water.

 

I know people who have prestine water and grow them amazingly..But like i have said and the other guy said, its mostly just a weird coral and some people just cant grow it.

Another thing you could try is a different type of xenia. Buy the pom pom xenia,red sea xenia,silver tip xenia,regular pulsating xenia.

 

Are you using any phosphate remover currently in your tank? I have heard that the aluminum based phosphate remover will kill them. A fellow reefer in my local reefing club uses the aluminum based phosphate remover and has the same problem. GFO is ok though. I run GFO and I currently have a lot of xenia.

 

Nope...no phosphate remover. Just a skimmer and a UV sterilizer.