Xenia taking over my tank! Help!

ktsdad

ktsdad

Member
I have pulsing xenia taking over my tank! I have been able to "thin the herd" by removing any smaller rocks and putting them in a bucket of saltwater with a powerhead and leaving them overnight in the garage. The temperature drop kills the xenia and doesn't seem to bother anything else growing on the rock.
The problem now is that the 2 rocks remaining are both very large rocks and would really upset the tank to get them out.
Is there any way to kill them safely? Joe's Juice doesn't work, but something along those lines is what I am looking for.
Is there any animal that will eat them?
My tank is a 250 gallon mixed reef, all soft corals and many different types of fish (angels, anthias, clowns, chromis), 2x50w MH bulbs.
I have been putting small rocks next to the crop and giving away "frags" full of xenia, but all my fish buddies have had enough and there isn't a LFS to sell to within 100 miles.
Any help is appreciated!
 
bojik

bojik

Member
You can frag them out. OR physically remove them from the rocks with a razor edge of some kind.
 
ktsdad

ktsdad

Member
I have been fragging them, the problem is that they spread onto the frag instead of moving onto the frag leaving the original stock on the original rock.
I have tried slicing them off the rocks at the base, they seem to grow back and keep spreading.
Thanks for the response!
 
kzoo

kzoo

Member
Use a thick mix of kalk you need it to be like a mud so it sticks well, just swirt it so there almost covered. They almost always die, if not just blast them again in a day or so.
 
reefreak29

reefreak29

Active Member
what u want to do is pull them out at the base it wont leave anything behing , grab it at the base and rip sideways
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
pull them off the rock by the base, for the rock that you can remove, just pull the rock out of the tank, hang the xenia upside down and use tweezers to pull the xenia off at the base, go slow and peel it from side to side so you don't tear it. for the rocks you can't remove just use the tweezers in the tank and be a little more careful not to tear the xenia.
 
ridomart

ridomart

Member
put a piece of rubble next to it with the power head blowing on it & it will all go on the rubble then sell it to youe lfs, I got $200 for 15 frags.
 
whitey_028

whitey_028

Member
Wish i had this problem. The fish store would love me!! What a horrible problem to habe!!I have too much coral...never thought i would here that one said...
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
why kill it. most lfs will give store credit, because xenia is hard to ship, so they cant get it into thier stores. I sell it all the time for 10 to 15 bucks a stalk.
 
J

jesses89

Guest
If you dont want it ill take it!!! i want my tank full of pulsating xenia!..
im serious if you dont want some of it send it my way ill pay shipping.
 
J

jrthomas40

Guest

Originally Posted by ktsdad
I have pulsing xenia taking over my tank! I have been able to "thin the herd" by removing any smaller rocks and putting them in a bucket of saltwater with a powerhead and leaving them overnight in the garage. The temperature drop kills the xenia and doesn't seem to bother anything else growing on the rock.
The problem now is that the 2 rocks remaining are both very large rocks and would really upset the tank to get them out.
Is there any way to kill them safely? Joe's Juice doesn't work, but something along those lines is what I am looking for.
Is there any animal that will eat them?
My tank is a 250 gallon mixed reef, all soft corals and many different types of fish (angels, anthias, clowns, chromis), 2x50w MH bulbs.
I have been putting small rocks next to the crop and giving away "frags" full of xenia, but all my fish buddies have had enough and there isn't a LFS to sell to within 100 miles.
Any help is appreciated!
you mean 2 250's or 2 150s????
you can even send some to me and i will take them....i havent had anyluck keeping them anyway so since you are trying to kill them i would take some of that pressure off your hands
 
mark_d

mark_d

Member
id be willing to pay for shipping as well if u are willing to give it a shot. I had some xenia before but my urchin ate/killed it >_<".
mail me at markdosal@gmail.com if interested (i know it doenst ship well but id be willing to give it a shot anywho).
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
if you are shipping, the best way in no rock. or if its on rock rubberband rock to styrofoam so it floats upside down in bag.
when you get it lit kinda looks like goo, but put in in a bowl and rinse and rubberband it to a rock.
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
When shipping xenia it is wise to put a small handful of carbon in the bag with them, this helps to reduce some of the toxins and mucus put out by the xenia during shipping. I have a 100% shipping rate with this method. I leave the stalks unattached, 1/2 cup of water, about 8-12 granules of carbon, rinsed in ro of course before thrown in (the carbon not the coral).
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
If you want to reduce Xenia growth in your tank, reduce your phosphate levels. Xenia is one of those items that you don't often see in well kept systems because they prefer less than perfect water quality.
I started with a frag when my system was 2 months old. It grew so much that I made hundreds of dollars fragging it out to the LFS (even at 1/3 retail), but once my tank stabilized it died off and now I can't keep it alive to save my life.
 
bojik

bojik

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
If you want to reduce Xenia growth in your tank, reduce your phosphate levels. Xenia is one of those items that you don't often see in well kept systems because they prefer less than perfect water quality.
I started with a frag when my system was 2 months old. It grew so much that I made hundreds of dollars fragging it out to the LFS (even at 1/3 retail), but once my tank stabilized it died off and now I can't keep it alive to save my life.
Does it also give you a sorta saftey net/buffer for the conditions to worsen quicker?
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Originally Posted by Fishgeek01
When shipping xenia it is wise to put a small handful of carbon in the bag with them, this helps to reduce some of the toxins and mucus put out by the xenia during shipping. I have a 100% shipping rate with this method. I leave the stalks unattached, 1/2 cup of water, about 8-12 granules of carbon, rinsed in ro of course before thrown in (the carbon not the coral).
Great info. Thanks for posting that. Barry
 
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