Pulsing Xenia Brown Patch on Stem

[beebot99]

Xenia has got a brown patch developing at the stem. Purchased this about a week ago and 70% of the other Xenia stems have either melted or just fallen apart. 2 stems remain attached and open, but this brown patch has me wondering. Any ideas?

Tank is a Fluval Evo 13.5 with a sicce 0.5 upgrade. Stock light.

I’ve also never seen it pulse. Not sure if all xenias pulse?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

What are the parameters, lighting, and flow in your tank?

 

[beebot99]

Lighting is stock that comes with the Evo 13.5.
Flow is upgraded to the Sicce silent 0.5. Provides decent flow.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
Salinity 0.024

Not sure about the other ones, I’ve only had the tank a couple months and never done salt water before. Using Iquatics reef pro salt.

 

[beebot99]

While the lighting is stock, I think it should be enough. People o mine report growing softies and most lps just fine.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I recommend getting tests to check your phosphates, alk, and calcium. Those are essential nutrients for coral. Stock lighting should be fine. Do you have any other coral in there or just the xenia?

 

[beebot99]

I’ve got 2 mushrooms that I’m currently attaching to the rock. (Have another thread for that) but they’ve given me no issues. Seem happy spreading out while they’re attaching.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Agree that you will need test kits in order to evaluate coral health and happiness.

The pulsing is a reaction to water flow, if no pulsing, it often means not enough flow or too much flow. It needs to be just right. Try adjusting the flow up or down and see if that helps. Leathers in general like to be in higher flow area's

Flow will also help it slough off its outer mucus layer. Algae will grow on the stem if the flow is not enough

 

[Northern Flicker]

I find Xenia gets those skinny polyps when the flow is too high or the lighting is too low. Flow the bigger culprit.

I had this also when my tank had no nitrate or phosphate. Looks like you are using LifeRock or something similar which is fine, but it will suck up phosphate.

I'd try to adjust flow slightly so it's getting a bit less. A video would help give us some context.

 

[beebot99]

I find Xenia gets those skinny polyps when the flow is too high or the lighting is too low. Flow the bigger culprit.

I had this also when my tank had no nitrate or phosphate. Looks like you are using LifeRock or something similar which is fine, but it will suck up phosphate.

I'd try to adjust flow slightly so it's getting a bit less. A video would help give us some context.

I can grab a video tomorrow once the lights are back on. The rocks are indeed some eco reef rocks. So this has an effect on phosphates? I didn’t know. I thought they were quite inert. Every day is a school day around here!

 

[beebot99]

I’ve ordered a test kit for Calcium, Alkalinity and phosphate. Hopefully that sheds some light on the situation. (I’ll be honest, I originally bought a master kit I thought had everything. Turns out this was just a saltwater master kit. I’ve not ordered a reef master kit lol, learning curve)

Thank you all for your advice.

Attached are a couple videos showing flow. The Xenia at the top seems to of partially broken stem during the night, from where it was going brown. If it breaks off I’ll just pop it in the sand like the others for the time being while I figure out why they’re unhappy.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I’ve ordered a test kit for Calcium, Alkalinity and phosphate. Hopefully that sheds some light on the situation. (I’ll be honest, I originally bought a master kit I thought had everything. Turns out this was just a saltwater master kit. I’ve not ordered a reef master kit lol, learning curve)

Thank you all for your advice.

Attached are a couple videos showing flow. The Xenia at the top seems to of partially broken stem during the night, from where it was going brown. If it breaks off I’ll just pop it in the sand like the others for the time being while I figure out why they’re unhappy.

If you mean the API reef master kit, its not considered very accurate and most will suggest that you replace the API test kit for salifert or hanna testers. The hanna testers are really the best for this hobby, just stay away from API

Also the video did not attach, youtube link works well with this website to view videos.

 

[beebot99]

I saw the hana testers. They seem great but boy they’re expensive.

Didn’t know API wasn’t great, I’ll try something different after these ones. Are they inaccurate both directions or do the results tend to be high etc?

 

[beebot99]

Here is the results for phos, calc and KH.

Calcium - 420 ppm

KH - 125.3 ppm (7dkh)

Phosphate - 0ppm

From what I can tell, all these aren’t so bad. Could any of this be contributing to the issue?

I did read something about iodine?