Xenia

[gparr]

I've never bothered to photograph xenia because I generally view it to be a reef weed and figured it would be more hassle than it was worth to get a polyp or two when they are opened. Rich Dietz (Mr. Firemouth) has a xenia species that is quite attractive. While photographing his other corals, I started considering how I might get a photo of the xenia. It took a few shots, but I got a couple of presentable images. Here's my favorite, so far.
Gary

 

[southstar66]

very nice shot. what is your equipment

 

[rebelprettyboy]

Thats a sweet shot of xenia

 

[Mr.Firemouth]

That came out awesome, being that they were pumping like crazy!
I hope to see more shots of the corals too!!!

 

[oceanparadise1]

those look like clove polyps not xenia to me

 

[fishes2889]

those look like clove polyps not xenia to me

There is different species of xenia. Looks to be xenia elongata. Very nice pic!

 

[returnofsid]

Definitely Xenia elongota and a beautiful picture!!

 

[gparr]

Thanks to all. The shot worked out much better than I expected. I'll be trying more of this and will see if there are any other decent shots in the bunch I took at Rich's.

Southstar, I use Canon 20D bodies and whatever lens gets the job done. My most-used macro lens is the Sigma EX180. My standard setup also includes a tripod, remote release, and I almost always use the mirror-lockup feature. This shot was done with the Sigma 180, but mirror lockup turned off because I wanted the shutter to trip immediately. Settings were 0.3 sec. at f/11 and ISO 800.
Gary

 

[gparr]

Here's a better shot:

 

[SaraB]

Nice work Gary!

 

[southstar66]

beautiful

 

[eubear]

While everyone is on the Xenia subject I have a question. I have an established coral tank (over 3 years). It's a 65 gal with a heavy bio load and I've got a few fish, several SPS, LPS, Soft corals mixed. I got some Xenia recently and they seemed to be doing well however just recently they started to whither away/melt away. I've only got a few left and they just seem to be shrinking for no reason. Any suggestions on what I should do? BTW, what do they eat, how much light do they need?, water flow/ current, etc.?
Thanks very much, Ed

 

[aquaman3680]

Gary that shot is AWESOME! I really appreciate how the other stalks are out of focus and have the motion blur! Its almost looks like one image that had been copied over another one

 

[alvieman]

Thanks to all. The shot worked out much better than I expected. I'll be trying more of this and will see if there are any other decent shots in the bunch I took at Rich's.

Southstar, I use Canon 20D bodies and whatever lens gets the job done. My most-used macro lens is the Sigma EX180. My standard setup also includes a tripod, remote release, and I almost always use the mirror-lockup feature. This shot was done with the Sigma 180, but mirror lockup turned off because I wanted the shutter to trip immediately. Settings were 0.3 sec. at f/11 and ISO 800.
Gary

I have abosolutely no idea what that jibbirish means but nice pics!! I need to get a DSLR and learn some of this, thankfully Poseidon isnt too far away and I'll have to pick his brain :xd:

 

[alvieman]

While everyone is on the Xenia subject I have a question. I have an established coral tank (over 3 years). It's a 65 gal with a heavy bio load and I've got a few fish, several SPS, LPS, Soft corals mixed. I got some Xenia recently and they seemed to be doing well however just recently they started to whither away/melt away. I've only got a few left and they just seem to be shrinking for no reason. Any suggestions on what I should do? BTW, what do they eat, how much light do they need?, water flow/ current, etc.?
Thanks very much, Ed

Lil off topic but Xenia are a "dirty water" species, they prefer higher nutrients. They can be kept successfullly in low nutrient tanks however provided proper light and flow, they dont need a ton of a light, moderate prolly, they do however benefit from Iodine present in the system. Flow would also be moderate but I've seen em being whipped around and doing great. Actually pretty hard to kill, impressive you've done so