Anyone else have "xenia blue anthalae"?

[mistermikev]

Howdy,
after a long time love for xenia, I finally purchased one. I paid way too much but hey, it was blue and xenia. I'm not sure of the scientific name, but this xenia is an electric looking blue. Very pretty. Anyway, it looked a little sickly at the pet store but I bought it anyway thinking I would nurse it back to health. I put it in my tank and it started looking great. I had read up on xenia and found several sources recommending iodide or another source of iodine. It looked like it was doing great, then it "crashed" (typical, I know). Well, I did some things to get my average temp lower and it seemed to come back. Still, no grasping of the hands - the whole reason I wanted one. NOTE: even in the store it never did the hand grasping thing. Meanwhile I found a small amount of some silver bar xenia for $10, and this one was doing the hand thing. So I bring it home and put it in and a day or so later its doing the hand thing. My blue one never does it. My q is: anyone else have "xenia blue anthalae" and does this particular species ever "do the hand thing"?

[sihaya]

Still, no grasping of the hands - the whole reason I wanted one. NOTE: even in the store it never did the hand grasping thing. ... and a day or so later its doing the hand thing.

We call that "pulsing." And it's a mystery to hobbyists and scientists alike. No one knows why it happens or why it stops or starts up again.

Lucky you though... I think most hobbyists would testify that the pulsing doesn't usually come back after it stops.

[mistermikev]

Yeah, pulse coral I know. I think you may have misunderstood, my blue anthalae has never pulsed but it looks real healthy. It has short stalks and just sways in the water. My silver bar xenia pulses like mad. I am begining to think that this species (blue anthalae) doesn't typically pulse and was wondering if anyone else has had this experience with blue anthalae xenia. thanks for your answer though.

[sihaya]

Oh, my bad, sorry. Can you post a picture of the "blue anthalae xenia?" I'm curious to see what it looks like now.

[mistermikev]

I will post one when I get home tonight. Yes, it is very beautiful. Extremely blue. (I like blue!)

[mistermikev]

Just a side note re "no one knows why it pulses"... how odd it is that there are so many people who swear it is bcause of this or that. I have heard "for water flow", "to get nutrients", "bcuz of good light", "bcuz of not enough light"... my personal experience would lean towards water flow, but not just water more = better... the exact right amount.

[mistermikev]

well, here is my blue xenia. Not a great pic though. I need to figure out how to set up my kodac for the reef. Never get the color I see when I look in there. anywho, try to look past my macroalgae... I have been painting things and cant reach in my tank to clean it right now!

[Mr.Firemouth]

My blue xenia does not pulse.
Here is your pic and my pic...

[mistermikev]

Looks very similar excepet yours seems to have longer stalks(no pun intended). Probably a difference in water flow where it developed. The siver bar xenia in the background pulses like madd. Did you buy yours because of the pulse or the color?

[sihaya]

Oh weird... it almost looks dyed.

[mistermikev]

Yeah, took me all night and a whole box of crayons to get it that color... LOL.
It is weird though. If you see it in my reef as opposed to a camera view it looks very blue. It alsmost looks "electric". Unusual stuff but that is what I like about it.

[sihaya]

Oh, I don't think it's actually dyed... I'm just saying it looks that bizarre. I bet it looks pretty wild under actinics too.

[mistermikev]

I know you don't think that. I was just kidding. these text responses are so difficult. I am sure I come off like a smarta%$ half the time.
AFA actinics... I have a 400w mh at 20000k and one of my vho tubes is actinic as well. But believe it or not it didn't look that great until I changed one vho tube from actinic to 10000k.

[sihaya]

But believe it or not it didn't look that great until I changed one vho tube from actinic to 10000k.

lol That just makes it more weird!

Speaking of weird... you ever had coralline algae that glows under actinics? I have a little of it here and there and it is sooooo cool.

[mistermikev]

Well, I do have some pink/orange stuff that looks really cool under actinic, but I don't have a pure actinic stage now that I changed a bulb. In my new tank I will... maybe even std flourescents... they are the shiznit as far as glow goes. Take a pic when you have time... I'd love to see it.

[Minh Nguyen]

It is not pulsing because it is not in genus Xenia, but Anthelia. You can see that each polyp have it's own stalk, while Xenia have lots of polyp on the same stalk. Anthelia sp does not pulse like Xenia sp.

[kevinpo]

It is not pulsing because it is not in genus Xenia, but Anthelia.

Several of the Xenia species will stop pulsing if the alkalinity is too high or too low. 1.92 meq/L is too low and 5.40 meq/L is too high, so it does have a pretty wide range. I have never seen Anthelia pulse but I have only seen 3 different species. Besides the blue Anthelia the other ones are tan or brown that I have seen. Unlike Xenia it can be rather aggressive when it makes contact with other corals.

Regards,
Kevin

[mistermikev]

hey mihn, good call. it does have a stalk per polyp. why the heck do they call it xenia blue anthelia then? kinda missleading if it is not actually xenia. either way it's blue and I love it but...
kevinpro, thanks for the ph observation, however I have a silver bar xenia in the same tank and it is pulsing like madd. You have kind of reinforced my suspicions that ph might have a lot to do with it being healthy. My ph tested a little low when the xenia wasn't doing as well. I started adding buffer to supplement my calcium additions and consequently my xenia started doing better. anywho

[kevinpo]

thanks for the ph observation

I was referring to alkalinity not PH they are very different things and don't have much to do with each other. You can have high PH and low alkalinity and low PH and high alkalinity.
PH is the measure of how acidic or alkaline something is. Alkalinity is the measure of carbonate hardness or the ability to resist changes in PH. High alkalinity gives the water the ability to absorb acid without changing the PH.

On my wholesale list it is called Blue Anthelia. There is a rare species of Xenia that is blue so sometimes people like to attach the name to other corals

Regards,
Kevin

[mistermikev]

Yes, yes, I am aware that they are different things but closely related, my bad. I still am not at all convinced that you alone have solved the mystery as to why xenia pulses or not. I have read a thousand opinions on the matter and the most reputable ones say that no one knows for sure. None the less I am not expecting this anthalae to start pulsing... based on the fact that the silver bar xenia sitting right next to it pulses like madd. I do believe you when you say they are a dif species though as my early intuitions were going in that direction. I noticed right off the bat that the stalks of this guy were not grouped together like the xenia I was familiar with. Guess I will have to read up on anthalae now. thanks