Does the frequency that Xenia pulsates mean anything?

[Gibbous]

I've got some beautiful pinkish xenia in my tank that seems to be doing very well, but it opens and closes pretty quickly and I am curious if that indicates anything about the tank conditions or the health of the coral itself. The little fronds will rarely stay open for even a second before they start closing again. I can't help but think that this nearly constant movement would take up a lot of energy, but it's still producing new growth so it must not be hurting for energy either.

Supposedly there is a forumula where you can determine tell the air temperature by the rate a cricket chirps, and while I wouldn't expect anything quite like that I can't help but wonder what meaning might be hidden in the periodic movement of this particular part of the natural world. So does anyone know if this means anything, or is it just random?

 

[fsn77]

I have heard a few theories about why Xenia pulses, but unless something has changed that I'm not aware of, there's little or no scientific evidence that explains the reasons why it pulses a certain way. Most of what I've heard has to do with the potential movement of water in/around the coral and removal of waste. I suppose that makes sense, but I haven't heard anything definitive. Maybe Ace or Amphi has heard something more telling.

Honestly, I've had Xenia that never pulsed (unless it was only during the middle of the night) in one location in a tank start pulsing quite a bit when I moved it to a different location in the same tank. I've had it pulse in low flow and higher flow, as well as having it not pulse in either. Same for lighting.

If I had to guess, it's probably not random. It would seem that there really is some reason behind it.

 

[Ace25]

there's little or no scientific evidence that explains the reasons why it pulses a certain way.

That is still the last I know on the subject as well.. no one really knows the answer as to "why" but from my limited experience with xenia, the lower the flow and higher the nutrient levels appear to make them pulse more often. It was one of my first corals, pom-pom xenias, and they took over my tank and looked great until a heatwave took out my tank one hot summer. Only had one small frag after that in my current tank and I noticed it being a high flow/low nutrient tank the xenia didn't really pulse at all that I could notice.

 

[Amphiprion]

The last I heard, the primary considered reason was simply to move water across the surface of the polyps. The need for this can obviously be stimulated by a number of different factors, meaning that they can pulse for many different reasons.

 

[Gibbous]

Thanks for the responses, I was thinking along the same lines that flow and nutrient levels might affect it. I guess it's a pretty mysterious thing, I'm going to pay a little more attention to it and see if it behaves differently after a water change or if I redirect some waterflow closer to it.

Thanks again...

 

[jenniferroman]

i have pom pom xenias too and i too agree that if you put them in low water flow they will pump more. and if you put them in high water flow they won't pump hardly. like i have mine right now in a spot that has pretty strong water flow and they hardly pump they just wave back and forth