Double trouble with my corals

[Wildheart]

I have just bought a lovely metalic green wall hammer.I am realy curious about this type of corals.
How do they grow?Mine has already spread his tentacles across the stony edges,
but the skeleton remains the same.How will it grow in size?Will the edges pop and form new passages for the tetacles?

The other problem is my xenia.They are the ordinary type,nothing spectacular like the pulsing one,and the colors are pinkish-brownish.I had a few,then a lot more.They aren't realy spreading,since I isolated them on a rock,but some stalks have grown ridiculously BIG and gnarled into strange poses...I don't tend to like them anymore...:grumble:
I once moved a stalk,and there was a little white ''puddle'' left behind,which is now a mature xenia already.How do u cut them off safely?I can try and get the big colony out,but the more recent one is on a rock with 2 hairy mushrooms...
PLS help!

Thanks!:D

 

[little_fish]

I have had success removing xenia from spots by carefully picking at their base and removing the whole thing.

The fleshy part on hammer will grow larger and then it will build more skeleton around it.

 

[Wildheart]

The hammer facts sound interesting!
I will also try to peel the xenias off my rockwork.Slow and steady!:D
Thanks!

 

[little_fish]

Ya, that is the key. dont work at them too hard, you dont want them to tear and leave behind cells that will grow back.

Although, even with that method there is a risk of them growing back, but i have had success with it.

 

[dcantucson]

Xenia, by most, is considered a pest coral. But especially for beginners (because it usually grows so easily) it is kept. and loved. I remember cherishing my Xenia and couldn't believe people said bad things about it. I put it in a smaller tank with really bad water parameters and it completely covered the rocks in a matter of weeks. It's like the crab grass of the saltwater world.

Try to keep it isolated to a rock that extends upward and trim/weed it out regularly.

 

[Wildheart]

Cut the top of the branches or the whole arm from the root?

 

[meshman10]

AAAAHHHHHH!!! the old weed of the tank,good luck, I took mine back to my LFS and said thank's alot for letting me walk in front of that bus....

 

[reeffreak]

Wall hammers will grow longer and wider but width will appear to grow at a slower pace.I have a wall frogspawn around 8'' long that was about 4'' long when I bought it around 10 months ago.

You can cut the xenia at the base with a razor blade.Any flesh left on the rock can be covered with superglue or epoxy.You can also remove the rock and use salt/kalk paste on any leftover flesh.

 

[OhNoNemo]

I kinda liked xenia ,too bad my angel loved it.......mine mowed it down in no time

 

[Wildheart]

Thanks for the advise!:D:sfish: