Finger Leather and Pulsing Xenia

[Lance B.]

Hi All,

Any suggestions on how to stop Xenia from growing without removing rocks..

 

[snakeblitz33]

You can slice/frag them quite easily and sell them to your Lfs.

The tissues left behind can be killed with methods that may also kill aiptasia. Try that first, then if all use fails, try an aiptasia lazer(sp?)

 

[pegasus]

Xenia can very difficult to remove from the rocks, and any patches of "skin" left behind forms new colonies. That's the reason my xenia and anthelia are on their own private "islands" in the sand at the bottom of the tank. You can try peeling/scraping them off the rocks, but that won't guarantee complete removal. Not sure if aiptasia killer would work, as most are designed to glue the mouth of the anemone shut, and xenias have a lot of mouths! Another technique that people use for aiptasia is to inject it with lemon juice. This might effectively kill the selected colony, but I'm only guessing here...

 

[smfoister]

I've used lemon juice, boiling water, armies of peppermint shrimp. While each method works in one form or another I've decided that the best way to prevent xenia from taking over my tank is to never put it in. Lol

 

[bang guy]

Be very very careful with cutting Xenia while it's still in the tank. It will release toxins that can harm surrounding coral.

If you can take the rock out then it's easy. Slice off what you don't want with a razor and squirt boiling water on the leftover flesh on the rock. It will grow back but it will take a little time for it to recover.