Setup of 2.5 AGA

[PhatSOB]

nice looking setup, looks a lot like mine, see sig

[rleon3003]

That looks very nice. I like the white. it looks like a show tank.

[RyanCD]

Thank you both very much! I am very happy with it so far, but still need to work out flow without having a big old pump in there...

I am very surprised though at how well it stays at a steady temp and doesn't over heat. My heater is set at 79 F and it stays at 80 F. The only thing I do not like (besides the pump) is how fast water evaporates with the cover on and the three lights. I add about 2-2 1/2 cups of water a day. I foresee big problems when I go on vacation!

[RyanCD]

Yay! Tonight I added my very first piece of coral ever! Xenia! After doing a google search I decided it is xenia elongata. It is purple and oh so pretty and I got if for a steal at $10! Anyway I would post pics except my moon light is on so I will tomorrow. Just wanted to share my exciting news! Now I am an office pico REEF keeper!

[PhatSOB]

grats on the coral, hope it does well for you.

 

2.5 cups is a lot of evap for one day, my 1.6g has 1 cup a day and it is in my overflow so I need to top off daily or there will be no waterflow the following day when the filter starts trying to pump air.

[RyanCD]

Here is a picture of the xenia I got on Sunday evening. Yesterday it looked wonderful but today it looks like it split into two stalks but connected still at the base and it's "hands" are starting to close up a bit.... should I be concerned??

 

Anyway, here are some pics from a few minutes ago:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RyanCD]

Anyone??

[mtfish]

I wouldn't worry. Mine 'curls up' nightly and has split several times. The split down the middle will continue until it is two xenia

[patrickross]

If you are still facing the dillema of having a pump in your tank, maybe you should consider a closed loop such as THIS

[RyanCD]

OK well that makes me feel better that your xenia closes up. It looks as if today one of the stalks shrunk down (there were two).

 

There is a pump in the tank right to the right of it that is pointed to the glass of the tank and bounces off so the xenia is in a moderate to high flow zone which I have read they like.

 

Patrickross thank you! That is awesome!

[RyanCD]

Help!

 

I came home tonight and my xenia is a lot smaller and both stalks look limp. One has even shrunk significantly! The "hands" are closed and look as if it is losing it's color as a whole.

 

Immediately checked water parameters as my last water change was 2 days ago and they are as follows:

ph 8.2

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 0

Ammonia 0

salinity 1.025

temp 79.1

 

There is a medium amount of flow on the xenia and it was starting to look as if it was getting hit pretty hard by the way it was moving so I turned down the pump but they are still in a medium flow. The xenia resides in the bottom half of the tank.

 

The lights run for 12 hours - 1 CoraLife screw in 10w 50/50 and 2 LOA 6500k's. After the 12 hour cycle the moon light is on for 10 hours then the tank gets 2 hours of natural light before the daytime tank lights come back on.

 

There is also a cleaning crew and perhaps one of those animals is upsetting it? I have 2 bumble bees, 3 Astreas, 3 Nassarius, 2 Scarlets, and 4 Blue Hermits.

 

Is there a different water test that I have not mentioned that should definitely be checked? Is my daytime running lights schedule too long??

 

This is my first piece of coral and my boyfriend and I have researched for a long time before I started any of this and then let it cycle for quite sometime. Now I feel like I am killing this coral and it didn't have a fair chance...

[mtfish]

Can you get a picture?

 

I have all the same inverts except the bumblebees and have no issue. Your param's look ok.

 

For reference, sometime my xenia in my tank is 6" top to bottom normally and when it 'curls up' or 'shrinks' it is like 2". Somtime's because of flow it will almost have stalks that look to be on there side. I bet your's is fine, just splitting and adjusting. I'd say keep it in the medium flow, mine didn't like direct flow.

[circusordie16]

you can probably cut your lighting down to 10 hours but i doubt thats the cause of your xenia problem.

[rleon3003]

i remember i had a small xenia in my 55g with good lighting and good flow and it died on me too. mine shrivelled up and looked crusty and it just moved behind the rock out of the lighting and i never saw it again. hope yours gets better.

[RyanCD]

Well this morning I looked at it and one of the stalks are completely gone. Just one now. When I first bought it the frag was about an inch and a half high. Now it is now more than an inch. My daytime running lights come on at 11. I will take a pic then and see what you all think. Thank you everyone.

[supahtim]

this sometimes happens. in my old tanks, i couldn't keep xenia at all. everytime i'd get a stalk or two, it would shrivel up right away and die. same with colt corals. hope this isn't the case for you.

 

good luck,

Tim

[mtfish]

That sucks. I was trying to be optimistic but things aren't looking good. I find it quite odd that it's having such a hard time, since mine is nearly indestructible. It get sucked into a powerhead or the AC intake all the time and even has a 'arm' sucked off and yet it spreads like a weed. ( a cool weed )

[RyanCD]

Here are some pics of it this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

See if you compare it to the pics I last posted you can clearly see it is now leaning on it's side horizontally and it is only one stalk and the stalk is now much skinnier and shorter...

 

It may just be that me and Xenia are just not meant to be

[RyanCD]

Yet another question....

 

Today I bought an AquaClear 50 that says for 20-50 gallons (formerly AquaClear 200). I want to turn it into a fuge which I have read so many of you have done to keep your heater's, chaeto and LR rubble. I just don't know how to do it with the 50. Seems like it might be too small... Searched Nano Reef for a step by step descriptive on modding it but can't find it on the AquaClear 50.

 

Has anyone seen an article somewhere that you can give me the link to please?? I would seriously appreciate it .

[RyanCD]

I put the Aquaclear 50 on the tank this afternoon without turning it into a fuge. I put the heater into it as well as the activated carbon and foam filter insert but chose not to put the BioMax insert in as I needed the room for the filter. The flow is turned on all the way and seems to be perfect. Maybe this stronger/better filtration will help the xenia.

 

Anyway, as it stands now, it is not looking to good... These pics are from 10 minutes ago and you can easily see that it looks straggly now and has declined from the pictures this morning

 

 

 

 

 

While at my LFS today I found a mushroom I could not resist for $2!! Here is a pic of that:

 

 

 

On a side note, the pictures make the tank look like the water is green but in person it is clear. Weird how it comes up like that .

[mtfish]

WOW that xenia took a dump. Too bad. The only thing I can think of is lighting, since you checked your params. What are you running for lighting again? Are you still using the LOA lights??? How many watts?

 

The Xenia is photosynthetic, so it would require decent lighting. I have read things that say "Requires moderate to strong lighting" so that could be the issue. My 10g with the xenia has a 80w orbit fixture over it.

 

If that isn't the problem I can't help you out sorry.

 

Cool mushroom, hope that works out better

What's all in the tank now?

[FUGU!!!]

I wish my LFS had cheap stuff.Try placing your xenia higher up.

[RyanCD]

For lighting I am running 2 LOA 6500k's and a coralife 50/50 10 watt. So maybe I just don't have enough lighting... Would yu put a MH on a 2.5 or is this a waste of money since they are so expensive???

 

FUGU, I am going to do that. Good idea. At least what is left of it . Oh well we will see.

 

Well the mushroom doubled in size when my moonlights went on last night! Is this normal? I shouldn't get to excited though because remember when I brought home my xenia it split into 2 stalks and now look at it!

[PhatSOB]

how many watts are the 6500k bulbs, you would definatly benefit from changeing them out and replacing them with the 50/50s. The higher spectrum in the 50/50s is more suited for corals

[RyanCD]

100watt each

 

PhatSOB, do you think I should still change them out? If so what watt 50/50's should I replace with. I already have 1 x 50/50 10watt right now in the hood as well as the 2 x 6500's. So I should just have 50/50's??