Adding pulsing xenia to my new tank

[Unitylover]

The red algae is macroalgae, means people want it. I dont know what its called though

 

[Sharkbait19]

Looks like dragons breath which is a very nice macro and glows under blues.
Zoas are a very attractive coral as well once they open up. They are very colorful.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

Looks great! that red algae looks like some red dragon macroalgae, it will be great for nutrient removal and looks pretty cool to.

 

[My lil Booger's tank]

Hey guys,

I am new to the salt water reefing world and I currently have an evo 13.5 gallon that has been stocked with 2 clownfish. The fish have been thriving for about 2 months now. I am starting to have a little bit of this brown algae forming in the tank but I think it stopped spreading. I really really want to add Pulsing Xenia, but I dont know if my tank is even ready. I don't have a proteins skimmer but I do 2 gallon water changes every Saturday. Would it be ok to add a single frag of Pulsing Xenia or should I just keep waiting?

I am new to this as well. The best advice i can give is watch your tank like you would if you had a new born child. It will tell you what you want to no. Also dont try to micro manage your tank just let it do what it dose and do your best to enjoy the ride that is a reef tank. Your coral will also tell you if its time or if they need to be rehomed as well. I honestly do not see where pulsing Xenia will give you any problems other than growing like a weed. they may tick you off and noy pulse for you like they did in the store but keep in mind store tanks are 9 times out of 10 well established if they are keeping frags in them. Patients is a great thing to have in this hobby. find a recliner and set it up close to your tank. lol

 

[gibec]

if you have brown diatoms and fish already living in them, its more than likely you can starting putting corals. Of course if correct water parameters are in check, but even then... your probably okay with adding corals. xenia dont die from my experience.

 

[Richard1999]

Looks like dragons breath which is a very nice macro and glows under blues.
Zoas are a very attractive coral as well once they open up. They are very colorful.

Yah they were amazing at the store but I noticed that they open up and close depending on if the light is on. Is the fluval evo 13.5 gallon stock light is good? I currently am gonna start giving them 10 hours of blue light and maybe 1 hour of white light but idk if that’s enough light of way to much light.

 

[Unitylover]

im pretty sure corals dont need whites. white light is just algae food.

 

[Richard1999]

im pretty sure corals dont need whites. white light is just algae food.

Yah I think so to, the dude at the fish store recommended to me 6 snails which I bought after he said that my tank had brown algae

 

[Unitylover]

brown algae doesnt grow with white light, it mainly uses silica and toxins

 

[Sharkbait19]

Algae needs light to grow - it just also needs certain nutrient levels to thrive.
I prefer how my tanks look on whites, so I run that mostly. I have my lights on 12 hours a day.
Corals will not open without light, as they need to photosynthesize for food.
The stock light is fine - you can grow most corals on it but it isn’t the most pleasing to look at.

 

[Richard1999]

Algae needs light to grow - it just also needs certain nutrient levels to thrive.
I prefer how my tanks look on whites, so I run that mostly. I have my lights on 12 hours a day.
Corals will not open without light, as they need to photosynthesize for food.
The stock light is fine - you can grow most corals on it but it isn’t the most pleasing to look at.

Will blue light be just as good as white light? Since I really like how the zoas look under it. And yah I have snails and that red algae plant thing that supposed to remove bad stuff from the water

 

[Unitylover]

corals need blue light to grow. some can grow under white light, but not as good as blues.

 

[Richard1999]

corals need blue light to grow. some can grow under white light, but not as good as blues.

Ok sweet bro I am very nervous about this since it’s my first salt water tank and I dropped nearly 1500 dollars already on this protect

 

[Sharkbait19]

Will blue light be just as good as white light? Since I really like how the zoas look under it. And yah I have snails and that red algae plant thing that supposed to remove bad stuff from the water

They should grow fine - I’ve just always found the blues on the fluval to be too blue to see anything but corals.

 

[Richard1999]

They should grow fine - I’ve just always found the blues on the fluval to be too blue to see anything but corals.

Oh for sure, sadly tho my clownfish don’t seem to care about the corals and but maybe they are just small rn my turbo snail tho been climbing all over the coral which idk if that’s good or bad

 

[Sharkbait19]

Oh for sure, sadly tho my clownfish don’t seem to care about the corals and but maybe they are just small rn my turbo snail tho been climbing all over the coral which idk if that’s good or bad

Turbo is just looking for algae - nothing to worry about
Clowns might live in zoas but more often they like something with a bit of a sting like a euphilia or ideally a nem.

 

[Richard1999]

Here’s the corals when they are opened, they don’t look as colorful as they were at the fish store should I be concerned or are they still just getting adjusted to the new environment?

 

[Unitylover]

They're probable adjusting to your lights

 

[Richard1999]

They're probable adjusting to your lights

ah yes! Just wondering should I still vacuum sand each time I do a water change if I have snails which will eat all the poop and left over food in the sand? Sorry for all the noob questions. Just really wanna take care of these amazing creatures!

 

[davidcalgary29]

ah yes! Just wondering should I still vacuum sand each time I do a water change if I have snails which will eat all the poop and left over food in the sand? Sorry for all the noob questions. Just really wanna take care of these amazing creatures!

Get a sand-sifting conch. It'll take care of your sand bed for you.

Don't be disheartened if your xenia doesn't respond well in your Evo without a little fiddling and adjusting. Xenia loves to be blown around, and the Evo stock equipment doesn't give the tank a lot of flow. I'd get a small powerhead if you find flow to be insufficient.

I'm having some difficulty in keeping this coral myself in my Evo with stock lighting. I think it's just too bright, or perhaps has the wrong spectrum for it. I have an out-of-control Xenia problem in one tank with broken lighting, and it's doing well (maybe a little too well) in another tank with cheap lighting off of Amazon, so it may just prefer lower PAR.