Xenia forest!

[bprewit]

I got three small xenia frags from a guy awhile back. Each frag was very small and had one head on each. Well that was 6 weeks ago and now they have spread to the two nearest rocks and are also starting to attatch to the back of the tank. Man I have never had anything grow this fast!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/my%20tank/xeniaforest.jpg
Also took a picture of the lionfish. He hovers around the LT plate coral that I epoxyed to a piece of LR because there wasnt room for it on the sand bed. The thing is opening to about 8-9 inches across now and am fixing to have to trade it in as it is too big for my 55g tank.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/my%20tank/lionfish.jpg
And last picture, my tank that has been up for 5-6 months now. It is pretty plain and boring but its starting to take shape, lots of tiny frags like fiji leather and umbrella leather that will take some time to grow into anything amazing. Took this picuture when the lights first came on so everything is still closed up a bit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/bprewit/my%20tank/tanknow.jpg

[brewercm]

I'll never have pulsing xenia again. The smaller pompom verions doesn't grow near as rapidly but I was pulling the other out and trying to get rid of it as much as aiptasia and with about as much luck.

[don-n-sa]

I have several kinds of xenia and yes the kind you have grows very fast and will take over if you let it. IMO Xenia is beautiful, cool to watch and is benificial to our tanks. The main reason the people don't want it in their displays is due to its rapid growth. IMO if it was a rare coral that did not grow fast, everyone would want it.

I have xenia in my display and this is how I keep it under control:

1. If it grows on glass then just use a razor and gently scrape it off without cutting into the stalks or there will be more xenia from the little bits that float around or that are left on the glass. If you have acrylic then I suppose a old credit card will work but not sure.

2. This is my favorite method...during water changes I use a 1/2" or 3/4" vinyl tubing and syphon the whole stalk into a bucket. This takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it, it really works good. When you are syphoning move the tube close the the stalk that you want to remove, it will get sucked up into the tube...sometimes the whole thing will just go without any effort but most of the time you will have to use a finger to push against the tube and pull that sucker and then make sure any bits and pieces get sucked into the tube and into the bucket. Oh and BTW Xenia stinks a little but I am sure you know that already.


I hope this helps v.v

Donny