What would you do?

[jackri]

I'd like some opinions on what to do.
I have a big colony of Xenia I recieved from another person about a year ago. The colony came in on a dead piece of sps... and has a bunch of black sponge growing on the base. The down side of this... is the hair algae on this piece is growing really long and thick --- to this one piece only. It has not spread anywhere in my 90 gallon tank. I have 100 astrea snails and 100+ hermits and a yellow tang... nothing touches it in the xenia. I pulled some out... and the xenia is actually growing on the hair algae itself and not the dead coral.
Now the xenia has spread pretty much all over of course in little bunches. My question is... would you take out that piece of dead coral (softball sized) and kill all the hair algae on it and xenia and put it in the tank and hopefully the sponge lives.. or just leave it all contained where it is?
I'm planning on setting up a nice frag tank in a month or so and could save the xenia then... but not sure I want to.

Theres about 20 individual colonies of xenia I'd be killing but would have another 20 throughout the tank....so I want some opinions

 

[bang guy]

If the rock has been growing hair algae for over a year then it should run out of fuel soon. The fuel is coming from dead organic material inside the rock, it won't leach Phosphate forever.
Since you now have more Xenia than you want you could simply sell the Xenia hair rock to someone else.

 

[teresaq]

take some to lfs for credit.

 

[spanko]

Yup take the rock that is unappealing and do what Teresa said.

 

[jackri]

Not sure my lfs wants a big rock of hair algae/xenia. Plus I want to keep the sponge living on the rock (possibly take it out and remove all the hair/xenia).

 

[coral head]

Never expose the sponge to the air, you will kill it.