Kenya Trees taking over my tank

kristinarenee · Aug 22, 2018

I got one small Kenya Tree about 3 months ago. Its constantly breaks off branches and now i have a forest of them. About 20 branches growing fast all over. Behind rocks even. I know they will do this but this is out of hand. I even have one that attached to a crabs shell. He had to vacate and get a new one. Im ready to pluck them all out and take them to the LFS. Sorry for the bad pics. My phone takes bad photos and goby just did a sand drop all over.

DLHDesign · Aug 22, 2018

I have the same problem with Aiptasia... :-|

It can be a beautiful addition, but when you want other things in there as well, it can get bothersome to deal with. I wouldn't hesitate to prune it back, for sure - it'll keep growing back. Unless you already know the LFS would take the clippings, I'd call to check - they don't always want frags of things that go crazy like that in their systems (more power to them if so).

Bob Weigant · Aug 22, 2018

I remember having a 20G with one Kenya tree and all of a sudden I had 20. Ever since that day I’ve never added any. No trade in value at the LFS and I couldn’t even give them away for free. Even our club frag swaps say No Kenya Trees

Deezill · Aug 22, 2018

Wish I had a small frag I would take it for my 150

kristinarenee · Aug 22, 2018

DLHDesign said:
I have the same problem with Aiptasia... :-|

It can be a beautiful addition, but when you want other things in there as well, it can get bothersome to deal with. I wouldn't hesitate to prune it back, for sure - it'll keep growing back. Unless you already know the LFS would take the clippings, I'd call to check - they don't always want frags of things that go crazy like that in their systems (more power to them if so).

They said they would take them. I bought two peppermint shrimp and after a week they slowly ate any aptasia in my tank. Havent had any since.

CindyKz · Aug 22, 2018

I just toss mine. I was warned to never put them in the garbage disposal they stink up the whole house.

Pellikan · Aug 22, 2018

I've got the same issue, Kenya trees popping up all over the place. So, how do I get rid of them? Just chop them off at the base with a razor blade?

Thanks for the tip about the garbage disposal, I won't be putting them down there!

fish farmer · Aug 22, 2018

I've had good luck pulling the whole colony off the rock. I usually trim mine. I've yet to see mine be a nuisance, but that could be to the abundance of mushrooms around mine.

kristinarenee · Aug 23, 2018

Deezill said:
Wish I had a small frag I would take it for my 150

If you were in Oregon you could have as many as you like.

kristinarenee · Aug 23, 2018

DLHDesign said:
I have the same problem with Aiptasia... :-|

It can be a beautiful addition, but when you want other things in there as well, it can get bothersome to deal with. I wouldn't hesitate to prune it back, for sure - it'll keep growing back. Unless you already know the LFS would take the clippings, I'd call to check - they don't always want frags of things that go crazy like that in their systems (more power to them if so).

Peppermint shrimp got rid of my aptasia quick. It took a week or so for them to start eating them.

Eastlake · Aug 23, 2018

If you do take to removing them from where you don't want them make sure that you keep an eye on the spot you removed the coral from. They can grow back from practically nothing, so you can keep removing the grow backs or some people even burn the remaining tissue off with kalkwasser paste.

PrangeWay · Aug 23, 2018

Just use tweezers, grasp the base as low as you can, and peel them off the rock. They are pretty easy to contain.

Just slide it into your weekly maintenance schedule, and watch for loose branches.

Halal Hotdog · Aug 23, 2018

PrangeWay said:
Just use tweezers, grasp the base as low as you can, and peel them off the rock. They are pretty easy to contain.

Just slide it into your weekly maintenance schedule, and watch for loose branches.

Agreed, they are not difficult to maintain. Once you have it off just put a small piece of rubble where it came off of. If you have hermits they will eat the residue that is left behind. What you should be worried about is the GSP you have touching your other rocks.

vetteguy53081 · Aug 23, 2018

pretty they are but they tend to drop a mini branch which in time becomes a colony.

Many hobbyists love this stuff for the hardiness and color and ability to fill a bare area in the tank. You can sell frags 45-$10 each and use the funds to buy new coral

kristinarenee · Aug 31, 2018

vetteguy53081 said:
pretty they are but they tend to drop a mini branch which in time becomes a colony.

Many hobbyists love this stuff for the hardiness and color and ability to fill a bare area in the tank. You can sell frags 45-$10 each and use the funds to buy new coral

I dont know any local reefers and none of the LFS will buy fish or corals here. Even the expensive fish and coral they wont even do a store credit.