To Xenia or not to Xenia, that is the "?"

[Dingo Dog]

I'm having trouble deciding whether or not to add pulsing Xenia to my reef tank. I keep reading people saying they wish they'd never added to their tank because it tends to spread throughout the tank and it hard to remove.

I think it's an attractive coral but don't want to end up kicking myself later.

Please help!

[str8clownr]

ya thats only a problem if you can even get it to survive.... ive had mixed results with xenia, some craps out immediately, some lives, and i still havent had any of it thrive

try it out, if it starts growing too rapidly, frag off and make $$$

[James77]

It can spread through the tank if you let it- it won't happen overnight. I let most of mine grow on the overflows/glass where it was easy to scrape off.

[fatdaddy]

Originally posted by str8clownr
ya thats only a problem if you can even get it to survive....

LOL. Exactly what I was thinking. I'm having the same problem in my display tank with MH lighting. It dies out within days, but it seems to grow find in my QT tank with compact fluorescents. It's the same water and I didn't notice any fish nipping at it. So, it must be lighting or current.

[vessxpress1]

I've grown lots of it under my T-5s. I can grow roughly a 4 x 5 inch cluster of it in about 3 to 4 months. I've made hundreds on the stuff and even had to just get rid of some of it. I traded my original colony of it back in last year.

I say go ahead and get it. Some types look better than others IMO. You can keep it isolated on the bottom.

If you throw a frag into your rock work with everything else, you're just begging it to take over the tank. It's that simple and that's exactly what I did before I realized how fast it can grow.

Keep it on the sand bed, or where ever you want it to grow. I keep mine on the bottom and put small rocks around it for it to grow on to so I can trade the stuff in. It's easy in-store credit every few months and I always have some on hand that way if somebody wants some.

[davidryder]

Xenia are very easy to keep with decent water parameters... the problem IMO is that they aren't guaranteed to pulse... and I haven't read anything that has determined why some pulse and some don't.

[theatrus]

Its great to trade, and my clowns love it. To be honest, its very easy to remove from the tank, just slip your fingernail under the stalk and peel. It can move and crawl (well, blob is more like it) everywhere, but again easy to contain. Nowhere near as hard to remove as green star polyps which require much scrubing, flamethrowers, etc.

[finsurgeon]

I made a shelf out of a piece of flat shale rock, then drilled holes through the four corners and tied a piece of fishing line onto each hole and then onto the holes of my overflow box, creating a hanging shelf at the back of my tank. I put a stem of Dr Foster/Smith Red Sea White pom-pom xenia (certified aquacultured) on the shelf. After a couple weeks it split. After a few months it was on most of the shelf, then onto the back wall and up to the overflow (exactly where I wanted it) It spreads across and up, but never has if spread down or off the shelf. I can place a few small rocks on the shelf, and 10 days later I have 3-5 stalks per small rock, each rock worth nearly $20 credit. They need heavy iodine, mild flow (in my case the constant upward current may have kept them isolated), some form of filter food (zooplankton, rotifers, ?phyto), at least midrange salinity, and to be kept close enough to the surface so the stalks stay short and pump with vitality. My water stays "nutrient rich" due to the 30 fish as well.

[Joe LoPresti]

I agree with Theatrus, my clown loves to host it and as far as I'm concerned, it's an easy coral to "give back" to the community. I know a lot of people don'y like the stuff, but I guess Xenia just has a special place in my heart. It's been one of the few corals that I have been able to propagate enough to "share the wealth" with others!!

[barjam]

Just put it high on a rock, it (in general) won't grow down just up. It is also very easy to peel of a rock, I consider it a form of nutrient export.

[Lugnut]

I hate the stuff - I am constantly picking it off of everything in the tank. I have so much I can't give it away. In my tank it is a weed I wish I had never introduced.

[lvreefer]

I vote NOT, unless you use it in a fuge for nutrient export.

[drummereef]

If you like it, why not? I love my Silver Tip Xenia. I keep it on a seperate rock island for easy fragging.

[38bill]

I have found that I can keep mine in check by forming a rock "wall" around it. The wall doesnt have to be tall, just slightly higher than the surounding rock work so the Xenia has to climb over it. After the Xenia attaches just remove the rock and trade, sell or dispose of it. I have also been able to control the direction of growth by adjusting the flow of water to push the Xenia in the direction I want it to grow.

[ahullsb]

I'm giving mine back today. Can't take it anymore. It gets EVERYWHERE. I will still have a little in various places anyway. I'd try something else.