Water change causing Xenias to retracte

[Roxanne]

Well, I have added a pulsing Xenia at the beginning of the week and was doing nicely.  Did a water change about an hour ago and it retracted...  Is this normal?  This is my first coral and still new at all of this so not sure...

[Darth]

Yes the coral may retract for a bit just give it time I had a colt coral that shrank for almost a week then came back give it a few days

[JetJumper]

Roxanne, Xenia like dirty water.  They thrive in it so you just took away what it wants.  It will get used to being in clean water but will take a bit of time.  Nothing to be alarmed about yet.  Its a neat coral eh?

[Salt Disney]

How far can I take this advice?

I have a xenia that was decimated by pest crabs (nasty hitchhikers I have since removed). It is slowly growing back. My biggest piece grew from three polyps to about a dozen, but that's still pretty tiny. Can I move a frag of it too a separate tank and fill that tank with waste water?  ...then continue to replenish every time I do a water change?

I'm losing patience on this little guy. If I could grow a bigger culture the slow growth in my display tank would be a good thing.

[NanoSF]

Two possible things in my opinion. First corals and fish never like water changes initially. You can do your best to replicate temp and salinity, but the PH is probably going to be different among other things. Once they get over the dramatic changes they enjoy the positives the water changes bring. That is why you don't want to change more than 10% unless there are problems.

Also, good water change habits are important (not that I am assuming you are not already doing this but just in case). Add your water to a bucket first, turn on the powerhead for flow for a bit before adding the salt, add the salt, come back 10 minutes or so later and measure the salinity, adjust the salt level (remembering that it will continue to dissolve for the next bunch of hours), then leave it for 8 hours minimum. I leave mine for 24 hours usually. I also change my water at the end of the lighting cycle. The PH in the tank is still high so as to match the newly mixed water better, but the lights are out so things can adjust to the new water in the dark (less stress).

Two, corals seem to go through a honeymoon phase. You can get a coral and all seems to be doing well then they retract for a while or look less than healthy. Sometimes this happens as soon as you put it in the tank, but often it happens after it's first stress (like a water change, something touching it) I find this especially happens with Zoanthids. I put them in the tank and they open up for a day or two. Then they close up for a week or so. Then back to open once they adjust. Maybe the Xenias are reacting this way.

As far as "dirty water" goes. That is a tough one. Yes I have heard this too, but many people have Xenias thriving in the most pristine conditions. My understanding is that they like higher nitrates. However, I would not attempt to let your nitrates go for the sake of the Xenias. Your tank, being small will probably always have some nitrates. I wouldn't worry about keeping them up. Too many other things will suffer.

[NanoSF]

Can I move a frag of it too a separate tank and fill that tank with waste water?  ...then continue to replenish every time I do a water change?

I don't think you are going to see as rapid an increase in growth as you would hope. Add the fact that it will suffer and stunt the growth from both transfers (to the tank using water change waste water, and then back to the main tank) I don't think it is that useful. Plus changing water not only reduces any nitrate build up, but it also replenishes trace elements. Not sure the science of every little thing the Xenias need but I'm guessing it won't work too well. Just my guess though, you can always experiment, and then let the rest of us know.

[Roxanne]

Thanks to everyone for the info.  Xenia is fully extended this morning, so I guess it was just the stress of the water change.   I guess it will need to adjust as I do these every Friday using battled water that I mix 24 to 48 hours before.  As for the toadstool and candy cane, well they did not seem to mind this change and even noticed that the candy cane is now puffier and extended a bunch of tentacles.  Yeah I know I am new to this and everything is just SO amazing to watch!

[Darth]

trust me you are going to be spending countless hours in front of the tank staring into it your family will think your wierd after a while, but it is so much fun!!!

[NanoSF]

I love candy cane for that. My candy cane is my water tester. If it starts to look off a bit, it's time to get out the test kits and see what's going on.

[CanadaReef]

What are your parameters?

[rush]

I have a pulsing Xiena that I added to my 120g about 2 weeks ago. For the first couple days he was somewhat retracted. Now he is open and pulsing like crazy and has almost doubled in size already. Had about 20 heads when I first put him in , now is to about 40. I took pics and a video of my tank last night, I will post up tonight when I get home.