Xenia Spread Question

[Morpheosz]

Does Xenia only spread by expansion of the existing colony or polyps or can it spread through the water column? (sorry, not sure the technical terms)

The reason I ask is I just setup my new tank and moved a few of my live rocks from my old tank into my refugium in the sump and one of them has a few Xenia polyps on it. I'm actually fine with it being there, as long as it can't leave my refugium, but I don't have an aspiration to have it in my display tank.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

The general rule of thumb is that you are USUALLY safe if you have the xenia on the island. I personally am the exception to said rule as I have had xenia jump from a very solitary island to my main rock formation. NOT HAPPY. I am trying to stay ahead of it by hitting the new pieces with some boiling water...only time will tell.

#regrets

 

[muzikalmatt]

I'm not sure if they spread through the water column, but I know they can sometimes drop babies somewhat like Kenya tree does and then that piece will float around the tank and reattach elsewhere. In my experience though, they typically spread from the mother colony expanding along the rock work. They are very adept at "reaching" for new places to grow though, not unlike branching GSP.

 

[WVNed]

Colonies spread and small pieces are released that start new ones where they land.

 

[ariellemermaid]

I’ve definitely had Xenia spread to a new area through the water column but generally it will stay put on an island. It’s just a game of chance; if a small polyp detaches it might just die, or it might manage to attach somewhere else in the tank. But if that happens, you can just remove the new polyp, so unless you don’t pay any attention to your tank, that’s not a huge deal.

 

[MaxTremors]

The general rule of thumb is that you are USUALLY safe if you have the xenia on the island. I personally am the exception to said rule as I have had xenia jump from a very solitary island to my main rock formation. NOT HAPPY. I am trying to stay ahead of it by hitting the new pieces with some boiling water...only time will tell.

#regrets

A stainless straw connected to some tubing will allow you to scrape and siphon at the same time, works great on Xenia, clove polyps, zoas, etc. IME, Xenia is fairly easy to pull off rocks, it usually stays fairly intact and comes off easily.

But to answer the OPs question, Xenia will absolutely drop little baby colonies that will float around the tank until they settle and attach.

 

[reeftankdude]

The general rule of thumb is that you are USUALLY safe if you have the xenia on the island. I personally am the exception to said rule as I have had xenia jump from a very solitary island to my main rock formation. NOT HAPPY. I am trying to stay ahead of it by hitting the new pieces with some boiling water...only time will tell.

#regrets

Boiling water, explain please. Perhaps you use a syringe. Does it work?

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Boiling water, explain please. Perhaps you use a syringe. Does it work?

I boil some water and syringe blast it with a jet of unhappiness!! Just started doing it but it really seems to p them off

 

[ariellemermaid]

I want to add the experience of my coral/invert tank. I had some Xenia on a frag rack. Either through natural processes or crab vandalism it detached from the plug and a small baby piece ended up attaching to rock, the rest disappeared. I have 2 main structures, left and right.

Anyway, I left it alone because even Xenia is better than bare rocks. Fast forward a year later I have a huge Xenia forest on the left rocks, but despite a huge quantity of Xenia it’s never spread to the right structure.

In my DT I have a true Xenia island. It’s never spread anywhere either.

Cespitularia on the other hand is a different story. It reproduces by sloughing itself off on a long tether, and the clone will attach to anything nearby (rock, the glass, etc.). I started with 1 small colony and now have 2 huge colonies and like 6 medium sized frags. Since it’s really long and flowing it’s difficult to keep it from being able to touch a rock and grab on. Don’t get me wrong, I love the motion it adds to the tank, but just food for thought if you’ve ever thought about that coral. I don’t live in a big Reefer area so I may end up seeing if Petco will take these babies.