pom pom xenia

[DreamCatcher87]

I have a small amount of pom pom xenia a friend of mine put in my tank to try to remove nitrates.

Well, it has been in my refugium for almost a month now. I added a few fish from the beach to try to lighten my tank up a bit seeing as the eel only comes out when the lights are off or she is hungry.

After I added the beach fish, the xenia began moving like grabbing like my friend's does in his reef aquarium.

I plan to take the fish back to the beach later today, will that maybe cause my xenia to stop pulsing? I hope not...also, what causes them to pulse? my friend told me it was the nitrates and the newer fish could have introduced more waste increasing nitrates and giving the xenia something to live off of...is this true? any help would be great thanks

[Damon]

Lighting, water movement and food all plays a part in xenia.

[Osiris]

Also, only certain strains of Xenia pulse, not all Xenia pulses, but Xenia is a touchy coral, saying goes, it either loves you or hates you, meaning it will die off right away or take off lol

[DreamCatcher87]

well it appears to be doing alright, i thought it was going to die because my friend's has taken off like crazy and mine didnt even look like it was ever going to sit upright. after a week or two, it sat up, and now it moves. my friend called it pom pom xenia and his moves like crazy...mine is going slowly but surely...He said it should feed off the nitrates and the lighting in my tank, but should I try to put any supplements or whatnot in the tank to help it out?

[Fishnewb1]

No. Waterchanges to help nitrates.

wait beach fish?? in mississippi?
like little maceral and kingfish?

[CollegeReefer]

DreamCatcher,

You shouldn't be adding fish from the beach directly to you aqurium. That is asking for trouble. No matter what kind of fish it is. On a different note, what kind of lighting do you have?

[DreamCatcher87]

i dont know the light I have currently on the xenia, a friend of mine gave it to me, he works at a lfs down here near where i live and he grows coral, he gave me the xenia and the light, he said it is the same light he has on his 5 gallon frag tank. I quarantined the beach fish for almost 2 weeks before adding them to my tank, I was afraid of them giving my eel something so i quarantined them first. the other lighting i have is an atinic or tinic however you say it blue light on my tank...my aptasia are growing great and i have an anemone I got from the beach almost a year ago...it was quarantined for 2 month before going into my main tank.

I dont know what kind of fish they were, they were adults because I caught them spawning on the beach, my sister's boyfriend said they were some kind of minnow...a baitfish, I let them go earlier because my eel was biting them, I guess she thought they were edible.

I have been doing waterchanges on the tank, less than four days ago I did a 25% waterchange on the tank and the xenia freaked out and so did my anemones. i didnt raise or lower the salinity any.

[Ice]

Aptasia are an undisireable pest you will be sorry you kept in your tank. They multiply like crazy and eventually will over run the tank.

[Damon]

Have you read up on keeping a sw tank?

[DreamCatcher87]

yes i have read up....I have read saltwater aquariums for dummies, done plenty of research. I plan to minor in marine biology as well as one of my best friends is a registered marine biologist and my other best friend works at a lfs.

the only reason i have the aptasia is because they add some life to my tank, my tank looks dead during the day because the eel doesnt come out, she hides, and i have been warned against putting another fish in my tank that could be flashy such as a small trigger or lionfish. they dont multiply bad i have had them on one rock in my tank for over 6 months now and i started with one and all this time now i only have 2. they dont tend to reproduce too much in my tank because if they did, my hermit crabs would eat them.

[vvolfe1]

Originally Posted by Osiris

Also, only certain strains of Xenia pulse, not all Xenia pulses, but Xenia is a touchy coral, saying goes, it either loves you or hates you, meaning it will die off right away or take off lol

Mine must hate me it took off like a weed. About once a month I need to get rid of some and I'm running out of people that will take it.

[Damon]

Hermit crabs eating aptasia? Dont think so. And they can move so dont think just because you dont see them they are not there.

[CollegeReefer]

DreamCatcher,

I would read up on some of the things you are adding to your tank. Aptasia is a pest and is a pain to get out of the tank. Has damon said, hermits crabs do not eat it. There are very few things that do eat it. Peperment shrimp are one of them, and sometimes they won't even take care of it.

As for your lights, you should find out what they are. Just so you know.

As for adding other fish. If you had larger fish in the tank that would be ok, but seeing that you have your eel in a 29 gallon, there really aren't any larger fish you can keep. A trigor or lion fish would be to big for your tank, but you already know that because we told you before.

But really you need to start reading more about this hobby and about marine fish in general, especially if you want to study marine biology. You will find out within the first day of reading why things went the way they did in your tank. You will find out quickly how to treat all your fish and inverts. You will find out there needs and make sure you take care of those needs. I hope that if you do study marine biology, you will show more respect to the the fish and inverts then you do now.