Xenia in Sump?

acesfull44 · Nov 29, 2015

Is there anyone that is using Xenia in their sump for filtration/benefit purposes? I can't remember where but I thought I read that someone was doing this, and I am trying to understand why you would do that.

xavier009 · Nov 29, 2015

From what i know xenia soaks up a lot more nitrates then most other soft corals therefore in thoery, in an abundance they should almost act as a macro algae in a refugium.

acesfull44 · Nov 29, 2015

xavier009 said:
From what i know xenia soaks up a lot more nitrates then most other soft corals therefore in thoery, in an abundance they should almost act as a macro algae in a refugium.

This is what I was thinking, however I wanted the opinions of more qualified folks than I. Thanks for the feedback.

melypr1985 · Nov 30, 2015

xavier009 said:
From what i know xenia soaks up a lot more nitrates then most other soft corals therefore in thoery, in an abundance they should almost act as a macro algae in a refugium.

^^^ this. I've seen pictures of it done and it's kinda cool, but I'd rather keep my macro algae than do the xenia thing.

reeferKen · Nov 30, 2015

Two folks at reef central are doing it, their current thread is "Xenia Fuge? Really? "

Sabellafella · Nov 30, 2015

Ok so before i add the the issues with my xenia fuge ill give the pros first, it really really does a good job at being a filter, i sell frags to my lfs for carbon/frozenfood/junk ect , never lookedinto coral warfare but never had any problems with any coral being retracted all the time, cons is xenias one of those corals that can die out of nowere (like done to me) nd pollute your tank, then at one point i had a xenia outbreak growing in my skimmer, in my return, on my clear tubeing nd made its way into my display giving me a nightmare

Sabellafella · Nov 30, 2015

There was also so many probs with iodine nd red sps going on im not even going to get into it, you need a heavy bioload to keep xenia growing or youll be into some crazy probs in the longrun

revhtree · Nov 30, 2015

I'm going to add some to my new fuge because I like it but I don't like it to take over the tank! The extra benefits are good!

acesfull44 · Nov 30, 2015

Sabellafella said:
Ok so before i add the the issues with my xenia fuge ill give the pros first, it really really does a good job at being a filter, i sell frags to my lfs for carbon/frozenfood/junk ect , never lookedinto coral warfare but never had any problems with any coral being retracted all the time, cons is xenias one of those corals that can die out of nowere (like done to me) nd pollute your tank, then at one point i had a xenia outbreak growing in my skimmer, in my return, on my clear tubeing nd made its way into my display giving me a nightmare

Thank you very much for your input! I have a DC Skimmer outside of my sump running, so the placement of this in my sump is a small part of my fuge, however, this enlightens me on the things I need to look out for. Thanks again.

revhtree said:
I'm going to add some to my new fuge because I like it but I don't like it to take over the tank! The extra benefits are good!

This is one of the reasons I was planning on putting it in my sump.

Mark_D · Nov 30, 2015

I keep it in my display... I love the look of it and like you guys have mentioned, the filtration benefits are great

turbo21 · Nov 30, 2015

I have it in my sump and it grows like a weed. I have a friend who does the same thing. No problems. Hasn't made it into the tank. And tanks look great

powderblue14 · Nov 30, 2015

I had a small frag of Xenia in my display and the stuff spread like wild fire. Before I knew it my entire tank was over run by Xenia. I literally was cutting it off my rock with a razor blade and pulling it out of my tank but it always grew back. I moved a small rock out of this tank and into my other tank and the rock looked clean........apparently not! Then I had 2 tanks covered with Xenia. On the flip side my water parameters were always pretty good from the Xenia soaking stuff up like a sponge.

Alwmh4 · Nov 30, 2015

Personally I'm done w Xenia. The stuff is a weed. I couldn't kill it and believe me I tried. Even putting in a bucket with no filtration and no light for over a month did not kill it. Finally just dried out my rock. Beautiful coral but it's a pest. Spreads like the plague.

CWMorrow · Nov 30, 2015

Sabellafella said:
then at one point i had a xenia outbreak growing in my skimmer,

Say what?

Sabellafella · Nov 30, 2015

CWMorrow said:
Say what?

Haha yup had it growing in the bottom of my vertex omega and on the outside

Sabellafella · Nov 30, 2015

acesfull44 said:
Thank you very much for your input! I have a DC Skimmer outside of my sump running, so the placement of this in my sump is a small part of my fuge, however, this enlightens me on the things I need to look out for. Thanks again.

This is one of the reasons I was planning on putting it in my sump.

I love it and honestly it looks awesome with a bunch of macros and sponges, just try your hardest not to get it near your return youll be sorry, you deffinitly need a strong bioload, it gets to a point were it exploads in growth and it will eat everything out of your water until theres nothing left and dies thats what happened to me, then grew back everywere about 2 months later

VFR_Mayday · Nov 30, 2015

I have also had Xenia and my wife loves it. But I got to the point where I couldn't kill it off! Only the purchase of a new tank led to the eradication of it all. New tank was coming anyway, not due to outbreak lol. It seems that when the stars align Xenia makes it everywhere haha. Some want Xenia and can't grow it. Some have too much and don't want it. It's ability to take over everything is crazy. I guess just weigh your pros and cons.

Gamma · Nov 30, 2015

My grandson picked it out when I first started getting coral and we loved it but before I realized it my entire tank was pulsing...two years later still battling it.

Troy V · Dec 1, 2015

Xenia can be an effective filtration tool if used in the right application. From what I've learned after keeping a Xenia fuge for over a decade is that a Xenia fuge must me deliberate, and given ample room to spread and grow without the risk of being introduced to the DT. It has the capability to easily filter my 300 gallon system without the use of a skimmer, and I still have plenty of room for Xenia growth in the 30g fuge for future system demands. Also in over a decade of keeping Xenia as a primary filter I've never had a single culture crash. Xenia and quality skimmers are in direct competition with each other. IMO this is where people run into problems. Especially when people become relaxed when it comes to skimmer cleaning and over all tank maintenance. The Xenia begins to flourish by consume the excess nutrients that the skimmer was once removing. Then the hobbyist decides to clean a skimmer that wasn't very efficient and now the skimmer is working as designed. The hobbyist has just removed the food source from the Xenia. Then the Xenias health begins to wan and it will eventually recede to meet the now limited demands of the system. If stability is one of keys to keeping successful reef then a natural filter that requires very little maintenance, a filtration source that grows to meet the demands of the system, potential source income, and something pretty to look at. Its worth trying.....