Pulsing xenias

[roggy23]

Will having these constantly spread in the tank cause nutrients to bottom out?
I constantly have this problem

 

[InvaderJim]

Yes, they are known to deplete nutrients from the water. I believe Julian Sprung had a xenia refugium for this exact reason.

 

[iamacat]

They are pretty till they aren’t

 

[Mhamilton0911]

They are pretty till they aren’t

Agreed. I let mine get huge then I realized they are constantly choking back other corals and I'd have to whack them back. They also drop pieces to float and grow in hard to reach spots. Now I'm working at eradicating then from my main tank.

I have heard that the ruby pulsing xenia is not as weedy. But I haven't found any to buy to try it out.

 

[exnisstech]

I have heard that the ruby pulsing xenia is not as weedy. But I haven't found any to buy to try it out.

I heard the same thing. I found a piece of the red and it did good for a while then died while the common one continued to thrive I think xenia is cool in a full blow softie tank where everything pretty much grows wild but not so cool in a mixed reef. I moved all of mine to a 40g breeder that I use to house misfits and there are pieces of it popping up all over
EDIT: I have never had a problem with them causing nutrient issues but have never kept them in a really small tank.

 

[iamacat]

Agreed. I let mine get huge then I realized they are constantly choking back other corals and I'd have to whack them back. They also drop pieces to float and grow in hard to reach spots. Now I'm working at eradicating then from my main tank.

I have heard that the ruby pulsing xenia is not as weedy. But I haven't found any to buy to try it out.

They consumed my system while I was unable to do anything about it unfortunately. Now I have them fairly well controlled however the little spreaders are very hard to remove cleanly. The big stalks no problem pruning and trading in to the LFS. I’m to the point now tho I am going to remove all of them and open space up for other corals