Xenia overload

vyperone

Member
I know I am going to get slammed for this but... does anybody know a way to get rid of Xenia... My tank has so much pink xenia I just can't stand it anymore. I have been pulling them out by hand, but that is hard to do... they grow like weeds, I pull one five pop up...
I even offered to trade my fish store the rock with xenia on it, for more rock but he says he doesnt have the room for all the rock.
I know Xenia doesnt really have any natural predators, but has anybody noticed any particular fish they have had that may eat this stuff?
 

reefnut

Active Member
No need to slam yeah... this time

I don't know of a natural predator for Xenia... angle fish may eat it but they may eat other things as well.
You can manually remove them w/o having them grow back IF you get all of the Xenia off the rock. IME if you grab the stock low and slowly pill them off you can get the entire Xenia about 75% of the time.
If you wanted, any left over parts could be eliminated with a kalk paste mixture.
 

vyperone

Member
Thanks for the reply ReefNut. I have been injecting Kalk into the stalks to let them die off, but I cant do too much lest I cause a spike in the chemistry due to too much kalk or too much of the Xenia dying off. I would really like to find some people around here to trade off with.... I took a bunch of my rock and put it down in my refugium to cut down on the amount of lighting its getting. while they have thinned, they just dont go away. My last recourse is to get a bucket of saltwater and a wire brush and scrub them off in the water.
 

stanlalee

Active Member
Is it true if you raise tank temp above 82 for any extended periods they will die off? I read thats how nature prevents them from overtaking reefs. I've also read on some frag/breeder sites temps above 82deg will kill them but not other corals or reef inhabitants.
 

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
Is it true if you raise tank temp above 82 for any extended periods they will die off? I read thats how nature prevents them from overtaking reefs. I've also read on some frag/breeder sites temps above 82deg will kill them but not other corals or reef inhabitants.
well considering that my tank sits at 83-84 at all times for the last few years and it is filled with 4 kinds of xenia and lots of it i would say no this wont work.
all i do is remove it FULLY from the areas i dont want it. i pull the stalk and then use a turkey baster to squirt boiling water on the left over flesh. works every time and will not harm anything else. the tank will cool the water so fast that only the item directly in front of and VERY close to the blast will be killed.
 

speg

Active Member
I'll drive to you and take off all you want me to.
Xenia cannot handle rapid temperature increases. Increasing the temp quickly 5-6 degrees will probably fry the whole colony.
 

thangbom

Active Member
umm... darn.. id ask for some but i heard that they dont ship well... id like to have a few.... if it's cheap.. cuzz i dont know if my fish will eat them...
 

thangbom

Active Member
ohhh.. and if you want them dead.. cant you freeze them.. like pull out what you can then get a block of ice and lay on it for a few.. im perdy shure that they cant take the cold too good.. i mean.. set a ice on them for a minute...... just a suggestion..
 

dfrick23

New Member
I would like some of these xenias. I hate to see anything have to die. I have two small colonies that are still "babies" one being green and the other pale colored. Im in nc and will gladly pay overnight shipping if it not too much. Email me - dfrick23@carolina.rr.com. Thanks
 

vyperone

Member
I had a flame angel, he didnt touch the stuff.
While I would love to ship stuff to everyone, I do not have the materials, nor the time to package and ship. If anyone is local to me and wants to come by i would be more than happy to accommodate you. Since most of the Xenia is on rather large pieces of live rock, I would expect some trading to occur. Generally I do not care what I am getting, but I do have my fill of green mushrooms. If you got real blue ones, or some colorful zoos I would be happy to take them. email me directly at sgutauckis@gmail.com
 
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