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Travis 
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 Topic: Xenia Question??
Posted: July 30 2004 at 5:49am |
Why do xenia's pulse?? I have read a few different opinions but is there a consensus on any one theory??
He's where the ?? came from. I have Xenia in my 110g that pulse rapidly. I have Xenia in my 55g that normally do not pulse but the Xenia I put into the refug of the 55g pulse slow but steady. I would have though the 55g would be more suitable for Xenia's because of a higher nutrient level. It seems lighting is playing a huge role... which I knew they loved the light but didn't realize it could effect the pulsing action?? any thoughts??
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jfinch
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 6:42am |
Personal opinion here... actually have no evidence to support it  . But I think they pulse to move water past them to exchange gasses. In with the CO2 (or HCO3) and out with the O2. I too have noticed that intense lighting helps in the pulsing action. Perhaps it's the additional photosynthesis going on under those lights that's causing it. Maybe xenia are not very good at gas exchange or evolved in really low flow areas in the ocean/reef and needed that additional pumping to keep photosynthesis charged up? But in the end, I don't really know.
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Travis
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 6:54am |
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Could be. I think the "pulsing action is related to gas exchange" has became the most popular opinion and it would make sense that more photosynthesis would require more gas exchange... interestng.
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ssilcox
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 7:30am |
Hmm. My xenia in my 75 dont hardly pulse at all, and they are under 500 watts of halide+VHO. My xenia I had in my 30 pulsed like mad and they were under 96 watts PC. Sorry to knock your theory around there. 
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Travis
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 8:02am |
Shane, did both tanks have the same (or similar) dKH??
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Suzy
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 8:19am |
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Our zenia pulsed under NO light. Now, under VHO, I can't tell the
difference!
But, I've always wondered HOW they pulse! They don't have muscle
tissue (or do they) and they don't have nerve innervation....Your heart
"pulses" because of both. How can this cluster of cells move? How can it
contract and release to make the rhythmic motion we see?
I might just Google that one day!
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ssilcox
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 8:58am |
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Travis - I wish I knew. My 30 was the first SW tank I had had at the time and I never tested anything beyond the basic four (ph, ammonia, 'ites and 'ates).
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vangvace
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 8:59am |
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Possibly in reaction to water flow? I noticed that mine went from slowly pumping to pulsing now.
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McGuire AFB, NJ
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Travis
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 9:07am |
Suzy, I'm not sure if it is known how they pulse but it is still unclear why they pulse.
Some theory's include gas exchange, expelling waste, feeding (old theory), lighting, alk levels, PH, temp, health, etc.
Edited by Travis
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clismi
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 10:44am |
From what I've read, I don't think anyone is certain why, how, or when xenias pulse.
That amazes me. Seems like there should be more research going on to answer such basic questions.
So why isn't there more research?
Maybe I need to set up 100 identical 100 gallon reef tanks and do some experiments. Anyone want to fund me?
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Clifford Smith
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 11:54am |
Here is a whole other theory. Xenia is reported to pulse more when you add iodine. Jake and I think it is good for the xenia, so we add iodine and make them pulse... but Borneman and Shimek told us they think it is a stress reaction and that we shouldn't add iodine because we are poisoning the xenia.
Hey Carl- maybe that is how you can kill your xenia.
Adam
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ssilcox
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 12:20pm |
 Adam Blundell wrote:
Hey Carl- maybe that is how you can kill your xenia.
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Kinda like Kalk injections for aiptasia... maybe we should try iodine injections in xenia. Hmm - interesting thought. 
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Travis
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 12:52pm |
I have read that iodine will help but I have watched mine run wild w/o any iodine being added (outside of what salt provides during water changes).
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jglover
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 2:05pm |
Mine pulsed like mad when I first set up my tanks now it has slowed quite a bit. I also have upgraded from 110W PC to 175MH with 110 PC so I would think it has more to do with nutrients then light.
Oh and I think no research has been done due to the cost vs benefit ratio.
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Crazy Tarzan
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 4:13pm |
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My xenia all pulse at different speeds. It grows all over in my tank and different spots pulse differently. Some are in different flow areas, some in shade etc. 29 gal with 175 w mh and 64 w actinic.
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Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ?
Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing
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BigBlue
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 11:09pm |
Suzy wrote:
But, I've always wondered HOW they pulse! They don't have
muscle tissue (or do they) and they don't have nerve
innervation....Your heart "pulses" because of both. How can this
cluster of cells move? How can it contract and release to make
the rhythmic motion we see?
I might just Google that one day! |
Suzy, if you're interested in this stuff you might be interested to
know that cardiac cells and muscle cells (myotubes) even in a
petri dish will pulse and contract without nerve innervation.
There seems to be some sort of built in pacemaker in the
cardiac cells that's not well defined. It's very cool to watch. The
contraction of muscle cells happens by a dystrophin/ myosin
associated protein complex localized on the cell membrane-
the same proteins that cause Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: July 30 2004 at 11:35pm |
I believe we have long figured that Xenia pulses by cell contraction, in fact as I watch it pulse, it seems like the physics of it point to cell contraction. The fact that one person finds it pulsing or not pulsing because of light and another because of iodine or other chemical additives also seems to point to cell contraction as a response to physical, chemical and light energy factors.
The perplexing thing to me is that so many variables, both internal and external, contribute to contraction/pulsing. As the kids of my friend said when they saw Xenia for the first time in his new tank. "It's scary. We're scared that it will crawl out of the tank and come get us in the middle of the night with those creepy little hands!" 
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Suzy
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Posted: July 31 2004 at 6:22am |
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I know there are pacemaker cells in our heart that contract at a much
slower rate then your actual pacemaker (when our patients expire, their
pacemaker cells make a beat ). So, if we conclude that these cells are
elongated muscle-type cells (cardiac is muscle) with some sort of internal
sodium-potassium pump thing (like our cardiac muscles cells), can we
theorize that it is the electrolytes/chemicals in the water that cause the
contraction?
Sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and others are critical
components in our cellular composition. We see patients die often
because of deficiencies or overload of critical electrolytes.
I bet it has something in its chemical structure that makes it's cells
contract. But, the original question, why it pulses, has to be gas
exchange......or nutrition....or light....
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