How can i get Xenia to move?

slipknottin

the original legend
Jan 13, 2002
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these pics are a month or so old. Since i got them the Xenia has about doubled in size and one of the stalks has began "climbing" the other corals (anyone have an ID on those?).

Is there any way i could get the Xenia to move away from the other corals? possibly getting it to grow a couple more stalks at the same time? I dont think its large enough to cut yet, so i dont want to do that...
 
Looks like a couple of brown button polyps that your xenia is climbing on there. I'm also interested in this thread - I've also got a young xenia colony I'd like move to another area of the tank without moving the rock it's attached to.
 
yea that top part looks like a polyp, but i didnt know polyps grew stalks like that... or that they got that damn big.. :D
 
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Yeah, I've got some that are about 1.5"+ tall and about .5-.75" in diameter. Most don't grow to that size though - those are only my very largest ones.

If my damn digital camera wasn't in for repairs, I'd post a pic.
 
Just cut it or peel it off the rock, it's not too small. I prefer cutting, as peeling them seems to do more damage. The issue is going to be what you leave behind. Even a tiny scrap of xenia will certainly grow back. What I've done with success is to wait until the "stump" sprouts some tiny polyps, then inject each one with kalk paste. So long xenia.

Xenia spreads like mad and can be a pain in the butt. I even had a stalk grab onto a nerite snail when it lingered a little to long at its base. A good thing to do, if your aquascaping allows it, is to give the xenia their own little rock island off to the side. That will prevent them from growing where you don't want them. If you place the island against the glass, the stalks will grow right up it. Then they can be very easily razor bladed off for trade.
 
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