I actually got a very large piece from Dale, which I split into 2 pieces, and put one in both tanks. This piece is from my seahorse tank, but both pieces seem to be doing very well, and the params are quite different. I'll give the reef tank first, which this frag is NOT from. The one in that tank has grown into so many nooks and crannies, there is no way I'll ever get it out. The params on the reef tank are: 58 gal (it's a 3 ft wide, tall tank) The lighting is 1-3 ft blue actinic, 1-3 ft bright white VHO (no actinic) and a little 18" flourescent fixture. Temp maintains @ 79-83 degrees, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrates off the chart, salinity 1.027, ph 8.2. That's all the test kits I have. This frag is halfway up the tank, in a corner, with a good amount of water movement. It doesn't pulse, but does lengthen to 4-5" every day. As a side thought, it has grown into a mushroom which it doesn't seem to like, but the shroom doesn't mind at all.
The tank this frag is from is my seahorse tank. It is a reg 55 gal with Eclipse lights (4 @ 15 watts each) and filters. Temp stays at 78 degrees, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, nitrates off the chart, salinity 1.021, ph 8.2. This xenia is actually growing in 2 places in this tank. The original rock was placed high up in the tank, with good water flow, and it spread down to my rock. When it did, I simply took a pair of scissors and cut it loose, and placed the original rock at the bottom of the tank with much less water flow and lighting. To me, they both appear to be very equal, neither pulse, but both extend to 4-5" every day.
I feed DT's about twice a week, and just started adding a small bit of calcium (Seachem's Reef Complete) on Sat. I feed the reef tank fish mainly flake food, sometimes frozen, but the seahorses get only live ghost shrimp, so I assume the xenia eat micro particles in the water which have nothing to do with what I feed the fish.
I was told, and I now believe it, you can't kill this stuff. Who wants the next piece?
