Xenia -VS- Montipora (Pics)

[Ex-Reefer]

My Xenia is out of control! I love the coral but it is growing too well! I would move the Xenia but I super-glued the fragment to the rock. If I try to move the Xenia by pulling the fragment rock off of the main rock I am going to have one big rockslide! Does anyone know what will happen when the Xenia touches the Montipora? If the Xenia keeps growing like it has it will be touching in about 2 months time. I am stubborn and dont want to move either coral becuase I like the placement of both. With that being said, I dont want either of the corals to be hurt either. Anyways, let me know what you think about which coral will fair better in the battle for space. :rolleyes:

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/Ex-Reefer/EmeraldCrab.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/Ex-Reefer/Xenia.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/Ex-Reefer/Montipora.jpg

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o199/Ex-Reefer/EmeraldCrab2.jpg

[danfrith]

First of all I would watch that emerald crab, mine stripped my tennis ball sized poccilipora clean within 2 days time. In the case of the corals, if I were you I would trim back the xenia to the shape and direction you want it to grow in.Good luck.

[danfrith]

Its hard to say but I think the montipora would win.

[GSMguy]

my monti cap is touching the same kind of xenia 24hours a day and they both are very alive but my tulip anems are killing the xenia eslewhere so i think xenia is more resistant to sps than other softies

[Ex-Reefer]

Danfrith, Thanks for the advice. How do I go about trimming the Xenia to make it grow in the direction that I want? The problem is that the Xenia was supposed to grow to the left of the tank, but of course it is headed to the right of the tank.

As for the emerald crab, that was the first time I have seen him on the Montipora and he just walked along it and then left. I will definitely keep an eye on him becuase he sure doesn't do what I bought him for (eat bubble algae)! :D

[SoupySteve]

Give the xenia a hair-cut. Use a razor blade. There are many different hair styles you could give your xenia that would be good AND stylish in your nano. If you leave SOME length when you are trimming, you will still get the pretty swaying effect that makes xenia a neat creature to have - however, if you prefer the look of the pulsing "hands", I'd give the xenia a crew-cut - meaning cut waay short - near where it affixes itself to the rock, in my experience, this cutting method produces many "hands" initially - and will give you more time between trimmings.

Another solution my be to put a frilly mushroom, ricordia, or other mushroom next to the xenia - in my experience, those things always win the battle vs xenia.

Xenia is pretty - but unless you keep it in a place where you can isolate it and keep it in check, it can become a nuisance. I prefer the "pom-pom" and red sea varieties (kind of a bluish, silver, brown look - stays shorter and pulses more) over the elongata (the kind I THINK you have - and I have had in the past).

BTW - I started reef-keeping with emerald crabs... keep this in mind... what IS the function of claws like theirs? to pinch, rip, tear, and eat with... right? after one with a strong preference for mushroom corals worked its magic on several frags, I removed all of them I had from my display. Scarlet and blue legged hermits are both a safer alternative for a crab-type clean up crew in my experince.

[Ex-Reefer]

Steve, Thanks for the information. It is strange, my Xenia that I have in the tank now is thriving, but I placed a small frag of pom-pom xenia in the tank about two weeks ago and it crashed and died. First time I have ever had a problem with pom-pom xenia.

As far as the cropping of the xenia. Do I just take the razor blade and cut the xenia in the "stalk" portion of the coral? I dont want to harm the coral and cause it to die, this is why Im being so particular about the information before I do it.

The xenia is so free flowing that i have a very sharp pair of shears that I could easily cut the stalk portion of the coral off with without any problems.

I also like the idea of the mushroom coral acting as a barrier between the two. This is my first attempt at montipora and I absolutely love it so far. Thanks again for the help.

[SoupySteve]

If you want to crop the xenia, cut it about 1/4" above where it attaches to the rock itself. When you're done cutting it, it'll look like someone stuck bubblegum on the rock - within a few says, the surface will look fuzzy - upon closer inspection, you'll see a bunch of tiny "hands" then in a few weeks, you'll be back to cutting them again.

xenia seems to be the flat out hardiest coral hands down. i've had it living in a fuge that had no light other than what little light could hit it behind /below my tank... i've ripped xenia off of rock when it's gotten out of control - only to - weeks later discovered I handn't gotten all the tissue removed.

the stuff is hardy - if you want to be extra careful, leave a 1/2" instead of 1/4"...

FWIW there's a GREAT thread somewhere that someone made up so that folks could look at a chart to see which coral families typically BEAT OUT others... It almost looked like a championship bracket thing you fill out during March Madness :smokin: My blue mushrooms killed one head of my candy cane, believe it or not...

[Ex-Reefer]

Thanks Steve, I would really like to view that thread you are talking about. If you or anyone else runs across it let me know where to find it and I'll check it out.

[Ex-Reefer]

Anyone have any idea about the growth rate that I can expect out of the Montipora being under the stock lights of the BC29 and being in the upper most portion of the tank?

[MrMexReefer]

hey EX-Reefer, how long has that been under the stock lighting? THats a cool coral, now i want some of that for my AGA 20 long. I have about 120 watts of PC.. think it will do ok?

[BLKTANG]

The grees striped shrooms will kill all.

[Ex-Reefer]

The Montipora has been under the stock lighting for just a couple of days at the time the picture was taken. The store where I purchased the Montipora said that it is basically "bulletproof". this coming from a store owner who is extremely conservative with what she will and will not sell a customer based on the needs of the cora and the tank it is going into.

I feel the Montipora will do just fine in the long run. I plan to get another frag of the same size and add it to the upper most portion of the tank. Not bad for 10 bucks!