Acclimating Pom Pom Xenia to tank (how long)

[chrisbenavides]

How long does it usually take to acclimate these Pom Pom Xenia to a tank? I am not talking about acclimating from bag to tank, but acclimating itself in the tank so it can start pumping.

I was happy to hear that not every Xenia keeper doses with Iodine. I am a bit hesitant on dosing additional Iodine. All salts have Iodine in them right? ALso, what foods put Iodine in the tank? Its probably safe to say that since I have a Cleaner shrimp who has molted several times and has gotten quite large, that I do have plenty of Iodine already in the tank right. I have never tested for this.

[sir_dudeguy]

by "pumping" do you mean pulsing?

if so, theres a few things that might cause it not to pulse much..

flow for one...i've noticed that my xenia doesnt pulse too much, but when i turn everything off for water changes, and the wter is completely still, it is a very rapid pulse.

also, i've read that lighting can determine this, but i dontknow if its true or not...someone said that the higher the lighting, the more it will...but again, i've got 384 watts over a 55 and it doesnt really pulse much...but then again i dont know if pc lightng counts.

[six.line]

xenia is uber finnicky. i've seen the most beautiful tanks that can't handle xenia, while the nastiest tanks in the world can't seem to keep it trimmed back.

don't dose anything. xenia's needs should be supplied by the tank.

oh and, acclimate for 15 minutes or so to get temperatures to match, then drip acclimate for another 15 and you should be good to go. *makes taco bell hand motion*

[James77]

Xenia loves light, and colonies of mine at the very top of my tank pulse rapidly, while ones lower down pulse somewhat slower.

How long has it been in your tank? My LFS had a pom-pom colony in a display that barely pulsed sometimes.

[sir_dudeguy]

ya the lower the level they're at, the less light they get, and like i said, i believe that causes them to not pulse as much.

i also have a question about them...when i got mine (i got 3 seperate 2 inch rocks, and 2 of them have 2 stalks of xenia...they were all pretty big, about 6-7 inches tall) they were kinda dull pink/whitish...now that i've got them in my tank, they're really pink...i'm hoping they're just healthier? because it sure looks nicer the way it is lol.

[chrisbenavides]

Its been in my tank for about 20 hours now. And they still have not come out and have not started to pump. I was told that Pom Pom Xenias take a week to fully acclimate and start pumping when adapting to a new tank. Is this true? Do they take roughly 7 days to acclimate to their new tank?

I'll take out my carbon so that the Xenias can have some nutrients.

[akrimmel]

like six.line said i know guys that can keep tankfulls of SPS but cant keep xenia's in there to save a life

[SueQ]

I just got one today and it is already doing its thing. But I did notice the amount it pulsed and the amount it 'came out' was dependent on water flow. When there's not a lot of flow on it, it would come out and pulse.

[sir_dudeguy]

ya, it shouldnt take a week...as long as you acclimate it right, it should open right away...at least it did for me...and i dont know if i should have acclimated longer or not..i only went about..oh...40 minutes?? anyways, it opened right away.

also, idk if takin out the carbon would help...does carbon actually take out nutrients? or is it just all the impurities???

[whiteshark]

MIne took a week and a half to fully acclimate and start pulsing...

Here is a growth shot after six months. It started as 1 stalk. This is after fragging and giving away many peices and throwing some out.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g282/whiteshark_2006/DSC00288.jpg

Thats only one area too. I have like 10 other stalks fragged and ready to be given away.

[sir_dudeguy]

ya thats what the stuff looked like when i got it (as far as color goes) but now its a somewhat dark pink color...is that good or no? i'm assuming yes...

and also, how do you frag these things? do you just cut off an arm/stalk/whatever its called?

[whiteshark]

I don't think the color thing is bad, nor do I know if it is good.

To frag them, I just put rubble rock (smashed base rock) around the stalks. They migrate to the rock and split themselves. If one is taking too long to split, I just cut it with a razor. You can also peel stalks off with your fingernails and rubberband them to the rock you want them to attach to. They will attach in a day or two.

[chrisbenavides]

Can anyone answer the question posted: Does carbon get rid of nutrients or just impurities? Also, what foods add iodine to the tank (all?)?

[whiteshark]

You can just add iodine if you want (Kent and Seachem make additives for it). I don't because it is hard to test for and I worry about OD ing. IMO, your salt mix will contain enough iodine.

I don't believe carbon will do a real great job at significantly reducing nutrients. It is, however, great for removing toxins and chemicals you don't want in your tank.

[sir_dudeguy]

such as copper???

[Reef_bones]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7840823#post7840823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by six.line
xenia is uber finnicky. i've seen the most beautiful tanks that can't handle xenia, while the nastiest tanks in the world can't seem to keep it trimmed back.

don't dose anything. xenia's needs should be supplied by the tank.

oh and, acclimate for 15 minutes or so to get temperatures to match, then drip acclimate for another 15 and you should be good to go. *makes taco bell hand motion*

There is a reason for it not doing well in some tanks and growing like weedsin others... Water quality, xenia likes dirtier water than most corals. I don't mean to say xenia keepers have nasty water, I just in my own tank have noticed that my xenia melted away when my water was pristine with all perameters perfect. When nitrates and phosphates were present it thrived.

[whiteshark]

^ I believe so, though copper should be removed quickly. The quickest and most efficient way to eliminate copper is many large water changes...

[whiteshark]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7841999#post7841999 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef_bones
There is a reason for it not doing well in some tanks and growing like weedsin others... Water quality, xenia likes dirtier water than most corals. I don't mean to say xenia keepers have nasty water, I just in my own tank have noticed that my xenia melted away when my water was pristine with all perameters perfect. When nitrates and phosphates were present it thrived.

I have noticed this also. I have added some SPS frags since I got the xenia. They quickly browned out. So I added a phosban reactor and increased my water change regiment. I have brought the phosphate down to about .001-.002 and have noticed a significant decrease in the spread of the xenia (still grows MUCH faster than any other coral).

[chrisbenavides]

So if I don't want to bring the quality of my water (how anyways?), how do I harvest Xenia in cleaner water?

I have always been afriad of adding Iodine (did it about a year ago - used up the bottle of Kent's Iodine). What was happening though, as I noticed was that I had a ton of algae growth in the sand (a lot more than). Does adding Iodine affect things like this?

[iamquockie]

my pom pom took about 2 days to fully extend. just depends on how stressed it was during shipping or whatever.

[SuperNerd]

You don't really need to dose iodine, imho. I've done it in the past but now I don't and the xenia grow the same.

They like more nutrient rich/ "dirtier" water (the same type of water that will make ceetain sps corals "brown out") and like others said, will reach for the light if it is insufficient or if they are placed too low.

Mine pulse/pump during the day, but pump like crazy when the lights go off. If there is a lot of flow sometimes they won't pump as much. There's a bunch of theories out there explaining when and why they pulse/pump but I'm not sure anyone really knows for sure.

Either way they are a beautiful coral and fish stores are always on the lookout for some returns from customers growing them. :)