Xenia

[vermonter310]

One of the stalks of my xenia has attached to a different rock. Will it split off and become it's own....own.....self? one of the other stalks is developing some of the same type of protrusions. They sorta stick out from the bottom side of the stalk, but are too far away from any other rock to become attached. Is there something I should be doing? I'll try to post a pick soon.

TY
Mike

[sierra112]

Normal...and a good sign of a healthy Xenia. I started with a frag the size of a thumb. I now have separate colonies covering several rocks and the back glass. My first, and to this day, my favorite of all soft corals. No worries...

[cabin]

Mike,
These things are amazingly prolific, they will take over the world. As mine split, I prop spare bits of live rock under the new parts to give them something to grow onto. When they are done splitting, I can move the new guy elsewhere, sell it back to Penny, give away, etc.
Wynne

[km133688]

find yourself a LFS that will take it in trade. I get 40$/week for this stuff. How cool is that?, give them what most reefers consider "crap" and they give you good stuff.

Xenia was my second coral but is my favorite coral also.

Next come rics.

Good luck.

[spotfin]

If anyone has some extra xenia, I would like to buy a small amount from you. I have a 15 gal mini reef here at work. Lighting is 2 NO flo bulbs, but the tank is shallow.
Jason

[km133688]

spotfin, If you weren't so far away I'd give you all you could handle. Sorry man.

[sierra112]

Jason- I don't mind hooking you up with some. They will be coming out from underneath 250W Halides, so i'm not sure if you will be able to accclimate with normal outputs. Do some research and let me know.
-Tyler

[Hedonist]

I have plenty of the pusling Xenia if you are interested.. it is time to scrape some off the sides!

Shall I bring some for the next meet?!?!?!

Denise

[km133688]

Way to go Denise. Aren't clubs great.

[cabin]

Jason,
I have just the piece for you, nice and small and mounted on a little rock. It is used to PC bulb, but I bet it would adapt. Will you be at the next meeting? I also have a baby green ricordia if you are interested. Free, of course.
Wynne

[spotfin]

Thanks SWAM Folks, and km133688!

Tyler, I agree that your xenia under MH would have a hard time adjusting to the lower light level in my tank. Wynne, I will take you up on your offer. I think my lights will be ok for the Xenia and ricordia as I can place them almost at the surface. I may upgrade the lighting on this tank to PC someday. And if you have a loose piece Denise you would like to get ride of...

If the xenia grows as well in my tank as it does in everyone elses, I'll have to weed it out too.

I'll be at the next meeting (Feb 5th?). I've got a bunch more of shrimp eggs too if anyone would like some.

Thanks,
Jason

[km133688]

Hey, that green ric is great stuff too. If it is same green ric I have, it will grow well. You can frag it easy. Just cut in half down the middle leaving half of mouth and foot on each piece, then throw down in tank some place where it won't get lost. One month later you have two instead of one. Rinse&Repeat. They are awsome.

Good luck you guys. Kevin

[smtarr]

I got a small frag of Red Sea xenia from Natybug a couple of months ago and is now my FAVORITE coral. Nice pink, always pulsing and has grown to 3 seperate colonies and a week ago one of my serpent stars shifted my LR and so I woke to poor xenia being stretched between colonies and connector looked like a stretched rubber band. I took a sharp pair of scissors and cut the connector and put the new colony with it's small rock near another rock and it's already spreading to the new rock as well. My xenia is light pink and I love it. Denise, what color is yours? I'd like a frag of either the striped or yellow I've seen in pics. By all means, bring some to the next meeting. And Jason, would love some shrimp eggs for my guys, sorry to have missed the last meeting and the eggs you brought then. Hope to see you all there. Sue

[Hedonist]

Mine is pink.. I will have some at the meet..

Denise

[km133688]

whaow hold the phone, SHRIMP EGGS?

I know I am not part of you guys' reef club (I'm a member of CARS reefer club up here in CT), but this sounds different.

Spotfin, what is the story behind these shrimp eggs?

I have peppermint shrimp popping out eggs all the time but I never tried to do anything with them. You got hidden secrets you want to share?

Kevin

[cabin]

Kevin, Jason got the eggs from buying local fresh Maine shrimp from the fishermen--not from his tank! My fish loved them, and yes, Jason, if you can bring more I'm sure we'll all be pleased! I bought some larger fresh shrimp at the grocery and there were no eggs in those--maybe it is a timing issue--the larger shrimp presumably come from the south.

[Hedonist]

Try looking for a seafood shop.. look for uncleaned, pregnant shrimp...

Denise

[km133688]

hahaha... I never thought of anything like that. What an excellent idea. Only now I will never shop fish the same way again (no dear, don't get those shrimp, get these three over here...well, because as you can see they are bloated with tasty looking shrimp eggs...what do you mean I am acting silly, there is nothing silly about it...???). Yeah that is gonna go over real well.

Thanks, got some research to do now. Kevin

[spotfin]

Yes, I buy fresh Maine shrimp. I buy the whole shrimp either from fishermen selling them roadside or from a seafood market. These have the heads on and are not cleaned. The shrimp from most big stores (like Hannaford) have been cleaned (heads taken off and washed), as most consumers wouldn't find the product attractive. THe larger shrimp are females. While I clean the shrimp for human consumption, I remove the eggs and then wash them off with water. I have saved some of the cube type frozen fish food containers (Ocean Nutrition works great) and put the eggs in them and freeze. Cut off a small portion and feed to my fish. Every one of my fishes love them, even the tetras. Super nutritious too. The Maine shrimp eggs are at least twice the size of peppermint/cleaner shrimp eggs.
Jason

[km133688]

I just found a seafood store here in my home town in CT! Guess where I am headed next weekend.

Is there a way to know if the female shrimp is carrying eggs? What kind of examination do you make, or do you just trust luck?

Any other advice you want to pass one before I take the leap?

Thanks man, hmm... I wonder if there is a demonstration possibility here for my local reefers club. These is just so much to this hobby eh? "Hey Honey, lets do something different his weekend...".

Kevin

[spotfin]

It's easy to see the eggs on the shrimp. Females are bigger, and usually caught in the nets/traps at sea. Make sure you are buying Maine shrimp. A lot of shrimp sold at market is caught from Florida or is farmed in far away places. Most likely these shrimp are already cleaned and frozen. If you find Maine shrimp that are whole, the eggs will be visible under the tail. You can't miss them. They are grey in color, while the shrimp are reddish/pink. Usually there will be hundreds of eggs.
The next batch of shrimp I buy, I will take some pics and email them to you.
Jason

[Dan_L]

I make commercial Fish/shrimp net . I can get shrimp by the 100# lot.

[km133688]

Thanks Jason, I can't wait to see the pics.

And of course I will be buying MAINE shrimp, why would I want anything else?

Thanks guys. If I find them down here I'll let you all know. I'm headed for the fish store this weekend. Think I will take one of the girls with me so they can help me "spot" the eggs.

Kevin

[spotfin]

Wow! 100 # lot. That's alot of shrimp. Maybe a group buy for SWAM members? Denise?

[Hedonist]

That is a lot of shrimp but count me in if we can find some more takers... how would this work Dan..? Can you get less volume?... not sure how long the eggs will keep frozen... maybe PCR will go in on some to sell as fresh food?

Denise

[spotfin]

Don't forget the raw shrimp itself is also great food for your fish, anemones, shrimp, LPS corals, etc. My wife and dog like to eat the cooked ones.

[km133688]

Yes, my puffer get the larger cuncks of two shrimp per day, and the other tank gets the small tail pieces (crabs./shrimp/seastarts).

[spotfin]

Hi Kevin,
I've got some shrimp pictures, but am trying to figure out how to put them in my gallery. Maybe at the meeting on saturday someone could give me a crash course on how to add pics?
Jason

[spotfin]

Figured out the picture thing.... Check out my photo gallery for shrimp egg pics. I also added a picture of my spotfin butterfly as my avatar. For those who haven't seen it, I caught this fish in Boothbay Harbor in august 1999.

[spotfin]

I'll be bringing shrimp eggs with me tomorrow to the meeting if anyone wants some. They are frozen so you might want to bring something to keep them cold until you get home.

[km133688]

You are awesome dude. Those pics tell a great deal. Yes, I can see how eggs can easily be spotted, and your picture of thumb full of eggs shows how to split the shrimp and get at the booty. That looks like a lot of eggs you have there. I have a couple more questions (ofcourse):

So about how many shrimp does it get to produce the amount I saw in your picture?

Do you rinse these before you freeze them?

Do you add any additives?

thanks, Kevin Meade, have fun at your meeting guys.

[spotfin]

Hi Kevin,
Thanks! I usually buy about 2lbs worth of shrimp. Depending on several factors, the count per pound is about 40-50 shrimp per pound. The picture showing the eggs in the net was from 2.5 lbs of shrimp I bought the other night. Yes, I rinse the eggs before freezing. Shrimp "juice" mixes in with the eggs. It's dark brown/black. Just rinse the eggs while in the net and drain well before adding to the food tray. The food tray in the picture is about 3/4 full.
No, I don't add any additives. But, that is a good idea! Kick it up a notch!
Jason

[km133688]

Thanks Jason, I sure hope my local fish market has these babies. Wonder if my wife and kids are in the mood for shrimp scampii this weekend?...

Kevin

[cabin]

Jason,
Just wanted to apologize that I didn't get to the meeting with the small xenia and green ricorida for your little tank. Complications came up and I had to make an unexpected trip to Portland. Hopefully, I'll make it next month, or if you don't live too far away, I could maybe deliver or meet your somewhere?? HOpe the meeting was successful and you had good attendance.

[spotfin]

Hi Wynne,
No problem. I'll catch up with you at the next meeting. Small crowd at the meeting, but we had a good time. Made a batch of fish food with lots of goodies in it. It was like we were on Fear Factor for a minute! I thougth for sure Denise was going to make each of us drink a cup full of the stuff....
Jason