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Secret to growing xenia?


cyenna

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The secret to xenia growing like mad: what is it?! For some people, it's like a weed and for others it just melts away. No one really knows the secret but perhaps we can find some correlations by listing a few things that "crazy-xenia-growers" use in their tanks.

 

1. What brand of salt do you use?

2. What kind of water do you use? RO, RO/DI, DI, tap, etc...?

3. What is the pH level your tank is maintained?

4. What is the temperature?

5. How much flow is on your xenia? low, moderate, high?

6. Lighting?

7. Do you dose anything? iodine? Phytoplankton? buffer?

8. What do you feed your tank?

9. What kind of xenia?

10. How big was the frag you got to begin with?

11. SG? salinity? whatever it is that you read with a hydrometer and refractometer.

 

I have tried three times with xenia and finally my xenia has not melted away within 1 week of adding it and it is growing another foot so I count it as a success.

 

This is information for my tank now with healthy xenia.

 

1. Oceanic

2. tap <--ya, ya, ready for the flaming

3. I don't have a pH test kit right now but last I checked it was 8.0 raised with baking soda

4. temperature is maintained at 80 F during the day and 78-79 F at night

5. High flow...to the point of no pulsing

6. 175 W MH

7. I dose calcium, Red Sea buffer, and just recently, phytoplankton but that is probably not relevant as xenia growth occurred before this.

8. mainly cyclopeeze.

9. red sea and silver tips

10. 2-3 inches tall

11. 1.025-1.026

 

I know this is a long survey but it would be helpful if anyone who has success in growing xenia would fill it out. BTW, I did a search for xenia secret and couldn't find anything so I hope I'm not doing a repeat thread.

Edited by cyenna
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No offense, but you should probably be asking these questions to those (if any) who haven't had xenia grow like crazy. Seems to me that it is pretty much indestructible, and will grow like mad no matter what....within reason.

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i used to not be able to keep xenia worth a damn. now a couple of years later, doing the exact same things but with a different tank, my xenia is growing and splitting very nicely. i like it :)

 

same with colt corals. guess it's a hit and miss thing?

 

Tim

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No offense, but you should probably be asking these questions to those (if any) who haven't had xenia grow like crazy. Seems to me that it is pretty much indestructible, and will grow like mad no matter what....within reason.

 

 

Well, if your xenia is doing so well, please share. If I asked these questions to people who have not had success with xenia then we'd just be talking in circles getting no where.

 

i used to not be able to keep xenia worth a damn. now a couple of years later, doing the exact same things but with a different tank, my xenia is growing and splitting very nicely. i like it :)

 

same with colt corals. guess it's a hit and miss thing?

 

Tim

 

Gahhh! It can't be a hit or miss thing. :o There must be a reason - we just don't know it yet. :P

  • Like 1
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chrisstankevitz

a friend of mine has lots of xenia growing. big thick powerful looking xenia with lots of pulsing action. I took a frag and it is not doing as well in my tank.

 

His tank is

saltier

warmer

dirtier (less freq. water changes)

  • Like 1
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a friend of mine has lots of xenia growing. big thick powerful looking xenia with lots of pulsing action. I took a frag and it is not doing as well in my tank.

 

His tank is

saltier

warmer

dirtier (less freq. water changes)

 

 

Interesting. I guess I take back what I said glennr. People who don't have growing xenia should post as well if they suspect something is different with their tank.

 

What temperature is your friend's tank at? I didn't even think of salinity. What salinity is your tank at vs your friends?

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My secret to Xenia? Put it in my tank.

 

Seriously though, I've grown it like crazy, then had it melt twice. First time, didn't save it. (both were from the exact same source) 2nd time, when it melted, dropped some new carbon in and a poly pad, then changed each every 3 days for 2 weeks. Bounced right back. I think that it is very sensitive to misc. chemicals in the tank. Do you smoke or spray aerosols by the tank?? I do, and the chemical filtration righted it in 10 days or so. Just my experience, take it for what it's worth, but I wish you luck, and try some kick @ss carbon, might help.

 

CD

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  • 2 years later...

I have...

Blue xena, Cespitularia

Pulsating silver tip, Xenia elongata

Pulsating pom pom Red sea, Xenia umbelata

Pink xenia, Anthelia

SG 1.026, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, PH 8.3, Mag 1500, Calcium 500 - 5 gallon water change once a week. Maybe another 5 during the week depending on how everyone looks.

75 gal AGA RR w/20gallon sump Modified coralife pro 2x150W MH w/4 54W T5's

HOB CPR fuge w/4 types of macro

 

I add 4 drops of iodine at every water change and I also dose Kent Tech M. I was told by GARF that dosing Kent Tech M helps to keep xenia healthy. I've also done alot of research on how to keep my pulsating xenia pulsating. Consistently I found that dosing iodine and magnesium help. So far so good. I have nice healthy growth. The elongata and red sea are all pulsating. Red sea stays short and pulses super fast. I've also heard that Xenia really likes dirty water. I dunno bout dat.

Edited by JanVa
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mine has been growing pretty quickly in my 2.7 gallon pico

 

DSCN3125.jpg

 

1. Tropic Marin Pro Reef

2. RO/DI

3. 8.3

4. 76 degrees

5. Moderate to low flow

6. 36 watt power compact

7. No dosing

8. Feed Xenia bioplankton every other day

9. Pink Pulsing Xenia

10. Frag was about half the size of the one in the picture, that was about a month and a half ago

11. Salinty is usually 1.025

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i went from 4 stalks to 20 with in a about 7 months. but when i first got it they were tiny, took about a month or so for them to grow up then after words boom!

 

mine are under

2x150w

2x65w

 

2xk3's(flow)

80G total water volume

dont do frequent water changes( sorry school and work keeps me really busy so i try to do it every month or 2 months)

 

also a other way i split the stalks faster no matter how big they are is i put them on a plug. get some dental floss and tie the xenia down the middle and force split it. thus xenia grows into 2 stalks. after that do it over again lol. works like a charm with me.

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xenia likes dirty water and salinity of 1.025-1.027. thats all anyone needs to know. flow and lighting conditions it will adjust to.

 

if salinity is low, or if water is super clean (like in an sps dominated tank) it tends not to thrive...[but there are exceptions]

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carbon-mantis

I've found that the less water changes I do, the faster it grows. I put a piece with three little "heads" in a small tank I used for growing chaetomorpha, with no filtration and only an airestone for circulation. The salinity swings around a bit and the water has an icky yellowish tinge to it for lack of carbon, and I add a shot of phytoplex occasionally to keep the nutrients up and the amphipods happy. So far the little piece has grown into four seperate pieces, with three being four inches tall and the diameter of a quarter at their base...

 

edit- As far as lighting goes, they actually seem to like the 26w 6500K CF better than the two 65 watts the4y were under before. Go figure...

Edited by carbon-mantis
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Xenia would seem to like nitrate in my experience, which may explain why it's sluggish in SPS or low nutrient tanks.

 

However, mine has gone from fast growth to dead in a few days during a PH crash.

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my experience with xenia is that if you can get it from an established tank, it does very well. I've put mine through many conditions (high nutrient, low nutrient, high light, high flow, low flow, mid light, etc) and it keeps growing.

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if you have xenia thats not doing so well it will probably be copper... they are really sensitive to that stuff and it will make them look all frail and crappy.. otherwise you shouldnt have any problem with growing.. they dont need to much light but obviously the more light the better and they are a very hardy coral. just try to keep everything the same.. try to keep all of your parameters the same, dont do huge water changes all the time and keep temp about the same. my experience with it is when i first got my tank it wasnt really stable and xenia was doing alright.. then i got settled down and it took off.

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1. Reef Crystals

2. RO/DI

3. 8.2-8.4

4. 78-80

5. High

6. 250w 14k Phoenix and 420nm T5's

7. 20mL DIY alkalinity buffer twice a day. Lugol's two drops a week

8. Mysis, Brine, Krill, Rod's Food(coral blend), ORA Glo pellets, Ocean Nutrition formula two pellets.

9. Pulsating Xenia?

10.two stalks

11.1.026

 

I can't kill it.

Edited by skydive
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reeforreefoutyou

xenia are known to randomly crash entire colonies in captivity. They tend to do better in tanks that have more than one species of xenia and anthelia. iodine,magnesium, 1.026, STABLE PH (they are very sensitive to ph swings)

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Got my Xenia 2 months ago, 4 large stalks for $25. It has now divided or branched out into 9+ more branches of xenia.

 

1. Coral Life Salt

2. RO

3. 8.3

4. 79-83.5° F

5. Moderate/High Flow during the day and low flow at night via MP20

6. 14K HQI

7. Daily Dose Reef Code A & B, every other day I dose with Idodine, Phos-E, Reef Biofuel, Magnesium, and Trace Elements. Fed Zooplankton, Roti Feast, & Phyto Feast enriched with coral amino.

8. Silversides, Mysis Shrimp, Blood Worms, NLS Grow, NLS Marine, BBS all enriched in selcon and/or amino omega

9. Red Sea Pulsing Xenia aka Pom Pom

10. Frag was 2 1/2-3 inches per stalk when bought

11. 1.026

Edited by shadowninja
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I keep my xenia near the bottom of my mixed softie/lps/sps tank and it propagates very quickly. I don't do anything special for them.

 

1. Natural Sea Water

2. RODI

3. 8.1 to 8.3

4. between 78 and 81

5. high flow

6. 150W Radium 20K with dual actinic 65w PCs

7. C-Balance two part solution, Reef Advantage Magnesium, Seachem Reef Plus, Dr. G's live phyto.

8. Flake or pellets for the fish daily. Mix of oyster eggs, cyclopeeze, brine, mysis and selcon once a week.

9. Blue/Purple encrusting xenia, non-pulsating.

10. about 2 inches. It is over 6 inches long now.

11.1.024

Edited by louphoenix
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my xenia won't stop growing in my 24 gal nano cube. i don't run a protein skimmer or carbon. i have about 30 lbs live rock and lots of flow. i change about 5 gallons a week.

 

1. Instant Ocean

2. RO

3. 8.2

4. 78-80

5. Moderate

6. 2 36 watt PC

7. No dosing

8. phyto feast, baby brine shrimp for corals

9. pink xenia

10. about 6 2" tall heads

11. 1.024

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I had xenia for a couple of months when I first started stocking my tank. It was doing very well, growing like a weed. At that point in time I was still somewhat of a noob, and not doing very good water changes and my tank was full of nitrates. Pretty soon I got that under control, and when my h2o quality improved, my xenia started to melt away. It just vanished within a matter of weeks.

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ill post a pic of mine in my bc14 when i get home from work today at 4. started out with a dime size frag with 3 little stalks of pom pom xenia. now i reaaaally need to trim back alot. i might have some xenia frags for local pick up in arlington this week. i have great water test results, i have a little cyano right now but im on top of it. i just got back from a week in jamaica so methinks my bud was overfeeding a bit, because i had the stuff just about beat when i left. oh and the slime is nowhere near the xenia at all, in case anyone was wondering.

Edited by Formula462
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