Xenia Elongata

[Grouper954]

So I met up with a guy today to get red of my Anemone, and he had a nice bag of Xenia Elongata cuttings for me. They are a beautiful purple/blue/green and they wave in the current like you wouldn't believe. I'm very excited! My only concern is.....how long do they usually take to "grab hold" of the live rock? My current is pretty strong (1,300gph) and I've had to rubberband them to my live rock to keep them from floating around. While I was attaching them, one frag came loose and much to my dismay, my Flame Scallop decided he got too close :( chopped him right up. But I had about a dozen frags and ended up placing 4 of them in my tank, giving 4 of them to my buddy, and taking the remainder to the LFS.

I just would like to know how long the rubberbands should stay on there, and how long it will take for them to start growing a colony (guesstimation)

:^::mrgreen::^::mrgreen:

 

[markrj]

I have only been in this hobby for 2.5 months now but I have not read anywhere about using rubber bands to secure coral to a rock.

All I have read about is using glue/epoxy.

The Xenia in my tank is growing very nicely. Even a small single polyp will quickly grow into multiples.

 

[Washburn82]

Glue and epoxy typically are for corals with skeletons or hard corals. The rubberband method works great for softer corals, as well as a needle and thread. Im not sure how long it will take grouper somebody with more exp, will chime in im sure. Good luck!

 

[stormystormy11]

I have put the frag on a small piece of rock with some "bridal mesh" around it then rubber band that at the bottem. It only takes a day for the xenia to bond.
Good luck if the frag is a blue waving hand. Mine just died:( but I have a silver tip and pom pom that is out of control!

 

[Grouper954]

I'm pissed :(

I just got off work to find (one) of the four frags still in it's original position. One got sucked into the powerhead, one is sitting in the corner upside down, and the other is missing.

:(

 

[little_fish]

I personally would sew them to the rock, seems to work a bit better than rubberbanding them. Or you can put them in a cup with some rubble pieces and let them attach to that. Usually takes a few days.

Xenia will grow much faster in dirty water, so the more nutrients you have in your water column the faster they can spread. In some tanks they turn into a pest. In some tanks they dont thrive at all because the water is too clean for them.

 

[marcah]

I agree with Hannah, Me and Xenia's just dont get along.. If your tank is setup for LPS and SPS ( meaning very clean water conditions) dont even try one it will wither away quick.. When I first setup the tank I knew down the road I wanted to do SPS so I strove for clean water, tried Xenia's and such and watched my money just wither away with them..
On a side note Congrats on the 10.000 post Hannah...:bounce:

 

[little_fish]

oh wow! I didnt even notice!