A Jar of Xenia

[Vaideen]

It's not really a jar of Xenia yet, more just a jar WITH Xenia, which is why I was contemplating posting this thread once the Xenia has taken over the jar, plus it would be pretty embarrassing if the Xenia decided to die on me before it could become a jar OF Xenia,

 

I started this pico a couple months ago, and it's been going ok ever since. Well, by ok, I mean the Xenia isn't dead, and it's standing and waving, but no pulsing. I got the water tested at my LFS, and all the parameters are good, except the pH, which is a little low, at 8.0. I responded by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to raise the pH. On several occasions, the Xenia has fully retracted and/or just drooped, but right now, the Xenia looks fine, except for the part where it doesn't pulse. At least it's still alive . For lighting, I have an actinic blue LED and an 8LED white clip light (the rubber bit gave me an electric shock ). The Xenia seems happy with the white LEDs, I'll try how it responds to the blue LEDs tomorrow. The jar receives weekly 100% WCs of either NSW, store bought RO and salt, or store bought saltwater. The jar is heated by a 10w Betta Heater, preset to 25 degrees (77 Fahrenheit). Aeration is achieved with an airstone, and evaporation is controlled by a plastic tray.

The tank has two small, locally caught crayfish that surprisingly do not fight. Incredibly, the crayfish seem pretty much bulletproof, they survived an accident when I forgot to mix in the salt and added straight up RO water to the tank and left it for a few hours before I realised my mistake and added the salt (the live rock didn't survive, so I got new live rock).

The sand also appears to have some worms, so it's good to see that the sand bed is alive.

 

The blue LED is pretty damn blue, lol.

The blue LED itself

 

 

 

 

[Christopher Marks]

Interesting little jar @Vaideen! Do you have any close up shots of the crayfish?

 

Have you verified the water temperature lately? Sometimes those little heaters overdo it on small volumes, even the betta fish ones.

[Vaideen]

Thanks! I don't have any pictures, I'll try to snap some but they're always hiding under the live rock lol. They are getting a bit big, so putting them in might not have been the best idea. Once I get my 10g set up, I'll put the crays in there and put a couple of sexy shrimp in the jar, but for the moment, the crays seem to be doing alright in the jar.

 

I don't have a thermometer (well I do, but it doesn't work any), so I'll need to get a new one, be it digital or mercury. I think 10w is a suitable amount for a one gallon jar.

[Vaideen]

When the Xenia is happy, it'll be standing and pink, but sometimes, like tonight, the Xenia won't be very happy, it'll be kinda grey and droopy. Of course, it'll usually recover but there's always the fear that it might not recover. What could be the causes?

[youincolor]

Wild swings in every parameter imaginable would be my guess 

 

Temp swings, ph swings, salinity swings, kh swings, calcium swings, lack of water movement, and the fact that xenia sucks in general contribute to it drooping over like that. Pico tanks are super hard to keep consistent, but it's cool you are going for it. Excited to see a whole jar of xenia some day.

[Vaideen]

I wouldn't be surprised if the tank were experiencing swings, might not have been a great idea to put the jar outside....

 

I'll put it inside when I get a new air pump, the old one failed and the only other air pump is outside and running another tank's sponge filter.

[JBM]

you could always keep it inside with a really long airline tubing hose.

[Vaideen]

Haha I could, but it wouldn't be very practical, plus I don't know if my air pump is strong enough for that. For now, it'll have to hang in there (it's still quite droopy and shrivelled unfortunately), until I get a new air pump.

[Vaideen]

Ok, bit of an update. I've redone the rock work and relocated the crayfish to a large container. Part of a Xenia has melted, but another part has recovered, albeit still closed up. Interestingly, there's a bit of Xenia on the other side of the rock, and it looks far healthier and happier. It's nice and reddish, opened up too, though no pulsing yet.

 

Dunno what that thing is (the grey, kinda folded thing in the live rock, right below the bit of red algae), but it appears to be alive, and slides back into the live rock whenever I shine light on it.

[MainelyReefer]

Xenia will die without flow as will all corals, get an air pump

[Vaideen]

I have an air pump, look in the second pic, you can see the bubbles.