do xenia detatch themselves like mushrooms do???

[tlc]

i am trying to keep a colony at bay by carefuly fragging. i dont want them to spread beyond a certain boundary. my mushroom detatch and spread everywhere. anu insight appreciated

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
No they don't, but some varieties often can "inch-worm-walk" pretty far in matter of a few months.

 

[Anonymous]

My xenia colony is quite large. I've found little bits of them sprouting up in weird places. I've found them on the other side of the tank on the substrate trying to grow, one got sucked into my sump through the overflow and tried to grow there. I don't know if bits of them get broken off or if they do it on purpose.

In hindsight, I don't know if I would add xenia to my tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, but my mushrooms haven't made the leap yet. Didn't realize they did.

 

[tlc]

mushrooms will detach themselves for various reasons. overcrowding, not happy with current flow, or who knows. i have shrooms everywhere. i was hoping that i can keep my xenia colony isolated. they are not near any encroaching rock bu if they detatch they can end up everywhere like my shrooms. i may just add another sump to my system and house them there...

 

[bowfront]

I think the inch worm walk analogy is a good one. My Xenia colony is still localized in the same part of the tank it was started but continuously tries to branch out. You will probably end up culling it like I do if you want to keep it from spreading out too much. It's not that hard to contol and a nice addition IMO.

 

[aesop]

I've had xenias that sprout in the weirdest places. Places where they have never been before. The reasoning is that the arms "twist" off. and float around.. and where it lands... is where it will grow.

Of course if the current in the tank doesn't allow for this; you'll be fine.

 

[MarkO1]

I've got xenia sprouting all over the tank. One colony even found its way onto the back of a snail.
If your conditions are right (or too right in my case), the stuff will spread all over the tank.
_________________
BMW M6

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
I have a crab that like to cut off the "arm" of the Xenia, and the arms got everywhere. I don't feel that it will come off like you said... unless you have a really high current...

 

[SteveP]

My Xenia have detached, but it's only when they completely overgrow a piece of rock. That happens often in my tank because I let Xenia grow only on small rocks to keep them from overgrowing everywhere else. Once the base covers the rock the coral will cleave off a "branch" and it will float around until it can anchor itself somewhere. I don't let that happen though. :wink:

Steve
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