Xenia growth experiment.

usefulidiot213 · 02/01/2011, 10:08 AM

I thought I had gotten rid of all my Xenia, but I round this little Guy the other day. No idea how he got there, but it's isolated on this rock. I am going to track to see how fast it grows and multiples until it takes over the entire rock. I know this isn't ground breaking work, but it will entertain me for a while.
I am calling today day one.
[IMG]

[/IMG]

UberNoober · 02/01/2011, 11:27 AM

lol, wont be long if its anything like my experience with that crazy stuff!

usefulidiot213 · 02/01/2011, 12:16 PM

That's what I am expecting, but this time it's better controlled. The first time I had Xenia in my tank I put one stalk on one of my largest rocks, and at first thought it was cool how fast it grew. Then shortly realized I had an issue on my hands. This is about a medium size rock, and I have it by itself. I am thinking that it might be kinda cool to have a Xenia rock island.

dublo8 · 02/01/2011, 12:48 PM

Take this with as little offense as possible, but why on god's green earth would you want xenia in your tank after having an issue with it? It's kind of like me with my GSP. I knew it was a problem and I still put it in there now it's creeping over the SB to the other rock. There is a thread floating around here somewhere of somebody with an unintentional xenia dominated tank. LOL he had the same idea and now his entire tank is nothing but xenia, so dense you cant see anything but the xenia.

tcamos · 02/01/2011, 01:24 PM

Interesting experiemnt...xenia is one of those odd corals that grow like mad in one tank, and hardly at all in another. I've also found that pom pom and blue Xenia aren't quite as fast as thy typical "pulsing" Xenia.

usefulidiot213 · 02/01/2011, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dublo8

Take this with as little offense as possible, but why on god's green earth would you want xenia in your tank after having an issue with it? It's kind of like me with my GSP. I knew it was a problem and I still put it in there now it's creeping over the SB to the other rock. There is a thread floating around here somewhere of somebody with an unintentional xenia dominated tank. LOL he had the same idea and now his entire tank is nothing but xenia, so dense you cant see anything but the xenia.

No reason to be offended.
The reason I had an issue with Xenia before is because I didn't realize how fast it would grow and spread. So I put it on my largest rock, and first let it start to spread.
Now, I know to isolate it on it's own rock and if it does manage to jump I know how to kill it off.

In my opinion I don't believe Xenia is a bad looking Coral, and like mentioned before I think having a little Xenia island would be kinda cool. If I get sick of it or have a constant issue with it jumping. I will just sell Xenia island to somebody else.

tcamos · 02/01/2011, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usefulidiot213

In my opinion I don't believe Xenia is a bad looking Coral...

I think Xenia can be mesmerizing.

usefulidiot213 · 02/01/2011, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcamos

I think Xenia can be mesmerizing.

That's what I am saying.

I nice patch of pulsating Xenia swaying in the flow is good for your Zen..
It's kinda funny how some people refer to Xenia like its Aipitasia or Ick. I know from first hand experience that it can spread like wild fire if not prevented, but it's not hard to kill

, and I never had an issue with it killing off anything else.

tcamos · 02/01/2011, 02:37 PM

It's easy to kill. My BioCube had tons of it. I put a little frag in my other tank and removed it all from the cube so just the Blue and PomPom lives there.

But...I also like kenya trees, mushrooms, GSP, and blue clove, so go figure.

I like the part about being "good for your Zen".

revnobody · 02/01/2011, 04:56 PM

I too like blue clove, xenia, and GSP. I have all of the above in my tank. As long as your tank is well maintained and you keep an eye on them, you will have no problem keeping them under control.

dublo8 · 02/01/2011, 05:18 PM

Oh dont get me wrong, I love the way it looks and I like gsp as well. Just a pain in the butt. When one coral starts to invade on a colony of my favorite zoa's I will take matters into my own hand and get out the blow torch. I have a little colony of blue cloves and I have left them in my SB and they do just fine.

ReefinMadness89 · 02/01/2011, 05:39 PM

I have a euphyllia and a duncan that are by far outgrowing the xenia have sitting in one of my tanks. But I believe it is because of a picky blenny I have.

tcamos · 02/01/2011, 07:24 PM

Interesting. My duncan has been slow growing. It's healthy, but small still.

usefulidiot213 · 02/01/2011, 08:38 PM

I also think Xenia do much better in "dirty" tanks or tanks with high nutrients. My old 100gal was sumpless and I always had issues with high nutrients. I was always fighting off some algae outbreak. This is also the tank I had the out of control Xenia in it.
We will see, my current 120 is in much better shape. I am finally getting SPS to not only live, but grow. <--- that's a different post though.
This is another reason I wanted to do this half-tushed experiment. See if the Xenia would grow and spread as fast in a tank with low nutrients as fast as it did in a tank with high nutrients. Now I know there are way more variables going on, but it will still be interesting to see.
Another supporting case to Xenia loving dirty water is, I have a couple of friends in San Diego that like to put Xenia in their Fuge to help polish the water, and holy crap I have never seen Xenia grow so fast as it does in a fuge. In a matter of couple of weeks a couple of stocks would totally consume all available space.

tcamos · 02/01/2011, 08:49 PM

At one time I had seven tanks set up. Xenia would only grow in one of them, the BioCube. It did OK in a 20 gallon, but in my nanos (2x 2.5 gallon tanks, and 1x 5.5 gallon tank) it would not grow at all.

So I am interested to see. It grows slowly in my 50 gallon, but in the BioCube it still grows best. Heck, that tank is like a magic tank for me, anything seems to grow in it.

ynnhoj86 · 02/01/2011, 10:29 PM

this is my girlfriend's tank.

this is it in NOV

By ynnhoj86 at 2011-02-01

Now in Feb

By ynnhoj86 at 2011-02-01

like it killed almost all the kenya trees or something. they like started to disappear

tcamos · 02/02/2011, 06:51 AM

They could be out competing them for resources, or it could be allopathic.
With Xenia you can usually carefully peal it from the rock and get rid of it.

areucrazy · 02/02/2011, 10:44 AM

Well here is my .02 cents : ) I love the blue pulsing zenia and I have bought it several times over the last few years into this hobby and I have KILLED every single colony! My only ongoing issues in my system are high nitrates 20-40 and sometimes higher(I know this is bad but at least Im honest : ). I bought the most beautiful colony at the 1st FRAG Auction and was so sad to see it just shrink and shrink until it was gone! My zoas do that too! And now so are my snake polyops...... But if you want your zenia to DIE put it in my tank! LOL... and then I'll give you your rock back! LOL....

usefulidiot213 · 02/02/2011, 11:03 AM

I killed it off by cutting most of it off the rock, then pasting over what was left. I purposely kept a little patch, because I didn't want to get rid of all of it. Then one night, for what ever reason my RTBA decided to move up closer to the light and completely nuked what was left.

tcamos · 02/02/2011, 11:14 AM

So...for the experiment...what are your goals? Are you going to post a photo each week of the growth? It would be fun if someone else would try the experiment as well and see how they do. Especially areucrazy...he live far away but I would donate some Xenia for the experiment if he would come and get it.

usefulidiot213 · 02/02/2011, 12:10 PM

My main purpose is to see snap a shot ever week or so to track the growth. My main curiosity is to see if it will grow in my new tank as fast as it did in my old tank. My old tank was never dialed in right. My Alk & Cal were always off & my nutrients were always high. My current talk the Alk is steady at 8-9, the Cal holds around 480, and my nutrients are testing 0-5. I am wondering if that will show any kind of effect. I.E will the Xenia grow faster? Or will it grow slower?
Of course it's not really a controlled experiment by any means. I have a completely different tank, with different lighting and different flow. So everything is really going to be assumption based regardless.
I believe Xenia prefers higher nutrients, so I am predicting that it was in fact grow slower.

areucrazy · 02/02/2011, 03:55 PM

LOL... So you want me to keep track of how long it takes to die in my tank? I could do that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcamos

So...for the experiment...what are your goals? Are you going to post a photo each week of the growth? It would be fun if someone else would try the experiment as well and see how they do. Especially areucrazy...he live far away but I would donate some Xenia for the experiment if he would come and get it.

usefulidiot213 · 02/02/2011, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by areucrazy

LOL... So you want me to keep track of how long it takes to die in my tank? I could do that!

We could totally do that. Once the Xenia grows out. I can break off a piece of the rock with a stock of Xenia on it, and we can see how it responds in your tank..

tcamos · 02/02/2011, 04:55 PM

It's nice we've got a couple of threads going that aren't about buying or selling...

areucrazy · 02/03/2011, 11:41 PM

When the sacrifice is ready....the tank will consume it! LOL.... : )

02/01/2011, 10:08 AM	#1
usefulidiot213 Bryan H. Join Date: May 2007 Location: 40th St. & Thunderbird Posts: 1,348	Xenia growth experiment. I thought I had gotten rid of all my Xenia, but I round this little Guy the other day. No idea how he got there, but it's isolated on this rock. I am going to track to see how fast it grows and multiples until it takes over the entire rock. I know this isn't ground breaking work, but it will entertain me for a while. I am calling today day one. [IMG][/IMG] __________________ "I would rather be lucky then good." Bryan H. Current Tank Info: 120 AGA- 4x2x2 Mixed Reef. 2 MP40s, Vertex IN-180 Skimmer, RKL Controller for temp control and light timing. 8x 54 Watt T5 lighting.

02/01/2011, 11:27 AM	#2
UberNoober Rotate 180 degrees Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Chandler, AZ Posts: 1,239	lol, wont be long if its anything like my experience with that crazy stuff! __________________ Get up, Get out, Run! Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef, 4 bulbs-T5 VHO lighting.

02/01/2011, 12:16 PM	#3
usefulidiot213 Bryan H. Join Date: May 2007 Location: 40th St. & Thunderbird Posts: 1,348	That's what I am expecting, but this time it's better controlled. The first time I had Xenia in my tank I put one stalk on one of my largest rocks, and at first thought it was cool how fast it grew. Then shortly realized I had an issue on my hands. This is about a medium size rock, and I have it by itself. I am thinking that it might be kinda cool to have a Xenia rock island. __________________ "I would rather be lucky then good." Bryan H. Current Tank Info: 120 AGA- 4x2x2 Mixed Reef. 2 MP40s, Vertex IN-180 Skimmer, RKL Controller for temp control and light timing. 8x 54 Watt T5 lighting.

02/01/2011, 12:48 PM	#4
dublo8 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Morgan Hill, Ca Posts: 3,225	Take this with as little offense as possible, but why on god's green earth would you want xenia in your tank after having an issue with it? It's kind of like me with my GSP. I knew it was a problem and I still put it in there now it's creeping over the SB to the other rock. There is a thread floating around here somewhere of somebody with an unintentional xenia dominated tank. LOL he had the same idea and now his entire tank is nothing but xenia, so dense you cant see anything but the xenia. __________________ 10g IM fusion. Zoa and SPS dominant, Apex monitored, Ai Prime, MP10, sicce return.

02/01/2011, 01:24 PM	#5
tcamos Reef, Crustacean, Puffers Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Mesa. Posts: 3,003	Interesting experiemnt...xenia is one of those odd corals that grow like mad in one tank, and hardly at all in another. I've also found that pom pom and blue Xenia aren't quite as fast as thy typical "pulsing" Xenia. __________________ - Chad http://youtube.com/arizonafishkeeping Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef & 20 Gallon Reef

02/01/2011, 02:37 PM	#9
tcamos Reef, Crustacean, Puffers Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Mesa. Posts: 3,003	It's easy to kill. My BioCube had tons of it. I put a little frag in my other tank and removed it all from the cube so just the Blue and PomPom lives there. But...I also like kenya trees, mushrooms, GSP, and blue clove, so go figure. I like the part about being "good for your Zen". __________________ - Chad http://youtube.com/arizonafishkeeping Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef & 20 Gallon Reef

02/01/2011, 04:56 PM	#10
revnobody Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 385	I too like blue clove, xenia, and GSP. I have all of the above in my tank. As long as your tank is well maintained and you keep an eye on them, you will have no problem keeping them under control.

02/01/2011, 05:18 PM	#11
dublo8 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Morgan Hill, Ca Posts: 3,225	Oh dont get me wrong, I love the way it looks and I like gsp as well. Just a pain in the butt. When one coral starts to invade on a colony of my favorite zoa's I will take matters into my own hand and get out the blow torch. I have a little colony of blue cloves and I have left them in my SB and they do just fine. __________________ 10g IM fusion. Zoa and SPS dominant, Apex monitored, Ai Prime, MP10, sicce return.

02/01/2011, 05:39 PM	#12
ReefinMadness89 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: BFE! (aka; Tonopah, AZ) Posts: 447	I have a euphyllia and a duncan that are by far outgrowing the xenia have sitting in one of my tanks. But I believe it is because of a picky blenny I have.

02/01/2011, 07:24 PM	#13
tcamos Reef, Crustacean, Puffers Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Mesa. Posts: 3,003	Interesting. My duncan has been slow growing. It's healthy, but small still. __________________ - Chad http://youtube.com/arizonafishkeeping Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef & 20 Gallon Reef

02/01/2011, 08:38 PM	#14
usefulidiot213 Bryan H. Join Date: May 2007 Location: 40th St. & Thunderbird Posts: 1,348	I also think Xenia do much better in "dirty" tanks or tanks with high nutrients. My old 100gal was sumpless and I always had issues with high nutrients. I was always fighting off some algae outbreak. This is also the tank I had the out of control Xenia in it. We will see, my current 120 is in much better shape. I am finally getting SPS to not only live, but grow. <--- that's a different post though. This is another reason I wanted to do this half-tushed experiment. See if the Xenia would grow and spread as fast in a tank with low nutrients as fast as it did in a tank with high nutrients. Now I know there are way more variables going on, but it will still be interesting to see. Another supporting case to Xenia loving dirty water is, I have a couple of friends in San Diego that like to put Xenia in their Fuge to help polish the water, and holy crap I have never seen Xenia grow so fast as it does in a fuge. In a matter of couple of weeks a couple of stocks would totally consume all available space. __________________ "I would rather be lucky then good." Bryan H. Current Tank Info: 120 AGA- 4x2x2 Mixed Reef. 2 MP40s, Vertex IN-180 Skimmer, RKL Controller for temp control and light timing. 8x 54 Watt T5 lighting.

02/01/2011, 08:49 PM	#15
tcamos Reef, Crustacean, Puffers Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Mesa. Posts: 3,003	At one time I had seven tanks set up. Xenia would only grow in one of them, the BioCube. It did OK in a 20 gallon, but in my nanos (2x 2.5 gallon tanks, and 1x 5.5 gallon tank) it would not grow at all. So I am interested to see. It grows slowly in my 50 gallon, but in the BioCube it still grows best. Heck, that tank is like a magic tank for me, anything seems to grow in it. __________________ - Chad http://youtube.com/arizonafishkeeping Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef & 20 Gallon Reef

02/01/2011, 10:29 PM	#16
ynnhoj86 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: U of A, Tucson Posts: 743	this is my girlfriend's tank. this is it in NOV By ynnhoj86 at 2011-02-01 Now in Feb By ynnhoj86 at 2011-02-01 like it killed almost all the kenya trees or something. they like started to disappear __________________ ynnhoj86 Current Tank Info: REEFwithLOTS OF CORALS

02/02/2011, 06:51 AM	#17
tcamos Reef, Crustacean, Puffers Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Mesa. Posts: 3,003	They could be out competing them for resources, or it could be allopathic. With Xenia you can usually carefully peal it from the rock and get rid of it. __________________ - Chad http://youtube.com/arizonafishkeeping Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef & 20 Gallon Reef

02/02/2011, 10:44 AM	#18
areucrazy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Glendale Az Posts: 1,155	Well here is my .02 cents : ) I love the blue pulsing zenia and I have bought it several times over the last few years into this hobby and I have KILLED every single colony! My only ongoing issues in my system are high nitrates 20-40 and sometimes higher(I know this is bad but at least Im honest : ). I bought the most beautiful colony at the 1st FRAG Auction and was so sad to see it just shrink and shrink until it was gone! My zoas do that too! And now so are my snake polyops...... But if you want your zenia to DIE put it in my tank! LOL... and then I'll give you your rock back! LOL....

02/02/2011, 11:03 AM	#19
usefulidiot213 Bryan H. Join Date: May 2007 Location: 40th St. & Thunderbird Posts: 1,348	I killed it off by cutting most of it off the rock, then pasting over what was left. I purposely kept a little patch, because I didn't want to get rid of all of it. Then one night, for what ever reason my RTBA decided to move up closer to the light and completely nuked what was left. __________________ "I would rather be lucky then good." Bryan H. Current Tank Info: 120 AGA- 4x2x2 Mixed Reef. 2 MP40s, Vertex IN-180 Skimmer, RKL Controller for temp control and light timing. 8x 54 Watt T5 lighting.

02/02/2011, 11:14 AM	#20
tcamos Reef, Crustacean, Puffers Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Mesa. Posts: 3,003	So...for the experiment...what are your goals? Are you going to post a photo each week of the growth? It would be fun if someone else would try the experiment as well and see how they do. Especially areucrazy...he live far away but I would donate some Xenia for the experiment if he would come and get it. __________________ - Chad http://youtube.com/arizonafishkeeping Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef & 20 Gallon Reef

02/02/2011, 12:10 PM	#21
usefulidiot213 Bryan H. Join Date: May 2007 Location: 40th St. & Thunderbird Posts: 1,348	My main purpose is to see snap a shot ever week or so to track the growth. My main curiosity is to see if it will grow in my new tank as fast as it did in my old tank. My old tank was never dialed in right. My Alk & Cal were always off & my nutrients were always high. My current talk the Alk is steady at 8-9, the Cal holds around 480, and my nutrients are testing 0-5. I am wondering if that will show any kind of effect. I.E will the Xenia grow faster? Or will it grow slower? Of course it's not really a controlled experiment by any means. I have a completely different tank, with different lighting and different flow. So everything is really going to be assumption based regardless. I believe Xenia prefers higher nutrients, so I am predicting that it was in fact grow slower. __________________ "I would rather be lucky then good." Bryan H. Current Tank Info: 120 AGA- 4x2x2 Mixed Reef. 2 MP40s, Vertex IN-180 Skimmer, RKL Controller for temp control and light timing. 8x 54 Watt T5 lighting.

02/02/2011, 04:55 PM	#24
tcamos Reef, Crustacean, Puffers Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: East Mesa. Posts: 3,003	It's nice we've got a couple of threads going that aren't about buying or selling... __________________ - Chad http://youtube.com/arizonafishkeeping Current Tank Info: 75 Gallon Reef & 20 Gallon Reef

02/03/2011, 11:41 PM	#25
areucrazy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Glendale Az Posts: 1,155	When the sacrifice is ready....the tank will consume it! LOL.... : )

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