Floppy Xenia

[crazycatfish]

I bought a pulsing xenia yesterday and they tested the water at the shop and it all checked out good. It was really active in the shops tank but when i got it home alot of its frags were droopy and weren't pulsing. Today it has a bit more life and a few more frags are active but nothing compared to hoqw it was in the shop. Could there be something wrong with it or it is just still acclimatising.

 

[sorgan]

I am no expert on these matters but if you where shoved in a bag, banged around and put in a strange place wouldn't you be a bit P'd?

It's probably sulking but posting your water stats and describing your light and flow (maybe a piccy) will help the old salty pro's tell you what's up.
Does sound like a sulk tho, a few days and it will be back to it's past glory, let me know how you get on with it as I have plans of having this coral in my system.

 

[crazycatfish]

Thanks for that. The lighting is t8 (i think, the bigger of the two sized bulbs). I have a marine day-light that i was told would suit the coral and promote growth and i also have a marine blue.
Sorry but i don't know my stats at the moment i need to buy a new test kit but i should be able to get one tomorrow so will keep posted.

Could the salinity affect it. In the tank the salinity is just short of 1.025. Does it need it at 1.026?

Its doesn't look good today. Its started to lose its colour and it just sitting there and isn't making the effort to pulse.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

1.025 should be fine (though I personally run mine at 1.026). Definitely post water stats to make sure there is nothing wrong there.

It could be your lighting. 1 T8 tube (the blue doesn't really count)is not a lot of light. I would highly recommend upgrading to T5 lights (or at least power compacts) if you are planning on keeping corals. how many tubes you need depends on the dimensions of the tank and what corals you want to keep.

If your lighting is less then that in the LFS as well (which is likely if they are any good) that would cause the xenia to sulk for awhile too as it adjusts to the new light. You will probably find that once it does go back to normal as well that the shape of it has changed (under different lighting conditions xenia will expand or contract more).

Xenia also doesnt seem to like direct flow so medium to low flow zones work best (a good guide is to have it gently swaying).

Xenia doesnt always pulse as well. When I first got mine it took awhile to find the best spot for it and even in some spots where it was fully open it still didnt pulse. Now its established though it is better then any test kit. As soon as it stops pulsing I know something is wrong in the tank