Xenia, why are some fat and stubby?

[danmhippo]

Xenia in my tanks are generally fat and stubby whereas some people's tank, theirs are tall & thin. What gives? Light? or simply different species?

 

[Carpentersreef]

I've got the same Xenia in my main tank with Mh and in my refugium with PC's. The PC Xenia are long and thin and the MH Xenia are regular, sometimes fat and stubby. I think it falls in the "why do they pulse" catagory.
No one knows.

Mitch

 

[Anonymous]

Xenia elongota was my first coral species 5 years ago. I still have some stalks from that original colony. I've kept the xenia under all sorts of filtration and lighting.

From what I can tell, when xenia is under very strong lighting such as metal halide, it is short and stumpy. When it is under weaker lighting or if its shaded in some way, then it tends to be longer, as if its stretching to get closer to the light. I think its that simple.

 

[aquaguy]

Chris is all right !!!
I have some xenias in my tank the ones that are at the bottom are long and the ones that are close to the light are bushy.

 

[freedom75]

My Xenia is very close to the top of the water and it seems to be staying short and fat. I was planning on trying to add more in the bottom of the tank to see if it changes. However it seems to be doing good where it is
http://home.triad.rr.com/jwray/reef.html

 

[scavdog]

This is a very interesting topic. I have 4 types of xenia. 2 strains of Blue, 2 strains of pom pom and 1 strain of lavender Xenia.
The lavender is in a 54 gallon under 175 watt MH w/ actinics. It has stayed elongated for the 8 months that I have had it. This strain is positioned right under the halide in high water flow.
One strain of pom pom has stayed very squat for the 2 months that I have had it. The other has elongated slightly. These have been housed in my 100 gallon under 400 watt Iwasakis (mucho water flow).
Xenia is also housed in my 50 gallon lagoon/refugium which is lit with 2 96 watt PC's and has very little flow. These Xenia are slightly elongated.
I have seen little to conclude how or why xenia elongate.
I will try to post some pics.

[ October 26, 2001: Message edited by: ScavDog ]</p>

 

[davelin315]

I have a ton of xenia elongata, all from the same original colony that I bought, and in some places in my tank some are stumpy, and right next to them, they are long and stringy. In fact, I even see combinations periodically on the same stalk. I would assume that the longer skinnier ones are seeking out food, but that's not a scientific conclusion. They all pulse, and obviously are in the same water conditions and same lighting conditions. Who knows, maybe they just like to mix it up a bit. If I get the chance, I'll photograph a stalk that has some polyps that are well over an inch long mixed in with 1/4" polyps. It could also be a factor of age, as the younger polyps seem to be shorter on these, as they are also smaller, however, the shorter polyps are the same size as the ones in the rest of the tank that are uniform. I have noticed, however, that in general, the ones that are shaded are longer, reaching for the light source IMO. But, not all of them are in that situation.