Xenia-dominated tanks.. Let's see em!

xtm · #1 10/29/2006, 12:11 PM

I have set up a new tank dedicated for growing....XENIA!

I started with this small frag

In just 1 month, it turned into this

I can't wait till it grows all over my tank. It's a 38G acrylic under a Hamilton 14K 175w.. I dose nothing but Lugols. 2 drops every week

Anyone else have Xenia dominated tanks? Let's see em!

my"reef"space · #2 10/29/2006, 05:09 PM

wow....that's growing fast...

db_triggerfish · #3 10/29/2006, 05:10 PM

bump

onegreenray · #4 10/29/2006, 07:01 PM

what kind of light do you have that under? metal halides?

SitBackAndWatch · #5 10/30/2006, 12:02 AM

what is lugols?

jbittner · #6 10/30/2006, 02:31 PM

iodine

albie611 · #7 10/30/2006, 05:24 PM

what are you doing to make it grow so fast.
i have a frag that i got a few months ago and all of a sudden two days ago it closed up and i have not had much growth.
all my water parameters are great and i have no idea what went wrong with it.
sg 1.024, ph 8.2, amonia 0 , nitrite 0 ,nitrate 10 , phosphate under 0.2,calcium 420, temp 78,alk 13dkh.
any sugestions?......thanks

aztbs · #8 10/30/2006, 05:29 PM

I would not say my tank is dominated. A sharp pair of scissors has been key. But here is the first frag of Xenia on 06-17-06:

And here it is two months later:

IME, xenia are sensitive to alkalinity and do not do so well in a severely nutrient poor environment like a pristine SPS reef.

Mariner · #9 10/30/2006, 05:39 PM

Here are a couple of pics of mine... I actually have over 30 species of coral in this 75g tank, but xenia is the most prolific.

Mariner

paeSona · #10 10/30/2006, 09:02 PM

hey i have a question since you obviously know a thing or two about anthelia let me see if you can help me. i have a yellow anthelia i just purchased it about a week ago 10-23 do you think it will spread or no not realy. i have about 265wpower compacts on a 90 gal reef. email me paesona41691@aol.com

albie611 · #11 11/02/2006, 05:38 PM

bump

r00onmac · #12 11/06/2006, 12:12 PM

i got, literally, like 10 living polyps in the mail stuck to one tiny rock in may... right now i just sold a very large set of cuttings to a LFS and still have a large rock covered and some on the glass... this stuff is cool and grows quickly enough to feed some of my LFS purchases...

Mariner · #13 11/06/2006, 02:12 PM

Albie & paeSona,
Xenia tends to be grow and spread very well in MOST tanks, but not all. It seems to prefer a tank that is slightly "dirty" -- that is, it doesn't mind if you skip a water change, and it definitely reacts to light, although it doesn't need a lot of light to do well. My 75g is lit with just 6 40watt flourescent bulbs.
That said, Xenia growth and health is somewhat of a mystery. It may do well in some tanks for long periods of time and then mysteriously crash; or it may not do well in one tank, but very well in another, even though the tanks are set up and maintained virtually the same way.
FYI, HTH,
Mariner

JamesJR · #14 11/07/2006, 12:48 AM

I know this is off topic, and you won't listen to me anyway, but I wouldn't dose lugol's solution. It consists of I2, which is an unnatural form of iodine (I.e it is not the form of iodine that is in seawater) that can be pretty toxic. Regular potassium Iodine is probably much safer and appropriate for aquariums.

Mariner · #15 11/07/2006, 06:12 AM

I agree with James, although I did notice that this month's RC Tank of the Month mentions that he doses lugols every couple of weeks.
I used to dose Kent's iodine, but haven't for a couple years. My Xenia hasn't noticed.
If I remember correctly, Xenia has significant amounts of iodine in its tissues, and so some have assumed that dosing large quantities of it will help. IMHO, that makes about as much sense as dosing humans with large amounts of carbon. To my knowledge, no scientific study has demonstrated a connection between Xenia health and Iodine levels that are above normal sea water.
FWIW,
Mariner

JamesJR · #16 11/07/2006, 10:53 AM

XTM, I am not trying to bash you. I just wanted to make you aware of this. You can dose Lugols with great results but I have known lots of people who have killed all their xenia using it. It is very strong stuff and not to be used lightly.

bradleyj · #17 11/08/2006, 12:34 AM

In a couple of months, my pom pom has gone from this to this.

JamesJR · #18 11/08/2006, 12:35 AM

nice!

ReefObsessor805 · #19 11/08/2006, 03:11 AM

Here is a pic of mine...I've had it for a couple months and has grown a little bit. But it really hasn't tried to move around much. I dose Kent Iodine, 5ml, every week with my 10-20% water change...but it hasn't decided to tank over my tank yet...lol.

But it is still looking good.

ReefObsessor805 · #20 11/08/2006, 03:12 AM

lildraken · #21 11/08/2006, 03:21 AM

Quote:

[i]

IME, xenia are sensitive to alkalinity and do not do so well in a severely nutrient poor environment like a pristine SPS reef. [/B]

I am one of the few people that are xenia challenged. both my pom pom xenia and elongatas have perished. What alkalinity reading do ya'll have that are successful with xenias? thanks

Eugene Ciccimaro · #22 11/08/2006, 07:54 AM

I have had xenia grow from about a single branch to about 5 in 2 months and then had all branches shrink to nearly nothing. I had not stopped or started doing anything differently. The only thing that may have happened in my system is that the xenia started interacting more with other corals. All other corals in the system have continued to grow.
My alk. is about 8.3.
The xenia have not staterted growing again even though I have tried dosing with Iodine or iodide.

doomicon · #23 11/08/2006, 09:27 AM

Just purchased this zoa rock from a local reefer, has tons of xenia. This picture was taken when I added the rock. I'll get another and post since it has opened up and looks alot healthier now :-)

I really love the short/stubby look of the Xenia. Previous owner was constantly cutting it back (took over his tank), and it would always grow back, producing this cool look.

lildraken · #24 11/08/2006, 02:30 PM

Eugene, I read at Garf that xenia colonies sometimes crash and to deter this, you must add different species of xenia. Mine were only housed with 2 umbrella mushroom corals and 3 florida richordeas. I wonder if the umbrella mushrooms did something to them.
Alas, I have one single polyp that has survived. it looks healthy :-)

lildraken · #25 11/08/2006, 02:33 PM

doomicon- your zoorock with xenia-- that's hot