Heteroxenia sp.

HETEROXENIA

Heteroxenia corals, often referred to as xenia or pulsing xenia, have long stalks with feathery pinnate tentacles that pulse in the water column. They have 18 recognized species within their genus and are photosynthetic. Xenia corals come in a variety of sizes and colors, the most common in the hobby are generally pink/purple!

They feed through small polyps on their branches and are known to be easy to care for corals.

WATER CHEMISTRY

Heteroxenia are fairly forgiving when it comes to water chemistry. It makes it a good coral for beginners so long as they give them proper flow and light. We have found they even tend to prefer dirtier waters. While we have our preferred parameters for Alkalinity, Phosphate, and Nitrate, Heteroxenia will do far better in your system if you just focus on keeping the water chemistry stable. If your Alkalinity, Phosphate, or Nitrate is out of line, our recommendation is to get it back to your target levels as slowly as possible.

The parameters we aim for are:

It’s important to understand that these are the levels that we aim for in our systems. However, that doesn’t mean they are the right levels for your system. All aquariums are different and your system may naturally fall on a different balance. You’re better off working with the balance your system tends towards than trying to force the same levels that we run.

FLOW

In terms of flow Heteroxenia corals will need to be kept in a low – moderate flow area. You will know you have the right flow when the colony’s branches are stirring slightly, they will have a similar flow and look like goniopora. Polyp extension is also important to look out for as if there is too much flow when there is no polyp extension and detritus builds up with too little.

LIGHTING

Heteroxenia are photosynthetic which means they require low – moderate. They tend to be happiest with moderate lighting. As with many corals, too much light can cause discoloration and receding flesh. As weve mentioned before, these coral can be trained for higher PAR, but if this is your wish we recommend doing it slowly as the potential for bleaching is high.