Couple Questions

[Eb0la11]

Hey guys,

just got back from the LFS with a new blue tang, a couple blue/green chromis and a pulsing xenia. I have also got a bag of aragonite sand for my refugium which, up until now, has been bare.

Im wondering a couple things.

Where is a good spot for the xenia? I have a Coralife Aqua Light Pro that is about 28" above the bottom of the tank. This light has 3x 250W MHs and 4x 96W Blue Actinics. Where is a good place for this guy in those parameters?

Also, with the sand, am I ok to add it to the system after washing it or should I slowly introduce it or what? Its brand new in the bag from Golds Aquarium.

[Myka]

I "always" add sand after the tank has been set up for awhile. This is my process:

Use a Rubbermaid tub
Dump 15lbs dry sand in it
Fill the Rubbermaid with fresh RODI water to cover the sand by 2-3"
Let sit for 30-45 mins stirring it up a few times
Take Rubbermaid outside
Use hose to wash the sand REALLY well, like fill it, swoosh, and dump 15 times or so
Dump out as much of the hose water as possible
Refill with RODI water, swoosh several times, and dump it off
Turn all the pumps off in the tanks
Use a plastic measuring cup (or similar) to scoop one scoop at a time into the tank
Let sit for 30 mins
Turn pumps back on keeping them away for the sand for a week or so

The Xenia would be happy pretty much anywhere (it's a weed!!), but try down near the sand at first so it gets used to the light.

[Eb0la11]

The xenia is a weed hey? Wow, it looks so nice and I love its pulsing. So do more advanced aquarists not really like it, or what? I think it looks awesome!

Thanks, by the way, Myka

[Binare]

Can't speak for most... Buuut xenia looks pretty till it overruns your tanks and you spend a ton of time picking it out of your tank.

[Eyford01]

i love my pulsing xenia but it hasnt overgrown anything yet
+1 to what Myka said though cept i rinse mine in the tub not with a hose :mrgreen:

[Eb0la11]

May as well ask one more thing. I have these little white specks on my glass that upon close inspection resemble spiraling shells. Are these baby snails if you could guess? Anyone with a similar experience?

[Eb0la11]

They are very similar to this picture:

http://www.3reef.com/forums/attachments/id/10882d1227558428-baby-snails-100_1015.jpg

[Eyford01]

oh man i cant remember what they are called but they were in one of the hitchikers ID guides i read hmmm... harmless though and no not snails if they are what im thinking, all over my glass and my abalones shell is just covered

[kien]

I have kept pulsing xenia for a few years now because I love their motion. They can grow to weed like proportions if you do not keep an eye on them. With my colony I keep a close eye and prune it back once a month and give away or sell the frags. It is simply a high maintenance coral. If you just let it sit in your tank and grow they will grow fast and start to spread and attach to adjacent rocks. I try to frag my xenia before they get too close to other rocks. I do the same thing with a couple of patches of green stars. I cut them up before they spread to other rocks. So far I have not had to do any tank wide eradication :-). I just have a nice little shrub of waving blue hands that I prune from time to time.

[Eb0la11]

Spirorbis worms? Is that what you were thinking? Thats what another forum has said about the pic I posted, which is not my pic.

He describes them as worms with feathers and that is what mine have. Either way I assume its a "good" sign to have things like this occur in a 1.5 month old tank?

[Myka]

Spirorbid worms will be the little spiral feather duster dudes. They are beneficial filter feeders.

I just call Xenia a weed because it has a tendency to multiply quickly. It is definitely pretty, but most seasoned reefers will avoid it due to its tendency to spread so badly. Same with many soft corals.

[Eb0la11]

Thanks guys, I seem to have got a 3 for 1 with my pulsing xenia coral.

I got a colony of zoas on the bottom of the plug and also another coral Im not familiar with. Its a light brown/reddish tinge and looks kind of like acropora except I dont think it is. I wish I could post pictures, I'll try to find something that looks similar, but any ideas what might be attached to a xenia plug in a store?

Also, Kien, how do you go about fragging the xenia? Ive never done this, can I cut anywhere? Do I need to remove it from the tank to frag? Will it release any chemicals I dont want to come in contact with my skin? Thanks again!

[Binare]

Xenia doesnt even need contact with other rocks, it can release and reattach itself, like mushrooms, another reef weed.

[kien]

Curious, I wonder if all xenia do this because mine have never repopulated this way..