Xeniidae
"Now
thats a crabgrass problem, Mister" Tim Allen once said. I bring this up because of my experience with these soft corals is that they can get out of control quickly. I've posted many times before that I have a "dirty" tank. Some old salts cringe when I tell them what my readings are, yet they hum in disbelief when I show them pictures of my inhabitants.
I started with a six dollar stalk of xenia, now I frag once every 10-12 days. My clown uses the four stalks that have attached to the back wall as his bed. I am not kidding.
They reproduce asexually, by "walking off" the parent colony. Longitudinal fission for all you Rhodes scholars out there. Best way I can describe it in a court of law is this: the stalk expands, the root/foot/rubbery, solid, snot, tissue, thing-a-ma-jig, secures itself to a non moving surface, pulling part of the stalk away from it's original anchor point. It does this till you have whaaaaa-la, a second stalk, and just like those dumb late 70's shampoo commercials "...
and so on and, so on...."
Many debates and fewer "studies" have terrorized the reason on why these corals pulse. Lowered pH seems to be a common explanation. I do see less activity when the pH is lower. When I add FW as make up for evap. They curdle up for a time, basically giving moi the razzleberries
. When they are touched by yours truely. This is great for fragging so you can see what you are cutting.:badgrin: Water changes, the list could go on and on, but I also have a theory based on no scientific fact, almost a year of observation: more nitrates, less pulse. I think that the pulsing helps them take in DOM in which they feed on. Less out there, the more actively they are attempting to capture it. More available the less work. I know I'm getting flamed for this, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it....
You do not directly feed these babies, they suck it out of the water column. Easy as pie (I've tried baking a pie before and that is bull crap). Which leads me to this, if your tank is pristine, you may not have success with the
pom pom squad as I never did in high school...
Last point to make, kinda sorta, if you start fragging any tissue left behind will more then likely regrow a new stalk. You can get "mini mee's" all over the place. I'm glad they have not extended the ban on cloning with corals. I'd be sitting in Levenworth by now. Ciao, and have a Merry Christmas, Mike.
