Is xenia a very hardy coral

[clownfool]

Is xenia a very hardy coral, or should I say forgiving of not perfect water quality

 

[stubbsz]

Tricky one. I had two types of Xenia... one grows like a weed and I can't control it (small pulsing one) Larger species did well for 3 months and then all the many colonnies of it melted. I have good parameters.

 

[Anonymous]

Is xenia a very hardy coral, or should I say forgiving of not perfect water quality

In that respect no it isn't. In fact, I used to look to the xenia as a first indicator of any water quality issue-if it looked sulky, I'd check parameters.

 

[CG1]

IMO pulsing Xenia is not hardy when it comes to swings in water conditions. non-pulsing xenia I have found it impossible to eradicate it from a tank. I ended up pulling about 50 pounds of rock years back and tossing it....again, just MY opinion --> Xenia=bad idea !

 

[stubbsz]

IMO pulsing Xenia is not hardy when it comes to swings in water conditions. non-pulsing xenia I have found it impossible to eradicate it from a tank. I ended up pulling about 50 pounds of rock years back and tossing it....again, just MY opinion --> Xenia=bad idea !

This is what is so weird about Xenia. Such diverse observations. I've got pulsing xenia everywhere (doesn't always pulse and there's another mystery) and my elongata is the one that bit the dust. Although now I think about it... the elongata pulsed when I first introduced it to the tank.

I kind of agree about the bad idea, because I have way more of it than I want and I can't get rid of it... however, I have it brushing one of my SPS corals and it doesn't seem to bother it. I think you really have to think about where you put it in the tank so you can control it's growth. It likes to climb upwards so don't but it low in the reef where it can walk upwards in about 10 directions.


As to water parameters, mine are stable and good.... maybe I had a fluctuation in something when the elongata melted but it took a few weeks for them all to disappear so I don't know for sure.

-Adrian

 

[IceMan0124]

I keep a small amount on a small rock at a high point in the tank, as it tends to grow upwards, when the rock gets coverd I cut a portion off and attatch it to a bare rock, then trade the full one, its an excellent barometer for your water parameters, mine always pulses when things are in check, when it doesnt, something is off

 

[Anonymous]

Ah, xenia. My 78 favorite species of weed. Not counting the heteroxenia family, cespitularia family, anthelia family.... all good stuff

On the whole, most species of xenia I've kept have reacted poorly to changes in water parameters, but could gradually adapt to almost anything given a bit of time and stability. The big exception is that some tanks, for whatever reason, just seem incapable of supporting xenia. Generally the stuff either thrives... or it doesn't.

There are slow growing, non-invasive species of xenia (and most especially, species of heteroxenia). I don't find it difficult to control even xenia cf. elongata (a razor blade and a willingness to use xenia tissue as a nutrient export mechanism goes a long way), but folks worried about the stuff taking over their tank should keep an eye out for these less-invasive types.