African Blue Moon Xenia (Cespitularia sp)

[Marc Daniels]

Say hello to my little friend ;-)

I have had these for 3 weeks, and they are healthy and growing strong. The frag on the right, see the short branches on the trunk beneath the long upward polyps...they are in the 1/4" - 3/8" range. They were not there 2 weeks ago. You can not see it, but that frag on the right is in the process of splitting into two pieces. I have it housed in a 40g monoculture, with nothing but a 4" sand-bed, and some snails. I'm giving these at least 6 months to grow into a decent size colony. Lighting is two 55w PC's running 6500k. You can see in the first pic how blue it appears even under daylight bulbs at 6500k. This is a true to appearance pic.

This is the exact same pose as the first pic, same camera settings, etc. The only difference is that the lighting is now two 55w PC's, one still running 6500k, but now the second is an actinic. I have had this coral under 10k, with the actinic and it literally looks like it is fake, it glows so blue. Enjoy!

 

[Maximus]

Sweet Marc! I also have the same coral and it seems like a fast grower. I thought it had a reputation for being a slow grower? Here is mine w/flash:

 

[Marc Daniels]

In conversations with Calfo, he suggested that though his 10+ years experience with this coral, that it was very senstive to aleopathic warfare. He told me that for optimum health & growth it should be housed in a monoculture.

As I mentioned, I have it in a 40g system..20g main tank with the coral & a 4" sandbed, and the second 20g is a reverse photoperiod refugium to keep the pH stable 24x7. He also suggested keeping the pH in the 8.4 - 8.5 range (not below 8.3 at all),and dKH up in the 11 - 12 range. My pH swing is 8.35 - 8.42, and dKH is stable at 11.8.

 

[Maximus]

Nice numbers on your tank. My ph is actually low (7.9-8.1) due to my reactor. I may start dosing kalk at night to keep it up. My alk is pretty stable at 10-11dkh.

 

[Marc Daniels]

You got yours from Atlantis didn't you?

I do 5g weekly water changes, and dose 1/8 tsp of Kalk about an hour after lights out.

 

[Maximus]

Yeah, got it from Atlantis. Wow, I just flashed my flashlight on it after the lights went out and it looks like it has some type of fairy pixel dust on it!! Really cool effect.

 

[Reefugee]

Do these guy pulse? I know someone who has blue xenia, but they don't pulse.

 

[Marc Daniels]

No, mine does not.

 

[Wee-Reef Master]

Nice stuff guys. I have a very small piece. It is beginning to take off and looks almost electric blue. Dang gone hard to come by! I hope it spreads well.

 

[Wee-Reef Master]

Nice stuff guys. I have a very small piece. It is beginning to take off and looks almost electric blue. Dang gone hard to come by! I hope it spreads well!

 

[Elite]

:bounce1: I want one... :bounce2:

Very Nice Marc.. I love Xenia

 

[hiepatitis]

I went to marcs and saw it in person. It is pretty cool!

 

[Marc Daniels]

Remember, this isn't a Xenia species...the Genus is Cespitularia. Therefore it can have a little different care requirements.

 

[MelodyCorals]

Local Availability?

Local Availability?

This is the same "Family" as Xenia though right, so I think it could pulse under some conditions.... maybe not.

So how long until someone local like John stocks this? I would love to try it out. Also, just to clarify, this is not the same thing as this right:

http://store.yahoo.com/marinedepotl...laria-species-corals--mushrooms---polyps.html

-- Josh

 

[Marc Daniels]

Josh-

There are no reports of Cespitularia pulsing, and yes it is in the same Family, but it is a different Genus. This is the breakdown;

Class = Octocorallia
Order = Alcyonacea
Family = Xeniidae
Genera = Anthelia, Cespitularia, Heteroxenia, Sympodium, Xenia

 

[Marc Daniels]

Josh...also, in regards to the link. That is a Clavularia species, certainly not Cespitularia. If you look at the page they have both listed.

None of the Cespitularia species has that encrusting type of growth form like the clove polyps...aka Clavularia sp. It isn't even in the same family as Cespitularia.

Clavularia is in the Clavulariidae Family.

 

[MelodyCorals]

Cool, thanks for the clarification. I just remembered reading somewhere that "most" corals in the Xeniidae family can pulse - but what you read on the net is usualy just speculation anyway. I figured yours did not show any encrusting, so it did not look entirely the same to me either, must have been mislabeled or something on the link. I'm so new to corals - it obviusly shows. Thanks for the help along the way - too many of these things still look a lot alike to me, and I'm still getting used to picking out the differences in things to look for.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[Maximus]

Here is a new pic of my frag. As you can see, it has more than doubled in size in the past 18 days since the 1st pic!

 

[Maximus]

Marc, do you have any new pics?

 

[Marc Daniels]

I was out of town for a spell, and when I got back a few days ago I had actually lost growth. My tank sitter did not notice that my frag had been turned upside down, and I lost half the polyps on one frag. It's perking back up now though, and it is secured into a better location.