Would you put a Xenia in your tank?

[jpc763]

I have a 55g reef under T5 lighting. I am considering a frag of Xenia. I have heard good and bad things about them. Good that they are beautiful. Bad that they can grow like weeds and take over.
I have in the tank now (from left to right

):
Mushrooms
Candycane
Branching Hammer
Rust Zoanthids
Pink Paly's
Hydnophora
Green Zoanthids
Open Brain
Orange Zoanthids
Club Finger
Neon Green Toadstool
Will the Xenia fight with any (all) of these?

 

[alix2.0]

i like it.

gotta keep it trimmed back though, which is OK, since usually you can take it to a LFS and get a little $.
i dont think its very aggressive.

 

[littlebuck]

its a fast grower usually. so keeping it trimmed up is a must. And it all depends on ur tank it might do well and u will have a ton of it but sometimes it will barely grow. All depends on the tank. But if it does well u can take it to the LFS and get credit or $

 

[petjunkie]

Just put it on a rock in the middle of your sandbed so it can't spread to your main rockwork. I have some, last time it died in my tank but I love the way it looks so I'm trying again.

 

[ric maniac]

Originally Posted by petjunkie
Just put it on a rock in the middle of your sandbed so it can't spread to your main rockwork. I have some, last time it died in my tank but I love the way it looks so I'm trying again.
exactly what i did before my tank crashed.

 

[jpc763]

Originally Posted by ric maniac
exactly what i did before my tank crashed.
So what do you mean?

Putting the Xenia in the sand bed caused your tank to crash? Or that is the way you keep Xenia and the tank crashed so you don't have it anymore?

 

[jpc763]

Originally Posted by alix2.0
i like it.

gotta keep it trimmed back though, which is OK, since usually you can take it to a LFS and get a little $.
i dont think its very aggressive.
So how does one keep it trimmed? Thanks.
J

 

[m0nk]

Personally, I don't like xenia enough to have it in the tank, but it also grows really fast. When you're keeping LPS you need to watch out for fast growers because the LPS will reach out stinging tentacles to "attack" intruders...

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by jpc763
So how does one keep it trimmed? Thanks.
J

OMG..... It cant be this easy can it? OHHHH the possibilites....

 

[perfectdark]

Xenia are touchy, while they do well in some tanks, in others they fail. They dont seem to follow the water chemisty guidline because some people with pristine water have trouble keeping them. I have alot right now and there are times where i notice a head just melting away and in a few days all is well again. Then all of a sudden they are spreading like wild fire. Its a very weird coral IMO.

 

[jpc763]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Xenia are touchy, while they do well in some tanks, in others they fail. They dont seem to follow the water chemisty guidline because some people with pristine water have trouble keeping them. I have alot right now and there are times where i notice a head just melting away and in a few days all is well again. Then all of a sudden they are spreading like wild fire. Its a very weird coral IMO.
Yes, but do you like it? Or do you look at the real estate it takes up (and the area that it will grow into) and say, "I wish I had something else in there".
Thanks.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by jpc763
Yes, but do you like it? Or do you look at the real estate it takes up (and the area that it will grow into) and say, "I wish I had something else in there".
Thanks.

IMO I like it.. I have a large leather that I look at and say I wish I had something else there. However given the choice of Xenia, I would take pom pom's over regular pulsing xenia any day of the week.

 

[earlybird]

I'd put xenia in a fuge if I had one that was large enough that's about it.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by earlybird
I'd put xenia in a fuge if I had one that was large enough that's about it.
That is a good point.... and it comes back to what PerfectDark noted earier; pristine water conditions aren't the best for xenia. They tend to consume nitrates, sorta like macro algaes.

 

[aquaknight]

Xenia's grow quickly, but not like an overnight engulf of another coral type thing. If you leave your tank unmonitored for extended periods, I would suggest otherwise. Yes, they seem to do better in dirty tanks (hence why my tank is full of xenia lol). They need light, PC's are more then enough, but since most people's refugiums are lit by a clip-on light or 12" flourscent, those aren't enough. And they will be drowned out by the faster growing macroalgaes. If you can keep them seperate, with a more powerful light, it could work.
Fragging/removing xenia is very simple. Start on one side of the stalk, and use your fingernail to scratch the base stalk off from the rock. This is a pretty gross description, but just like picking a scab off. The Xenia will typically release a good bit of slime mucus so don't worry about that.

 

[ric maniac]

Originally Posted by jpc763
So what do you mean?

Putting the Xenia in the sand bed caused your tank to crash? Or that is the way you keep Xenia and the tank crashed so you don't have it anymore?
the second one lol my bad

 

[peef]

I really like my xenia and everyone who looks at my tank goes, wooooo what is THAT!!! But yeah it grows CRAZY fast, in my tank at ;east. I started with a 3" by 2" rock covered in them, now that rock has been removed and I have about 15 different heads on other rocks in my tank. I am about to do some "trimming" (but not the kind PD was talking about

)

 

[mojo46825]

I wish I didnt have it. I grew right over the top of my gsp's. If anyone is in or around Fort Wayne indiana I have some they could have. the pet store will take it sometimes . I cut it back and throw it out. I dont even frag it. Its on a lrge pice of rock in my tank and I would be hapier if it was gone. Thanks.

 

[azul1994]

I like the look of it, i'd get some xenia if i were you.

 

[er..md]

xenia can be easily removed (and usually without killing it) by the following method...
you need a 60cc catheter tip syringe...this is a syringe with a big tip kind of like a turkey baster...
put it in the water and start aspirating near the xenia...it will get sucked in...when its all in put the tip firmly at the base of the xenia pull back and it will usally come off without damage...then just gently squirt it out whereever you want it