Xenia

[cheapfish1]

hey guys after upgrading my lighting i went to the LfS to find a nice cheap coral to test my tank. They suggested a pulsing xenia which by the way if it isnt a good starting coral i really dont want flamed. My question though is there anything extra i can do to incourage growth, like feed it phyto or anything or is it soly on a light diet. Also i got a small powerhead rated for 30 gallons and it has different settings, i have it at six but is that too much?
Any other helpful info greatly appreciated
thanks
mike

 

[dogstar]

They mainly feed from light so strong light and good water flow is key.

 

[cheapfish1]

also my xenia appear to be pulsing really quickly is this good or bad. And do these grow quickly?

 

[dogstar]

Ohhh yeaah, they grow quickly. too quick for me.

 

[cheapfish1]

well this sucks my first coral and either my coral beauty bothered it or it just randomly closed up. It seems like it is on the stores light schedule cause it just closed up around the time they close, is that possible or is it probably that fish

 

[dogstar]

Could be on the stores schedule. Could caght some food. They nomaly close up at lights out and some times for no reason. Could be the coral beauty nipping, just checking them out. My CB does not bother mine but my Flame Angle nips at them sometimes.

 

[sharkboy97]

mine stay out all night and all lights are off at 9 pm and they grow encridibly fast i have had them in my 20gl long for 3 monthes with 195watts pc and have already had to frag them twice

 

[cheapfish1]

awesome maybe i can make some of my 40 bucks back for them they are in my 30 pretty close under my 150 watt mh they should grow then i think

 

[sharkboy97]

becareful not to burn them and do you have the brown ones

 

[cheapfish1]

yeah they are the brown ones and by pretty close i mean the highest in my tank which is still like a foot below the lights. I really wish my Lfs had the blue or silver but no such luck.
O and not to change the subject but i want to get some zoos but after seeing the ones in my LFS that were like half the size of a dime are there any bigger species of zoos.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by cheapfish1
They suggested a pulsing xenia which by the way if it isnt a good starting coral i really dont want flamed.... mike
Well, that's hardly fair. takes all the fun out of it for the rest of us!

Ok, seriously, I'll try to answer your question but I'm sure there are others with more valuable opinions and knowledge than mine.
Xenia are hit and miss. Many people have great success with them, while some others with perfectly beautiful reef tanks can't keep them. :notsure: So I'd say that they are not a good "test" species.
The whole concept of "test" species is a bit irresponsible on our part as aquarists anyway. Is your tank well established? Did you research your purchase (listening to lfs employee doesn't count imho)? Do you know how it feeds? Do you have proper lighting? Proper water flow? Have you checked all of your water parameters to make sure they are ideal? If you can't answer "yes" to each of these questions then you need to step back and re-evaluate the way you do things.
After fixing everything in your ability to make sure your tank is a proper environment for coral, hardy corals are a good choice. Polyps, Mushrooms, Leathers all are good starter corals.

 

[cheapfish1]

yeah i know they are photosynthetic filter feeders. My lights are more than enough for my tank. I did start with shrooms and they have been in there for a long time. WEll established i sadly must answer no but all of my levels are under control. and i can answer yest to the water flow? so im like 95% lol. it seems to be doing fine though

 

[oreo12]

I have some. I had trouble with mine at first. Do weekly water changes. My pigmmi angel pics at them from time to time but they grow back. The coral beauty will probably nip at yours as well. Mine has attached to the glass and has moved all the way to the top and is in the curent from my power fillter I use for the carbon. As you add more corals they have a chemical warfar and the carbon helps remove it I also do add kent plank? 2 times a week and since doing this have seen faster growth. Keep the nitrates as low as you can my xeina hated high amounts. good luck lets see some photos in the future.

 

[cheapfish1]

k here are some pics i took today. some of the xenia and the rest of my tank.

 

[pbienkiewi]

here are my Xenia's 3 months ago. I have way more and the Stalks are HUGE. everyone is growing and after I frag them. They grow back at a decent speed. I have a 55gal with 520 watts lighting. 260watt day and 260 watt atinics.
They have tripples in size now.

 

[ross]

Control the xenia, or it can turn into this.

 

[speg]

Man.. you guys saying that the xenia in your tank is growing out of control are nuts..
reason 1) Xenia are very beautiful.. I wouldnt care if every inch of my tank was loaded with them.
reason 2) Xenia are hard to ship, fish stores pay a pretty penny for them. If I had that many i'd be able to pay for every bit of supplies I need to keep my tank running without dipping into my own pocket.
reason 3) They do not sting things, you can let them grow just about anywhere and not have to worry about them stinging your delicate animals.
reason 4) All your Xenia are belong to me!

 

[cheapfish1]

im with speg except they belong to me, but they are awesome i hope mine splits or reproduces or what ever they do.

 

[gkotlin]

I've heard that they need iodine and good lighting. Mine have grown noticeably in about a week. They are really cool to look at. I added some because my tank is new and I don't have things flowing and moving about. So they help the harsh looking rock look more alive. I've heard they're temperature sensitive and also don't ship well especially in the temperature extreme months.

 

[teresaq]

I too like my xenia, I bought a frag for 10.00 and have sold over 65.00 worth to my lfs. They always take it when i have frags to get rid of.