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Dary421

Dary421

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
Messages
3,021
Location
San Diego,ca
i saw this critter the other day at a shop swaying in the tanks current and was wondering just what it was,....if its something easy to take care of etc i might want to see about getting one for my tank,...thanks,Dary
 
xenia. pulsing xenia, pom pom xenia...anthelia...it usually grows like an unstoppable weed in tanks, or it doesn't grow at all, and no one knows why.
 
Somehow i knew you would reply to this thread, thanks doug.., oh, what do they require. Light wise, feeding etc?
 
if they are going to do well in your tank, their requirements are minimal. they do well in almost any lighting (moderate to high) and almost any flow. people either love or hate xenia. i'm a hater. it takes up too much real estate too quickly.

a word of advice, if you get some, put it on a rock structure that's away from the rest. it generally grows upward towards the light, and will spread very fast.
 
Wow,...this sounds like an ideal plant(?) for me,...maybe even I could grow one,....even if it died ,it may not be my fault,..can't beat that!
Thank you Doug
 
If you're lucky enuf to get it to thrive in your tank, sooner or later it'll almost feel like a curse. It's beautiful stuff. Gives you that warm and fuzzy about your tank seeing all the flowing back and forth while pulsing as it does. Then one day, you MUST start cutting it back. Feels good. "Wow, it's healthy!!".

Then, it starts taking up too much real estate. The curse.

Pom pom does grow slower than the elongata version. Plus its prettier. But it can spread and get thick too. Pruning will create the mucos mentioned. So will the densness of it even if not pruned. It can crash suddenly and kill off inverts in your system and other coral. No reason why.

Anyway, if you must try it. It can be fun. Gotta be vigilant. Good luck. :)
 
austinsdad said:
If you're lucky enuf to get it to thrive in your tank, sooner or later it'll almost feel like a curse. It's beautiful stuff. Gives you that warm and fuzzy about your tank seeing all the flowing back and forth while pulsing as it does. Then one day, you MUST start cutting it back. Feels good. "Wow, it's healthy!!".

Then, it starts taking up too much real estate. The curse.

Pom pom does grow slower than the elongata version. Plus its prettier. But it can spread and get thick too. Pruning will create the mucos mentioned. So will the densness of it even if not pruned. It can crash suddenly and kill off inverts in your system and other coral. No reason why.

Anyway, if you must try it. It can be fun. Gotta be vigilant. Good luck. :)
Click to expand...

Wow,...it sounds like you should take it outa your tank and shoot it.
 
Yeah. Can be a bad movie. But if you got a small rock, I'd only feel good abuot it if you placed it higher in the tank so you can better control its spread, becuase it will reach to the light and upwards. And sideways. :)
 
austinsdad said:
Yeah. Can be a bad movie. But if you got a small rock, I'd only feel good abuot it if you placed it higher in the tank so you can better control its spread, becuase it will reach to the light and upwards. And sideways. :)
Click to expand...

Would fire kill it ?
 
lol..it's not that bad...some folks love it, but what usually happens is, you start gravitating to more colorful and more demanding corals, and xenia seems to lose it's luster. around that time, it's covering 60% of the rock, and then it's time to make room. this can be a bit of a challenge.
 
when you talk about it grows fast how fast are we talking months or years ? also what do they feed on ?
 
In my experience it will approximately double in size in about 3-4 months. So when you start with a small frag it isn't to bad but when you have a baseball sized coral that starts doubling it can get out of control in a hurry.
 
I have had these in my tank for a year. The wife loves them, and they are very easy to watch and my clown is hosting on a group that has taken over a rock that is about football sized.

I bought 2 or 3 stalks and placed them in the sand bed where there was gentle flow. In a matter of 3/4 weeks I had small sprouts in the sand that I moved to the rocks and thought I was the doing great. Since that time I have scraped close to 250 stalks from the rocks started a 20gal frag tank to house the scrapings in, traded them to LFS for in store credit/salt/Bergia Nudibranch(to deal with my aptiasia out break)/ducan frag, tyree toadstool, 2 acans, and still have close to 50/100 ready to trade in and carrying a credit at the LFS of $50+...

I have read a great deal on them and there seems to be a belief that if your water gets to 80* or above the they are more likely to crash.

I love them, But they will not be going into the future DT that I plan on putting in the wall between the living room and spare BDroom. They are very agressive growers. But we will always have them in one of our tanks!!! The wife loves them so much....

I am uploading some pic's of sleeping xenia's now that are in my tanks
 
Everywhere I read people a lot more knowledgeable than me in these matters state that you should let your tank mature for about a year before adding ANY corals,..would these critters come under the same guidelines?? Also, if I may ask, what happens in "that year" that cause your tank to make it instead of breaking it?
 
IMO, it's all about having the tank fully stocked with fish and inverts such that you have encountered any swings in water chemistry already. That, in addition to the experience you've gained over that time helps provide for a more stable environment.

I'd recommend a year before adding anenomes. Lots of beginner corals can work way earlier than a year. Expert corals - yeah, I can see a year wait easily.
 
austinsdad said:
IMO, it's all about having the tank fully stocked with fish and inverts such that you have encountered any swings in water chemistry already. That, in addition to the experience you've gained over that time helps provide for a more stable environment.

I'd recommend a year before adding anenomes. Lots of beginner corals can work way earlier than a year. Expert corals - yeah, I can see a year wait easily.
Click to expand...

Thank you,.... I'm learning so much from this site and all the good people who share their friendly advice
 
xenia's should be ok with anemone, I think. They will grow right up to zoo's and steal all the light and starve them that way. But as far as I have seen the do not sting any of the neighbors just aggressively advance and monoplize the space
 
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