? about Pumping Xenia

[reefnut]

Do I need to acclimate my xenia to my tank? the reason I'm asking is because I have not had any luck with them. I have never acclimated them because I buy them from my LFS which is 15 min from my house, so I did not think I needed to according to my LFS guy.everything i have is doing great i just don't have any luck with these guys. could this be the problem? thks

 

[Cougra]

All animals should be acclimatized. Xenia is known as a delicate shipper and it doesn't tollerate changes in water chemistry very well at all. When acclimatizing it, check the water that it was in at the LFS and compare the water to your tank. The greater the difference the longer it should be acclimatized.

 

[adresher]

I have three sets of them and they are really great. They do spread and once you have them established they will go crazy. I have alway drip-lined mine and it seems to work great. It is worth the extra 30 minutes as not to loose something. Remeber even though the LFS claims to be experts..the ones near me are not..or should I say the people working there are not experts.

 

[JWarren]

Acclimate everything and you can eliminate that as a possibility for their failure. Xenia are not hard to keep, unless you are running super cold, all mine seem to like a warmer tank 79-82. I keep my iodine between .04 and .06. I can tell when my calcium starts to get low, they stop pulsing. I have had the best luck with them when I dose the tank with reef plus as well.

 

[reefnut]

Wow! their calcium tested at 280 ppm mine is at 490 ppm and their ph is at 8.6 mine is 8.2. No wonder i can't keep them alive. How long should i acclimate for?

 

[JWarren]

till the temp, is the same in the bag and the tank.

 

[Cougra]

I generally try to acclimatize for a minimum of one hour and if the SG is really different then about one hour for every 0.001 difference in SG.

 

[BoomerD]

till the temp, is the same in the bag and the tank.

There's MUCH more to it than just matching temps...you have to acclimate the corals to the new water chemistry as well...Depending on the "delicate nature" of the coral, I might do a drip-line acclimation, or I might float the bag, then add 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag every 10-15 minutes till the bag gets full, then dump about 1/2 of it out and do it again...and maybe again.
That is the MINIMUM acclimation I've done with fish, corals, anemones, etc., but the more delicate species always get the drip-line. If it's going to be a fairly long acclimation, I had a 25 watt heater I'd put in the bucket to keep the temp stable.

 

[BigAl07]

.... I buy them from my LFS which is 15 min from my house, so I did not think I needed to according to my LFS guy.....

Keep in mind that even though "LFS guy" may indeed be a good guy he's still in the business to make $$. The more you buy the more he makes. It could be a case of simple mis-information but I wouldn't trust ANY so called "Professional" who says you don't need to acclimate. Don't get me wrong, there are indeed "Some" things that I don't acclimate but that's from some personal experience and NOT something I would even appreciate a LFS mentioning. That's just a VERY bad practice and NOT how you retain clients and develop trust. I only drip acclimate when I acclimate. It's just easier for me that way.

There's MUCH more to it than just matching temps...you have to acclimate the corals to the new water chemistry as well...Depending on the "delicate nature" of the coral, I might do a drip-line acclimation, or I might float the bag, then add 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag every 10-15 minutes till the bag gets full, then dump about 1/2 of it out and do it again...and maybe again.
That is the MINIMUM acclimation I've done with fish, corals, anemones, etc., but the more delicate species always get the drip-line. If it's going to be a fairly long acclimation, I had a 25 watt heater I'd put in the bucket to keep the temp stable.

Dripping is the WAY to go

 

[JWarren]

Well, maybe I should have added a few more details. I add two tablespoons of tank water to the bag every 15 min. and check the temp with a digital thermo. I float the bag in the tank water for at least 1 1/2 hour minimum. Xenias, I let go for at least 2 hours adding two tblsp. of tank water every 15 min., before putting them in to the QT. Everything stays in the QT for at least 3 weeks.

Well, thats the way I do it.

 

[aquaman3680]

I personally do not acclimate any corals, other than some expensive SPS. I have never lost a coral due to the fact of not acclimating. As far as fish go, I will only acclimate fish that I know are delicate or disease prone ie- tangs, anthias etc. I also do acclimate any type of shrimp, clam, or anemone. Thats just me though. I do keep my parameters very similar to the store I work at though so that probably helps.

Matt

 

[JWarren]

Some folks are more hardcore than others. I got a buddy that will take his refractometer to the LFS. TA!

 

[reefnut]

i would have never thought that the parameters would have been that much off coming from the LFS. I got the Pumping Xenia and the little bubble coral acclimated in, so hopefully this one will make it. Thks for all your help

 

[naperenterprise]

Some folks are more hardcore than others. I got a buddy that will take his refractometer to the LFS. TA!

I'm a little like that:bluenod: