righttirefire Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I bought the regret coral... a small, 2", feather duster tube covered in deep purple coraline algea, with 3 "stocks" of xenia. The "perfect" first coral... new heads are sprouting on the tube and the 3 nice heads have now all split. It seems like perfect fragging practice. I'd be willing to frag these and might this weekend. And keep for a week or two for observation. But after that... anyone who wants them. I'm keeping the original colony. Just ignore the diamond goby... he's my favorite, he thinks he's a model Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 So I finally fragged my xenia. I cut off 2 stems, iodine dip, glued to frag plugs. I'm hoping to see them expend in the next couple days. The mother colony recovered nicely. The 2 frags were pulsing, but no extension. I'd be will to trade or give them away Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 Well, we spent the night out of town last night and u came home to, to empty frag plugs that once... less than 24 hours ago had my xenia frags on them. The little game of hide and seek has turned up nothing. So tear down my tank to find them. Wait 2 weeks until I swap tanks anyways or add this to the learning curve. The "slime coat" on xenias won't allow them to glue down. I need a frag tank... maybe add the partition to my new tank for frags... the same 5" wide for my overflow make a frag section... Link to comment
clownfitch Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Did you allow the xenia to attach itself to something or did you glue it straight to the plug? Link to comment
righttirefire Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Yeah... I tried gluing it right to the plug. I should have put it in a rubble cup and let it attach. But it seemed to work Link to comment
clownfitch Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Super glue wont work on softies and could actually damage and kill them. You can rubberband them or tie them to a plug or rubble if you dont have the means or time to allow them to attach to something on their own. Link to comment
rwalsh156 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 To attach someth like Xenia, or anyother soft coral, I generally use a rubberband (as mentioned previously) or cheap string/shoe lace, etc. They just need enough pressure to keep them on the plug until they attach. And just as a warning, eventhough you may already know this, Xenia grows rapidly and will spead every where in your tank. i started with a small frag (just like you did) and now have a huge bush of it. it even started growing on one of my clams. On the plus side, my clownfish do seem to love it. if you don't want overgrowth in the future, I would consider "fencing" it in with some aggressive corals, unless you want to have to constantly frag it. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I idea was learning about fragging. I tried rubber banding it but it shrunk up so much I went to plan b glue. It's all about trial and error. Gluing xenias error. I'll let them grow out again and try tying them down. I still dont hold any faith in rubberbanding. They're staying contained to the that tube worm tube. So that's all I asked for. Link to comment
IThas2Bme Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Stick it halfway into the sand for a few days and it will attach to some granules. It's much easier to glue the sand covered foot to a plug. Pat the foot on a paper towel quickly and drop into you glue to keep it from totally sliming over. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I like the Sandy foot idea Link to comment
Desmo996 Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I would consider "fencing" it in with some aggressive corals, unless you want to have to constantly frag it. I like the idea of this.... So I have some mushrooms, which I just had to move cause they started to sting my favea. 1st I'm a newbie, didn't realize my innocent looking mushroom would hurt my favea. The favea turned white where they touched... Seems to be recovering now that they are separated. Anyway, I need to re-arrange cause my rose bubble tip is getting big... And your suggestion makes me think I could contain my Xenia with the RTB and the mushrooms. But I don't want to kill the Xenia... Too aggressive? Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Look what I found attached under my rocks. The missing frags. They're currently pinned under rock hoping they attach. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 We're trying this again... last night I tried putting the frag in a shallow sand pit with a rock over the foot in hopes they'd attach to something. No luck. They were blowing all over the tank this morning. So 3rd times a charm right? A little 4# fishing line and softy tying them down. Also moved them to the mushroom shelf in hopes they'll have a better chance of not getting messed with Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 One slipped the knot... moved all my rock to retrieve it. It's not going to happen again. I tied it back down. But if it chooses not to stay put it'll stay a drift... or if it's easy to get to a little plastic sauce cup Link to comment
Thomas898 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I personally tie mine down with a piece of cotton and wrap it around the rubble a few times, in multiple directions, so it can't slip off. I found only wrapping it around once or twice in the same direction causes them to fall off every time. Haven't had any escape since doing that, usually takes around 3-4 days to attach then remove the cotton. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 I'm not really grasping the concept. Do you have a picture of this procedure? Link to comment
Thomas898 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/images/comp2.gif Imagine that's your frag plug, xenia is in the middle and the lines represent where the cotton is that's wrapped around the plug. If done correctly the xenia physically cannot slip off the plug until it attaches Link to comment
mneville277 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 First post, but wanted to chime in as I have felt your pain... Push a toothpick through the stalk (it will heal just fine) and wrap your rubber band around the frag plug and toothpick, using the toothpick to hold the xenia in place. Once attached, remove rubber band and toothpick. Haven't lost one yet with this method. Also helps to insert the toothpick prior to removing (if fragging out of the tank) and cutting. It gives you a reference point when the xenia shrinks and allows better control of the frag. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Thomas, so you're using cotton thread? I had it in my head you were using a cotton ball and wrapping around a cotton ball with thread. I understand what you mean now. Mneville, that's a great idea. Xenia skewer. I am sure you can see how far mine shrunk. There had an inch long stock and shrunk to a ball the size of a dime. Link to comment
Thomas898 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Yes, thread, definitely not cotton balls, sorry I probably should have clarified that! As for skewering, it works, but if you do that be careful with how tightly you place the rubber band, I've had a few toothpicks tear straight through the xenia stalk so I stopped doing it, and sometimes the stalks as in your case aren't able to be skewered. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 I don't know anything. Just try, research, and experience Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Thanks for all your help advise. I cut the fishing line yesterday and the xenia is attached to its small rock base Link to comment
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