xenia was thriving for some reason they are now dying .wondering if anyone has this problem. the water tested good
xenia
- Thread starter thomas a
- Start date
older xenia colonies have a history of crashing, but there's probably something wrong with the water in the tank. Water change, iodine addition, and definately do a water test. I've never had any problem with my xenia even without adding iodine, but regular water changes offset that.
A minor sustained rise in tempature will cause the colony to die off. THis is a part of it's natural life cycle. In many cases when this happens, the colony will return in a few week to months. If it just kind of shrunk, this is most likly what happened. If it turned into mush, it died from some other reason and may not return.
I've always read that if a colony of xenia becomes very dense, its own slime production can smother part of the colony... It'll come back!
I would check out a major coral site like reefcentral for info like that. But xenia are very prone to high temperature and PH fluctuations. make sure those are in check, ideal ph 8.3. Xenia due tend to crash yearly according to some people despite water parameters but do great at other times. xenia are an indicator of good water quality and are best kept under moderate light in a stable system.
also do not add iodine if you are not testing for it. you can poison all of the corals in your tank and kill them all if you overdose them. iodine is not a requirement to add unless you never do water changes or have a thriving reef system.
ewww.... xenias *weed of the ocean... I had one stalk 3 months ago and now i have a forest *100+ stalks!