pulsing xenia

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m3drver

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
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Middletown, NJ
Hey all, have a question on the best location for a pulsing xenia frag. A friend has given me a small frag and from what I've read on AA and Fantasyreef this coral grows and spreads quickly.

I was thinking on placing it on a small rock located near the corner of the tank separate from the rest of the LR. my thinking here is that I don't want it to spread to the larger rocks in the center of the tank since they're all toching. Does this sound like a good place for the frag? or Does the xenia have a tendency to move about the tank on its own?

I have T5 HO lights on a 46 Gal Bow tank so I think anywhere in the tank it should be fine with light. I just don't want it to completely overrun the larger rocks. and the fact that i have some small Zoo polyps that came as hitchhikers on one of those larger rocks.

I'd appreciate any suggestions!
 
Xenia is still very much a mystery coral. IT will thrive in some tanks and simply disolve in others, regardless of parameters. If it finds your tank to its liking, it will spread very fast. It generally prefers to "climb" and will crawl up the tank glass or LR. You may need to test out a few locations in your tank to see were the animal is happy. If you are not seeing good expansion after a couple of days try a different location.
 
I dont see why it wont do good in the corner. As Brian said try it and see. Lighting, Flow and area will be big factors in whether it likes where you put it.
 
Great, thanks guys! I went ahead and placed the frag in the corner on a small rock. It seems ok there at the moment. It opened up a bit and its still pulsing too.:D

My two clownfish and a cleaner shrimp wanted to see what the new addition was, and caused it to close up a bit but it opened up again and continued to pulse. Funny watching the clowns check it out and poke at it a couple of times...

Anyway my plan is to have the frag spread onto the small rock then move it to the back of the tank where i hope it will be happy and attach itself to the back glass. I kinda figure it should be easier to prune / trim it off the glass than the rocks, but of course I say this now. we'll see in a few weeks.
 
IME If the rock it is on is within an inch or two of anything (another rock, glass, etc..) it will stretch out and connect itself to it and then split off and grow. I have to scrape it off the glass with a credit card. It will propagate profusely. Just so you are aware.
 
IME If the rock it is on is within an inch or two of anything (another rock, glass, etc..) it will stretch out and connect itself to it and then split off and grow. I have to scrape it off the glass with a credit card. It will propagate profusely. Just so you are aware.

Yeah I realized that. The rock its on is isolated from anything right now. How hard is it to scrape off the glass?
 
It's not very hard to get off the glass but when it gets onto your other rockwork it is a bit more of a challenge. I have mine in my frag tank and fuge. I got one small stalk and put it in my tank in less then a month I had 5-6times what I started out with. It is a very interesting coral but if you can contain it do so.
 
It's not very hard to get off the glass but when it gets onto your other rockwork it is a bit more of a challenge. I have mine in my frag tank and fuge. I got one small stalk and put it in my tank in less then a month I had 5-6times what I started out with. It is a very interesting coral but if you can contain it do so.

so at least i was thinking in the right direction as far as trying to have it spread onto the glass.

Thanks for the input Ziggy
 
Xenia is still very much a mystery coral. IT will thrive in some tanks and simply disolve in others, regardless of parameters. If it finds your tank to its liking, it will spread very fast. It generally prefers to "climb" and will crawl up the tank glass or LR. You may need to test out a few locations in your tank to see were the animal is happy. If you are not seeing good expansion after a couple of days try a different location.

ACK! That's no lie! I've tried two times to get a pulsing xenia to grow in my tank and zippo!

Fine! I didn't want any xenia anyway!:mad:
 
ACK! That's no lie! I've tried two times to get a pulsing xenia to grow in my tank and zippo!

Fine! I didn't want any xenia anyway!:mad:

ha! I found myself almost saying the same thing.

After placing the frag in my tank it looked fine and all. Then, for whatever reason it stopped pulsing. My first thought was that I didn't acclimate it properly and that it would eventually die. it was open but not pulsing. I was sure it was starting to decline when it closed up completly. It remained closed for a few hours.
It did eventually slowly start to open and I was glad to see it starting to pulse again tonight. *WHEW*.

Anyway, all in all the xenia looks healthy and pulsing.
 
I was determined to keep Xenia. Every time I tried a couple stalks, they would shrivel up and melt. Waited a month, changed 25% of the water, removed the carbon from my filter chamber, and added some iodine (with a test kit).

Bought a stalk and it split like crazy, the first three weeks I had it :cool:

Just a thought---Carbon?----
 
Iodine is supposed to really help it flourish, but be really careful when dosing, one of the easiest and more dangerous things to overdose.
If it isn't pulsing dont think its dieing, mine will go for weeks without pulsing, then it will for weeks. No matter what though it is always growing, not much is known exactly why they pulse anyway. Best of luck!
 
If it does like your tank and lives, don't expect it to stay confined to one area.
It can and does spread by fractionation, and possibly sexual reproduction(?).
Microscopic pieces will break off, drift in the current, and grow wherever they land.

I have a 125g that is filled with pink pulsing xenia that started as two rocks on the sandbed with two medium sized colonies.
Everytime I move some rock or coral I find tiny stalks growing all over, under, around it.
Now every surface, rock, coral, and powerhead in the tank has xenia growing on it.

The only saving grace is that I'll occasionally take a large xenia-covered rock to one of the LFS and trade it in for store credit.

Consider yourself warned. :devilish:

On a side note: If you ever want to clear an entire tank of xenia overnight, a little fluketab residue in the water will do the job. It will also nuke every colony of GSP and will ruin the tank for either coral until it's been drained and washed.
 
Thanks for the replys!

The Xenia frag is doing very nicely now. I repositioned it, moved it into a lower flow area and POOF. it opened up fully and has been pulsing non stop for a few days straight with only a brief stoppage when one of the snails happens to brush up next to it.

I really think it either didn't like the location i initially put it in or it was just taking its time getting acclimated to my tank. either way its looking heathy. I haven't dosed anything into the tank either. I'm banking on PWCs to provide all the trace elements needed

It grows like a weed in mine.....
.
ya know the ole' " be careful of what you ask for" came to mind when I said to myself " yeah, maybe I want a coral... ":rolleyes:
 
I have a xenia and it has stayed the same size for months, I guess I am pretty lucky. It still pulsates so I'll see what happens..
 
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