I would advise against coral warfare, even if the Xenia is going to lose, it may negatively affect the Hammer ....leave it on its own island or manually control best you can.Hey! I'm working on planning coral spots in my tank. I like the look of pulsing xenia, but am aware of how fast it grows. Could you or has anyone every used a hammer coral to keep it small? My idea is putting the xenia on the small rock on the left and let it take that over and then having a hammer on the right side that would sting it if it tried to keep spreading.
Agreed, have it as well... it will find a place to thrive ....and often in spots a mile away lol. Upkeep is a must, always in my case...
If it's an inch or two, yes I've had it spread that distance. They've got some legs lol... as for control manually I find it manageable, but I'm fairly on top of it, keeping eyes open every few days. As @areefer01 mentions you may find a polyp or two that's blown well away from the colony and quickly wants to take up residence there. I love it as a coral, and thus put up with the management.
My point in the long post is I do not believe, in my experience, that you can really contain it. It will find a way to spread. And if you don't want to deal with that potential issue later it is best to not put it in. There are some other corals that may be better suited.
And mine as well for reference. Started from small frag about 2 years ago. First image is way outta control before a tank move a few weeks back. It was encroaching so badly on Duncan I decided to move it.I've also owned, and since regulated to the refugium, Blue Cespitularia. I ordered a small frag from Pacific East Aquaculture. Beautiful coral with some amazing color under the right lighting conditions. However, it too is a quick grower. Spreads also and can cross gaps as the base spreads.
Not trying to change your mind because they are great corals but if you look at an older image of my display you can see the green arrow. That is where I placed the Xenia frag. Look at the red arrows now. I didn't put it there. It floated about and made its way there. I saw a small flower/stalk and left it alone and it grew. It was a lot worse than this to the point it was covering test sps frags I had that I forgot about since they covered it up.
By manual removal I would have to reach into the display after gloving up, use forceps, clamp at the base of the stalk as close to the rock as possible, and gently lift left and right pulling it off. A lot of times it will peel right off with a clean break. Others you will have fragments left behind. If you leave those, they will grow back. You have to superglue or epoxy over it. Another thing I've used is f-aiptasia. That is a bit more slow going.
Now my display is iradicated of both Xenia and Cespitularia because both my Zoster and Pyramid butterflies eat it. It is safe in my refugium so it stays there
Hey! I'm working on planning coral spots in my tank. I like the look of pulsing xenia, but am aware of how fast it grows. Could you or has anyone every used a hammer coral to keep it small? My idea is putting the xenia on the small rock on the left and let it take that over and then having a hammer on the right side that would sting it if it tried to keep spreading.
Yep, that is exactly what I do to keep Xenia under control (well, somewhat under control, lol)Hey! I'm working on planning coral spots in my tank. I like the look of pulsing xenia, but am aware of how fast it grows. Could you or has anyone every used a hammer coral to keep it small? My idea is putting the xenia on the small rock on the left and let it take that over and then having a hammer on the right side that would sting it if it tried to keep spreading.
And mine as well for reference. Started from small frag about 2 years ago. First image is way outta control before a tank move a few weeks back. It was encroaching so badly on Duncan I decided to move it.Second image, I cropped a significant amount back during the move , fragging off as much as I could as a LFS wanted it for a few bucks. Also threw a bit more flow at it which seems to tick it off just enough that I haven't seen any real spread last few weeks. Although I am keeping a trained eye on it.
In saying all this I feel I genuinely NEED the stuff in my display as I have no sump or skimmer, and it is a huge nitrate eater for me along with many other softies....and ya I do like the look of it, in moderation. Also a bit odd, My Kenya used to spread branches everywhere, not anymore at all, the Xenia way more invasive that way.
I see you also have a similar mushroom as I do and the Kenya Tree. Another potential invasive out of control coral. Tad bit easier than Xenia as you can catch the floater stalks as long as you keep an eye out before they attach.
Thanks much, we trying lol...just two T5, I flip between two aqua blue and occasionally a true actinic if I feel a bit adventurous. . A bit of LED controllable for dusk/ dawn and supplement lighting higher on the whites there daytime. Softie dominant, with a few LPS and SPS that are growing. One more image of the hairy mushrooms for good measure.Yeah. That looks about right
Edit: also nice color/spectrum. Looks nice display and all.
