Xenia not pulsating?

[borcutt]

I bought a pulsating Xenia and at the store it was happy and fine under a 250W MH that was mounted at least 2.5 feet above the water. My 660 with 3 bulbs are 6 inches above the water and its leaning over to the left and wiggling not pulsating. Its only been a week so what could it be?

[Melinda]

I have a few frags of pulsing xenia. My LFS has trouble with getting the xenia to pulse. When my new frags were not pulsing like they were in the mother tank, they suggested adding strontium. I bought some, added it once (you are supposed to add it every 3-4 days) and saw no result. However about 2 weeks after I introduced the frags, they started pulsing again. Now I look to them to be pulsing when they are happy, clenched when threatened by something (my hand, a snail etc) and just blowing in the breeze when there is too much current. By personal experimentation I have found that they like moderate current, but will blow in the current and not pulse under direct flow from your pumps. Perhaps your pulsing xenia just needs a bit more time to aclimate. Be aware that when it is happy, the thing will multiply like crazy. Soon you will be asking yourself, what the heck am I going to do with all this stuff!?

Just my $0.02.

Melinda

[Vilas]

I wouldn't go add strontium or anything. Melinda is right, if you want it to pulse, move it to a lower flow area of the tank. Xenia will pulse in low current, will not in higher current, in general.

[Skipper]

What is your alkalinity? It has been suggested that xenia pulse better under higher alkalinity.

[borcutt]

General Carbonate Hardness (Alkalinity) is 120 mg/L. Is this good?

[nuff2000]

the only time my xenia did not pulse was under low light conditions...it continued to pulse under high current, just could not be seen to pulse due to the current.

fwiw
david

[Wolverine]

With the Xenia that we have, the only thing that consistently makes a difference is the tank pH. If the pH falls below 8.1, it won't pulse at all. But if the pH is aboe 8.2, it pulses like crazy (in our 10g tank it goes more than once per second). Dosing Iodide made no difference, and it does it in all combinations of flow and lighting.

Dave

[botp2k1]

I have MH and my red sea xenia will pulse between 6 dKH and 12 dKH. In my experience, it take a little time for the xenia to adapt to the tank conditions and it does well in low - medium currents. Just enough current to help lift it up and help it sway, and if I remember right, mine looked like it was not going to make it for the first few weeks after I got it. Borcutt, are you sure that alkalinity value is correct? What are your water conditions? Any nitrates?

[borcutt]

Yeah I was carefull to measure every drop the same. Counted 12 drops untill turned a yellowish color and multiplied by 10 to get 120 mg/L. This is the alkalinity measurement, right? Let me test the other specs and I will give yall a full list update. Just let me know whats up with the alkalinity. Is it right? By the way what is this dKH stuff?

[botp2k1]

Ok, I think I get it...I have only seen alkalinity measured usually in meq/l or dKH, the mq/l threw me off a bit.

So you have 6.72 dKH or 2.4 meq/l = 120 mg/l.

That is not bad, some will say it is low, I see many keep their alk at 7-14, and majority may be centered around 9-12, these values are all in dKH. Multiply by 17.857 to get your mg/l if my math is right. My pH appears to be 8.0-8.1 and has never been higher, if that helps.

Give the xenia some time if your tank conditions are fine and the water flow is gentle. Also, give them light, they want light.

[borcutt]

So did I get a weird test kit? I dont want to have to convert a bunch of formulas to get the results every time I test my water. The kit is by Hagen. It has two different tests in it and I only did the general hardness test(alkalinity) not the carbonate test. Am I missing something? I will post my tank measurements later to see if yall think they are alright. In about 2 hours.

[Skipper]

I highly recommend the Salifert test kits....easy to use and accurate.

[borcutt]

Ok here are the specs of my tank!
PH-8.0
Ammonia-0ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitrate-15ppm
Salinity-1.021
Calcium-375mg/L
Iron Chelated-0.0 mg/L
Iron Non Chelated-0.0mg/L
Phosphate-0.75mg/L
dKh General Hardness-120mg/L

Are these OK?

Also so all I have to do to get dKH from mg/L is divide by 17.857?

[botp2k1]

The two things that stand out to me are the nitrates and the specific gravity. Nitrates are a bit high and SG a bit low, just my opinion though. Confirm your numbers with a Salifert test kit if you can, a lot of people here like the Saliferts. Try to lower the nitrates and raise the SG slowly to 1.025.

Here is a thread with the Salifert Alkalinity instructions posted. It does not have your mg/l units however, I just thought you'd like to see the instructions.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32893&highlight=alk%2A+instruction%2A+salifert

Actually what I did was divide your 120 mg/l by 50 to get meq/l and multiplied that by 2.8 to get dKH. I think it was the right formula, anyone can confirm?

[Afishianado]

My Xenia pulses constantly including through the night. It was pumping in the tank at the propogators when I got it and pumped in the bag all the way home, never stops....except when my SG is low. Mine pumps throughout the range of Alk. and never needs settling time. SG has been the only thing I have noticed that causes my Xenia to stop pulsing. bring it up some see what happens.