xenia outbreak ! help!!!!!

[oldman50]

I never had any luck with xenia . Started new tank and added a small piece of pulsing or waving hand xenia , now its taking over and its on one big rock in the center on my tank! Any way to harvest it off the rock with out hurting it ? And I really don't want to take out the rock.

[fatrip]

you can do a few things. you can cut it off at the base with scissors, or just chop limbs off with either a knife or scissors. or you can take bone cutters and chip away under the foot of the xenia so you take some of the rock with it. these are very hardy and not to easy to kill so cutting them up wont hurt them if you are plannign on selling them or giving them away.

[oldman50]

Thanks . So you can really just cut them at the base and attach them to some ruibble rock and they will live?

[fatrip]

yup just cut them at the base and put them in a shot glass with some rubble and maybe some netting over it to keep them in and they will attach to the rublle within a week. just so you know they will start growing from the base that you left unless you get all of the flesh off of the rock...these corals are highly resilent to damage. i havnt been able to kill them and i have hacked and hacked at them before.

[Python73]

An easier way is to lay rubble or plugs right on the xenia or in its path. It will grow onto / attach to them, then you go in with a razor and have your frags. You only need a little tissue, xenia grows stalks very quickly.

I hate attaching cut xenia. It is a snotty mess. Let it do the work.

HTH.

S !

[oldman50]

Thanks, you guys were a big help . I think I'll try both methods , lord knows I have enough to try it with. lol

[coralguy1]

I have had great luck attaching those stubborn, slimey, soft, species like Xenia, Cespitularia, and Nepthea with the plastic toothpic method. Cut a plastic toothpick in half. Take the sharp end and make it sharper by cutting it at a sharp angle with a razer blade. Stab it through the stalk, set it on a rock and glue the toothpick to the rock AT BOTH ENDS so it cannot escape. Give it a week and cut and remove the pic. This also works great with any type of leather coral.

[blazzent]

also once you cut it off the rock if you can stop it from growing back by covering the remains with joe's juice/ kalk.

[chelskisw6]

post some pics of this so called outbreak!

Pythons advice is really good, ive used that method....