Xenia Question??

[~TG~]

About 3-4 weeks ago I added a med-lrg sized stalk of brown Xenia with the large pulsing tips. It came attached to a piece of live rock that went into my 75g. It was doing great until a few days ago I noticed that ALL of the tips were missing like if they had been cut off or trimmed :?

The branches and the entire stalk are intact with no visible problems ~ except for the pulsing tips that have vanished. :?
Does anyone have any idea as to what could have caused this? The ONLY thing different that I did 1-2 days prior to the missing "tips" was I moved my Coral Beauty Angelfish into that tank. I thought nothing would touch Xenia because it has a bad taste? Anyone have any idea as to why this happened?

Thanks
~TG~

[GaryP]

No idea on that one. I have had coral beauties with Xenia and never noticced a problem. I suppose it could be a possibility though. Some angels will nip at corals. I think the Xenia will probably grow back.

Gary

[NaCl_H2O]

That's a new one! Sounds like you have an angel with bad taste in food! Is the angel "well" feed? If not already doing so, you might want to feed some fresh/frozen "good" stuff to the angel and see if that reduces the Xenia grazing.

The Xenia will grow back, but if the angel is hungry and has developed a taste :? for Xenia, it will likely "trim" it again.

[Jenn]

I have seen my blue regals nipping on my xenia numerous times. The pulsating tips just come back shortly after they are left alone.

[GaryP]

TG,

There have been lots of times that I wished I had something that would graze on my Xenia. It does have a tendency to take over in some tanks. I call it "aquarium crabgrass."

Gary

[~TG~]

Here is a picture of the Xenia and the possible culprit..LOL :evil:

I was thinking it was my water parameters or something else but everythings in check. As for feeding ~ I feed them with fresh/frozen foods twice a day and she is a PIG she eats everything that I drop in the tank.
~Well if anyone ever needs their Xenia "trimmed" I have just the fish that "specializes" in that area .. ;) "FOR RENT"

Thanks again
~TG~

[Tim Marvin]

Even the stalk looks shriveled. I bet it is a water problem...

[NaCl_H2O]

~Well if anyone ever needs their Xenia "trimmed" I have just the fish that "specializes" in that area .. ;) "FOR RENT"

By he hour, or by the Xenia stalk? You could make lots of money :grin:

[~TG~]

Even the stalk looks shriveled. I bet it is a water problem...

Thanks Tim ~ I'll test it again...


NaCl_H2O

By he hour, or by the Xenia stalk? You could make lots of money


LOL ~ Well it's about time my fish stepped up to the plate $$$ for this expensive hobby..LOL

[Tim Marvin]

It may not be something you can test for. Xenia can do great in one tank and terrible in another.

[Troy Valentine]

Curious... I have had this happen to me several times, I Call it seeding the tank. Right after I set up my 240 I only had a couple of pieces of Xenia in tank. (I didn't want another tank over run with Xenia) But a couple of days after setting up the tank, the few colonies of Xenia that I had started droping its hands, and now I've got colonies popping up all over the place.

However the parent colony never looked wilted or stressed.