Why xenia pulse

Due to these defensive componds, Xenia are very smelly when handled out of the water e. Xenia do have some predators though, including various nudbranchs sea slugs that specialize on eating soft corals.

Some of these are even camouflaged by appendages resembling the Xenia polyps they eat and live among. Apparently these nudibranchs are unharmed by Xenia 's toxins. The Xenia - nudbranch situation is analogous to the interactions between terrestrial plants and the herbivorous insects that feed on them. Because of the pulsation, the ratio between photosynthesis to respiration in this Xenia is the highest ever measured in stony and non-pulsating soft corals.

We know corals rely on water flow to deliver nutrients and organisms also alter the flow around them as well. By studying the flow around Xenia colonies, the team used an underwater measuring device called PIV particle imaging velocimetry. This allowed the team to record highly accurate measurements of the flow field around the Xenia in their natural habitat at night.

Through the data provided, the team discovered the motion of the polyps sweeps water up and away from the coral tissues and into the surrounding water. Despite this, the overall result for the colony is significantly enhanced flow that helps reduce the chance of refiltering the same water.

The zooxanthellae in corals requires CO2 during the day and oxygen at night as well as other nutrients like phosphate and nitrogen all day. The good thing to know is that just because it's not pulsing doesn't necessarily mean that they are on the decline health wise. You'll usually read that natural seawater levels of iodine 0. The xenia species you see in your local reef store are usually captively propagated or aquacultured.

However, even given their relatively quick growth rates, Pulsing Xenia can still be expensive to acquire.

One idea for getting some of the more expensive corals is to join a local aquarium or reef club. These clubs usually have frag swaps where you can trade or buy corals from club members inexpensively.

A word of caution is worth noting here. Some xenia corals can release chemicals that are thought to cause "significant damage to stony corals" E. Borneman, Aquarium Corals. Given this information, you may want to reconsider keeping them in your tank if you also keep stony corals.

Life span : These corals are believed to live anywhere from 5 - 10 years in the wild. Minimum recommended lighting levels would be power compacts in tanks with standard depth 24 inches with the Xenia placed in the top half of the tank. He has kept freshwater tanks, ponds, and reef tanks for over 25 years. His site was created to share his knowledge and unique teaching style on a larger scale.

He has worked on making aquarium and pond keeping approachable. Mark has been featured in two books about aquarium keeping - both best sellers on Amazon. Each year, he continues to help his readers and clients with knowledge, professional builds, and troubleshooting.

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