xenia fragging

[steve r]

do xenia release any poison when you cut them. can they be trimmed in the main?

thanks
steve r

 

[fishfreek]

I dont know if they do the posion but I can tell you they will slime like crazy. If you put some rocks or shells close to the xenia it will spread onto those rocks/shells and thats the easiest way to frag them. Given their growth rate it wont take long either.

 

[Phyl]

Garf.org has a couple of articles on Xenia fragging. It looks pretty easy but I haven't tried it yet. I would be inclined to put it in a bowl of water from the main for fragging. The only thing that they cautioned about were the parts blowing around and that they are very slippery when you're cutting them.

 

[steve r]

the reason i ask is that i fragged mine in the tank. there was no way to get it out. for the next two days one of my fish was breathing heavy. all the parameters were fine. i dont know if it was the xenia or stress. i did a lot of work to the tank that day. i was adding a sump, so i had to move some stuff for the overflow box and fragging the xenia was a part of the plan to move things. i ran some carbon and did a water change just in case, and the fish is fine now. he ate the whole time. just breathed really heavy like ammonia poisoning.

the xenia frag is recovering fine. already attached itself to a new rock and looks totally normal

thanks for the info
steve r

 

[austinsdad]

I slice mine all the time underwater. Done it about 20 time so far. I use a razor bade and make it qwik.

I used to think you were supposed to slice a branch off, but now I simply do it like a hair cut, leaving probably less than a qtr inch on the rock. It comes back very well.

Hopefully your fish didn't try to eat some. I believe Garf recommends a turkey baster at the ready to grab it when cut so it or pieces dont' get away from you for fish food (?) or getting stuck behind a rock where you don't want new polyps to grow.