My tank has become overgrown with xenia. I enjoyed this coral when it was a small specimen on each end of my tank; however, I now hate the sight of this 5 foot monster
I'd honestly like to remove every single piece of it, but not sure the best way to do this. I'd love to hear opinions / suggestions on how to remove it from large pieces of live rock and also what to do with it afterwards.
Some concerns are:
1. The effect on the tanks water quality
2. Removing it form between my large mushrooms without harming them.
3. Effect on the live rock
4. Proper/responsible disposal of excessive coral
My LFS would love to have some Xenia. They have some in their tanks that they are trying to propagate but they aren't having much success for some reason. I'd check with your LFS and see if they'll take some of it off your hands.
For what it's worth, MOST LFS would LOVE to get ahold of your Xenia. Xenia is an aweful coral to ship. It usually ends up at the destination as a rotting, stinky, blob o' goo.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check with the LFS and our local reef club. Guess I've come to view it as a nuisance and didn't figure anyone would really want it. Giving it away is certainly better than throwing it away huh?
Any ideas on the easiest and safest way to remove this from the live rock? Some times it peels offs easily, other times it rips and tears.
Give it away or trade it to your LFS for some other corals that are not so invasive.. You might have to break off the rock right below the coral trunk in order to to get it off in one piece.
when my xenias grew large i just grab a sissors and start cutting. they just grow back anyways after you cut them. easy side money for that upgrade you always wanted...hehe
yep.. just cut them...
you can use any sharp scissors, and take the cuttings to your LFS.
you shouldn't have any major effects on your tank by removing them
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On my other reef board, I know 2 guys trading it back to the LFS- one guy makes $100 per month on xenia frags.
Not everyone can grow the stuff. Mine went crazy for about 6 months and then when I upgraded to a euroreef, my growth was gone.
I too have a problem with mine over growing everything. I just take a razor blade and cut it off, and give it away. I think of it as maintance.
Victoria
You can also get Xenia to move over onto a small piece of rock by placing the "frag rock" next to the xenia and then aiming a powerhead at the xenia. Xenia typically will move away from water movement....
also...once you've given away all that you can or if there are some hard to reach specimens, I sometimes will siphon off specimens of mine if they're getting too out of control. maybe not the most friendly way, but sometimes they're just little frags that have started up again and I don't necessarily want them there....
I have two different varieties in mine. and they love phos. as much as the macro does. Also, ive noticed with certain amounts of iodine, they will pulse more. not really a scientific conclusion, just an observation. i dunno. they grow like weeds and new reefers pay for the cuttings. (Good on my end )
Also, if they rip or tear, they usually grow faster and into more heads! but it does well to cover up that live rock I got and it looks cool pulsing and wayving in the current. good luck.
I have Xeinia in the pony tank with 2X55W PC and it does fine. It grows a LOT slower than it did under MH in my reef, but buds and forms new stalks consistently.
I do believe that they assist in the uptake of nutrients, to include PO, NA etc. There are many examples where agressive skimming has caused the slow disappearance of Xenia in Hobbyists systems. I've not ready studies or tried this myself, but in a non scientific "guesstimate", I would assume that the coral is starved for either nutrients, or trace elements that are removed by heavy skimming.
To remove them completly I have taken an exacto knife with a flat blade and sort of scraped at the base of the xenia along the rock. Kind of like pushing your cuticle back on your nail. The xenia usually comes away clean with little or no damage.
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