need help propogating xenia...

[Ken S]

i tried to cut a piece of my xenia and move it to another rock, the branch was about 3 inches long. i cut it close to the trunk and it shriveled up to the size of a marble, i decided it was too small to try a rubber band so i tried the toothpic trick. i impaled it on a toothpic, the next morning it was gone, i dont know if a crab got it or what, i never found it in the tank or a filter. can someone email or post a very detailed list of how to cut and move xenia. thanks

[David Grigor]

Need to cut it below where two branches form a Y so that you can attach with rubberband.

Easiest is to just place a rock nearby and let it spread on it own. Once established xenia can grow like a weed and probably only weeks before spreading to the rock......

Or just toss the xenia in a submerged tubberware container or sump full ( to keep current from blowing it away) with rubble rock in it. It will attach quickly.

Here in Minneapolis the market is so flooded with xenia you can't give it away. Usually end up just tossing it down the toilet.....

[manderx]

i have it growing on my glass, so when i want to make a cutting to give someone, i scrape it off, put it on a rock and then cover it with a piece of plastic netting (like what onions and oranges come in) and then use rubber bands around the whole rock to hold the netting down.

[Dragonlady]

Have you ever tried superglue for frags?

[Frick-n-Frags]

Xenia is one notch firmer than eggwhite/snot.:D Don't even think about superglue unless maybe you were gluing a little bridal-veil net down all around a piece of Xenia. The Xenia can't go anywhere and just morphs through the net.

The let it settle and attach itself method is my favorite, then superglue the whatever it is attached to to something larger.

[undrwata]

I just a half hour ago dropped off 5 frags at my LFS (we trade) anyway I just grab a piece (small) and pull it right off the rock (sorta peal it)...it will tear. I rubberband it to a piece of LR rubble and 7 days later I take it to my LFS...

;)

[Frick-n-Frags]

I started doing the settle the Xenia cutting in gravel and then glue the gravel to a piece of rubble rock frag method for taking them to the LFS too. They looked perfect, one stalk, square on a nice little rock piece. You know how the retail presentation is everything these days. :D

[thepup88]

I just place a rock next to mine and a few days later i have a stalk or two on a new rock

[fins369]

If you are still having trouble with it, GARF has an online video on propagating with bridal netting that you can watch online. I started out with only 4 stalks of xenia and now have 12 within a matter of a few months. I have cut it and used rubberbands, but I too have found the best way was to put a small rock next to the the stalk and it will move for you! HTH:D

www.garf.org

[davelin315]

Just tear it off and drop it on the bottom. It'll attach itself if it doesn't get blown behind the rocks and then start to climb up whatever is handy. My back wall is covered in xenia and it is growing on powerheads, cords, filter box, you name it. I just pull and dump every once in a while and then remove the clumps when they start to grow upward again.

[Lady Godiva]

I used superglue. I dryed a piece of rock and put a couple drops of superglue on the rock. I placed the Xenia frag on the glue and waited a minute or so and it stuck on. I was then able to place the rock where I wanted the Xenia to be.

[HuBu]

well i know ppl are gonna frown at me for this but, do i really care...
cut the xenia however you like. even if i shrivels up, take a rubberband and tie it around the xenia and rock, just let it sit there for a few days. after 2 days, youll see that that xenia's pulsers are upright. a few more days and it will be pulsing. then just cut the rubberband off.

[HarvyClam]

I just got a small piece of Xenia on Wednesday. The guy I got it from actually sewed it to the rock. He just went right thru it.

How long should it take to open up fully? The arms are standing but the hands are somewhat closed, but not tight.

I hope this survives, it's my first coral addition, tanks been up since February. I hope it's long enough....

[dug]

cutting, rubberbands, superglue?? way too much work. xenia is like the dandylion of the marine world: it will grow anywhere with very little prodding. place some rubble rock, shells, etc. behind the mother colonly and direct some current at it. (refer to diagram A.) works like a charm. not that the world (at least in minnesota) needs more xenia...


diagram A


................................x.....a
..................................e..i.....rubble
current -------------->....n......rubble
..................................e....i...rubble
................................x.......a

[Ken S]

my xenia doesnt look like any pictures that others have posted, everyones looks like "carpet", mine looks like "broccoli", like a small tree. i have had it for 4 months and it isnt growing or speading? i have pictures coming