Xenia

[Militant Jurist]

I was inquiring with an LFS about Pulsing Xenia (which seems to get rave reviews around here) and I was steered away from it. The LFS said that it was "notoriously hard to keep" and that's why they didn't keep it in their stores. My plans were to have GSP and Xenia as the cornerstone corals of my 10 gallon nano, since I'd gathered from my research that they were both rather hardy and good for fragging (and that Xenia was even good for nutrient export). Is there more to the story?

[Schwanson]

I was inquiring with an LFS about Pulsing Xenia (which seems to get rave reviews around here) and I was steered away from it. The LFS said that it was "notoriously hard to keep" and that's why they didn't keep it in their stores. My plans were to have GSP and Xenia as the cornerstone corals of my 10 gallon nano, since I'd gathered from my research that they were both rather hardy and good for fragging (and that Xenia was even good for nutrient export). Is there more to the story?

 

The Xenia in my tank has grown 2 to 3 times it's original mass in less than 2 months. It has spread to other rocks, has been fragged and given to a friend, and multiplied. I call BS on the LFS.

[fiction101]

Actually a lot of people aren't able to keep xenia, so your lfs is right. For some reason it will do awful in one tank and great in another. I kept pulsing and and pumping xenia in my tank for awhile and it did great, so I would give it a shot and see what happens since they don't go for very much anyways.

[lilredneckman]

^+1

I am not able to keep xenia in my 55, they just die.

[ctruchan]

def give it a shot...mine do great, and won't stop growing....my lfs can't keep my frags in any of his tanks...really strange

[Dragonette]

def give it a shot...mine do great, and won't stop growing....my lfs can't keep my frags in any of his tanks...really strange

 

 

feast or famine. Mine will do great one week, then crappy for a while. Even when it looks bad, It STILL spreads. I liked it in the LFS but I hate it in my tank.

[LoBo]

from what i hear from other people, xenia are extreeeemeely hard to kill. You cut it at the stalk, snip it, whatever you can, it'll grow back, some people even consider it a pest because it grows back so fast and multiplies.

your LFS is ful of garb, pulsing xenias are a beauty, they probably just want to keep it.

[michelle02]

Ive got a xenia elongata(pulsing) and a white pom pom xenia, both are doing great in my tank and spreading like wildfire, i dont mind cause i love them, very pretty. I dont have a skimmer but then not sure if that makes a difference.

[fiction101]

from what i hear from other people, xenia are extreeeemeely hard to kill. You cut it at the stalk, snip it, whatever you can, it'll grow back, some people even consider it a pest because it grows back so fast and multiplies.

your LFS is ful of garb, pulsing xenias are a beauty, they probably just want to keep it.

 

Man your advice is always way off....

[derekandrenee]

I rec'd a beautiful Frag from Weetie of Xenia and it didn't make it. She packed it perfectly and it looked good for awhile...but it didn't last. I love them and will try again. But, from what I hear it is about 50/50.

 

....just my 2cents!

[michelle02]

would be interesting to know if skimming does make a difference to kepping xenia, ive heard skimmers remove valuble food particles from the water nutrients etc that some types of corals need to survive, porites for example, i have a rock that started to sprout all over with hitch hiker porites and they are doing fantastic, some people find them extremly hard to keep alive yet i do nothing extra to my tank except for water changes once a week, i dont add anything extra or skimm, is this the key to success?

[DarkMazda]

Maybe one type is more sensitive than the other? For me it has to do with species of xenia. The elongata species can only last a few days in my tank, but the white pom pom xenia species is thriving at a rate the other reefers describe.

[Militant Jurist]

That would make since about the skimmers. Well, maybe I will try a pom pom in my skimmerless tank!

[robbie]

xenia for me is one of the hardiest corals, it even growns on my macroalgae.

[Sexy Shrimp]

Its always been a weed for me too... I keep it on an isolated rock so it limits the spread - especially in a nano. I love it though due to the pulsing. And the fact that you can sell frags of it! Historically it always had a growth spurt in my skimmerless tank if I was late in doing a water change.

 

This is not necessarily how it works for everyone - just my experience (my current nano is new - but I'm not new to nanos)

[lilredneckman]

My friends dad has a skimmer on his 75 and has tons of xenia. It does fine and multiplies like crazy.

[Balmarog]

I have to mow down my xenia about once a month. It grows non-stop.

[NewWorldWater]

I got a little 1/2" piece on a small piece of shell about 1.5 mo's ago.

It is now 2 stalks of 1.5-2" tall xenia and growing even faster than before (taller, more polyps, jumping from shell to LR).

One of the stalks occasionally deflates (bends in the middle), but its usually completely righted within a minute or two. That's about the worst its looked and thats a recent thing (since I've been removing more "stuff" from the water).