pulsing xenias?

[mujtba]

i have xenias in my tank and they are looking real nice and growing very big..
do you guys usually cut your xenias and get rid of them?
can it end up taking over my tank and fill everything with xenias or will it slow down itself??
i dont know if i should take a knife and cut it from the base close to the rock and get rid of it..
any advise is helpful.. :thinking:

 

[bronco300]

take em to an lfs, they will usually take em for credit, look in the archives for propogation...somewhere in there is a thread about pulsing xenias.

 

[minitruck]

If you have alot of it you can always call some local shops and ask if you can trade it in. I trade mushrooms and pulsing xenia to a couple local shops and I get nice frags of stuff in trade. I really dont think that the growth will slow down and it may take over your tank. Hmm, an all xenia tank would be kinda cool. Maybe a 10 gallon xenia tank.
The shops that I trade my frags to say that each frag must be mounted on a small rock and be in a "sellable size".

 

[mujtba]

ok so can i cut the xenias at the base with a knife and take it to my LFS?
is that fine or would it die? :help:

 

[bigarn]

Originally Posted by mujtba
ok so can i cut the xenias at the base with a knife and take it to my LFS?
is that fine or would it die? :help:
Use a razor blade and it'll be fine.

 

[mudplayerx]

I use scissors to cut mine...that is the easiest. Then take the cut portion and place it on a small rock with some netting over it. Secure the netting and in a couple of days the xenia will have attached to the rock.

 

[unleashed]

you can also secure it to a small rock with a rubber band.also check your local area forums alot of them have swaps and sales of related items.ps this one does also.

 

[mujtba]

is there a place to cut them at, or can i just cut close to the base? :notsure:

 

[pbienkiewi]

It really doesn't matter. Close to the base is good because I like to rubber band them to a new rock and it gives me plenty of room for it to attatch. I like to cut xenia with scissors. Make sure you rince them off after. They will rust

 

[mudplayerx]

There is a thread on one of the boards...do a search for "Xenia Propagation Experiment." The fastest way to get them to attach in my experience is the net method. I have gotten them to attach that way overnight!

 

[sweetdawn]

thirty gallon not suppossed to be all xenias but mine are weeds

 

[ktsdad]

I am guessing you don't have any problems with Nitrate or Phosphate!

That is A LOT of freaking Xenias!!

 

[blazehok68]

if you are concerned with the xenia taking over, set up a refugium with some cheato. the cheato absorbs the nitrates that the xenia thrive on and actually slows down their growth. i had xenia in my 55 growing like weeds. i had to take some to the lfs probably every 2 weeks. finally i got fed up and got rid of most of it. a little while later i set up a hang on the tank fuge and put some cheato in there and its like the xenia is growing in slow motion. they are still thriving and are very healthy, they just dont grow as fast. thats just my experience.
joe

 

[mujtba]

wait, so i have a nitrate problem??
isn't that a bad thing? so xenias are thriving off it, while i guess other corals hate it?? :notsure:
i know i will end up hating taking it taking over the tank or cuttin it frequently..
if i selll this online, will people buy it? is it a hot item?

 

[blazehok68]

you dont have a nitrate problem, you are just exporting it differntly than other people. other reefers usually export their nitrates through biological, (a refugium consisting of macroalgae) or chemical filtration. you are exporting it through xenia growth. my tank was the same way. xenia is a hot item but from what i understand it doesnt ship very well. your best bet would be to frag it out and take it to a lfs. they will probably gladly take it and give you some store credit b/c it doesnt ship well.

 

[chefrd38]

Originally Posted by sweetdawn
thirty gallon not suppossed to be all xenias but mine are weeds
sweetdawn i've got a clam like that how do you get it to stay up mine keeps kicking itself over thanks chef

 

[mudplayerx]

Xenia's do not utilize nitrates. Actually it kills them.
Those are some BEAUTIFUL xenias Sweetdawn!!! I wish you lived near me so I could trade some of my peach-colored, long tentacled ones for white, short ones.

 

[sweetdawn]

they are really a pale pink not white. and the clam is attached to the bottom or something cause i cant move it.

 

[sweetdawn]

ok and last time I checked my nitrates were around twenty. im bad i havent checked the parameters on any of my tanks for the last two months I hate my new testing kit. Thought i totally screwed my tank up last week i wanted to add some calcium so i added it to my freshwater topoff jug shook it up poured some in the next day wanted to add more water trying to lower salinity add the water not watching it closely just trying to make sure i wasnt overflowing the tank. looked at what was coming out of the jug and it looked like milk. was white my whole tank was cloudy. Poor xenias lost there pretty flowery look and looked bad. stopped pulsing :scared: ok so emptied a couple of buckets of water out got a new water jug replaced some water they are doing much better now

 

[mudplayerx]

YIKES sweetdawn!!! You have to let the calcium mix sit overnight with a cap on the container. You are supposed to let the powder settle on the bottom and NOT introduce that to the tank. hehe
Also, you have to drip it in, not pour it in. Your xenia most likely wigged out because you caused a massive spike in your ph. Hope everything turns out ok