blue xenia

[Kigs]

are they rare? how many different varieties are there? why are they so rare if they are and which strain is the "real" rare one?

 

[Kigs]

^

 

[Maximus]

The real blue xenia is Cespitularia. Here is a pic of it:

 

[Maximus]

 

[phljess]

I have a couple pieces of Cespitularia, I believe it is rare because it takes mine a long time to reproduce. I have had it for almost a year now and it has only split once. It also fails to thrive in many tanks and this may be another reason for its rarity.

 

[JDrex]

Ok, so what do I have then?

 

[ViPeR_930]

JDrex, that looks like blue anthelia.
I've had my cespitularia since July and it's split twice.

 

[Maximus]

Here's an updated shot of the same colony taken today

:

 

[fsn77]

JDrex... I have the same stuff. The lfs, of course, swore it was "true blue Xenia" -- the "rare" stuff. I was skeptical, but wanted something blue and it looked nice. It was cheap -- only $5 for a small frag (should have known right there just by the price). After it grew a little and I did some research, I realized it was indeed blue anthelia, which technically is a Xeniid too, but is not Cespitularia like I really wanted (didn't know the difference at the time of purchase). My search continues...

 

[JoeyK@OCMD]

I had some cespitularia (true blue xenia) in my tank for about six months, but a long spine unrchin devoured it in about 40 minutes. It was the only coral my urchins ate ever! very disapointing.

 

[JDrex]

So where do you guys find this stuff, just a special order through your LFS?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Another Xeniid that is called "true blue Xenia" is Sansibia. It's more uncommon than Cespitularia.
I've never seen Sympodium in captivity.
Read this:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/ac/feature/index.php

 

[JDrex]

Well I think I may have sansibia. At least the picture of it looks a lot like what I have.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8600234#post8600234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JDrex
Well I think I may have sansibia. At least the picture of it looks a lot like what I have.

I agree.

 

[fsn77]

How do you tell the difference between Sansibia and Anthelia?
The blue Xenia / Anthelia that we have looks very similar to both pix (JDrex & the article). The polyps / heads on what we have look identical to the polyps / heads on the Xenia elongata that we have, except blue and 1 polyp per stalk, if that helps any. Here's a picture of what we have...
Sorry it's not clearer, but that's about as good as it gets with our camera. Think it's Anthelia or Sansibia?

 

[russ49merc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8603009#post8603009 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fsn77
How do you tell the difference between Sansibia and Anthelia?
The blue Xenia / Anthelia that we have looks very similar to both pix (JDrex & the article). The polyps / heads on what we have look identical to the polyps / heads on the Xenia elongata that we have, except blue and 1 polyp per stalk, if that helps any. Here's a picture of what we have...
Sorry it's not clearer, but that's about as good as it gets with our camera. Think it's Anthelia or Sansibia?

I have the same stuff as you do that is blue is it xenia or anthelia?

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

nice nonetheless...