Curing My Xenia Forest

[Darth_Tater]

So, I've got this ridiculous Xenia forest in a 20 long attached to the same sump as my 40 breeder display. It's pretty impressive if you ask me. I want it gone. The goal is to sell/trade the rock and turn this tank into a frag tank. I doubt anyone will want the Xenia forest.

So the question: how would you go about getting rid of it? I'm willing to take the rock out back and hose it off, but I'd rather find a method that won't kill off all the other critters (there are no fish in it or other corals I want to keep in this satellite tank). I can isolate this tank from the main display easily.

I thought about just doing a blackout, but doubt I'd be able to keep the ammonia under control.

Ideas?

 

[slief]

Starve it of nutrients. Eliminate all Po4 and No3 and the Xenia will die off. You can also shut the lights off in conjunction with the drop in nutrients to help accelerate the elimination.

 

[aquamann183]

Someone told me to just start cutting them with scissors and they'll die off. I never tried it though.

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[alton]

A friend bought my my 158 which was loaded with Xenia. He took large rock or several small and dipped them into fresh water brushing off the xenia each week. They never returned

 

[EMeyer]

take the rocks out temporarily. Manually remove the xenia. Spread kalkwasser paste on the surface of the rock and leave it 5 minutes, then rinse it all off in saltwater and return it to the tank. This way the stuff in the rocks lives, only the stuff on the surface dies. This is how I kill off any unwanted soft coral growth.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

When I had more than I wanted I was able to just Gently peel the stalks off the rock & they went to the store for credit.

 

[Darth_Tater]

Well maybe I'll keep up the blackout and see how it goes. The light has been off for a couple days now. I only turned it on to take the picture (which is why everything in there looks unhappy). If that doesn't do much after a week or two I'll cover it to make it a total blackout. That tank has bazillions of large bristle worms and some hermit crabs, so maybe they can keep things from rotting.

If that doesn't work, or the nutrient levels starting getting out of hand, there are a couple other good ideas to try. Thanks all!

 

[Darth_Tater]

When I had more than I wanted I was able to just Gently peel the stalks off the rock & they went to the store for credit.

I actually tried this on a couple smaller rocks that had Zoas I wanted to keep. I couldn't get it to work. Maybe I was impatient, or maybe it needs to stay under water when trying it. I could always use some credit though... Might give it another go!

 

[OurCoralReef]

If you can get them off i have a friend interested he wants to fill a big part of his 250g with exenias

A chisel and hammer just chipping the rock right underneath the stalks

Personally i would start over new rock fresh bacteria in a separate bin
but thats me

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I took it slow underwater & they came off no problem.

 

[mrg02d]

I had these overrun my tank and wipe out some acroporas. I had to manually remove them. Don’t cut them else they spread all over. Just take the rock out and gently pull them off the rocks.

 

[jlmawp]

I actually have found the xenia in my tank to be very easy to peel off the rock. I keep it fairly "trimmed" back, but never use scissors. Just longer tongs and pull them off the rock in full. Nothing is left behind, and the little runner connecting the colonies breaks fairly easily, if you are wanting to do it in shifts.

Might want to see how this fairs for you because it would be much less impactful than taking out all the rocks and cleaning them.

 

[Chihuahua6]

I want a xenia forest!!! Seriously if you can peel them off safely I''l take them and pay you too plus shipping. Please pm me.

 

[Floowid]

I'll take some off your hands if you are giving any away. I'm also in Northern Utah.