Couple Questions

Eb0la11 · #1 10-10-2009, 02:58 AM

They are very similar to this picture:

http://www.3reef.com/forums/attachme...s-100_1015.jpg

Eyford01 · #2 10-10-2009, 03:07 AM

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

Eb0la11 · #3 10-10-2009, 03:17 AM

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 · #4 10-10-2009, 04:10 PM

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 · #5 10-10-2009, 05:48 PM

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 · #6 10-10-2009, 10:22 PM

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

kien · #7 10-10-2009, 10:34 PM

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

kien · #8 10-10-2009, 03:15 AM

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.