More Xenia Questions

[thecichlidpleco]

I recently got a small frag of pom-poms an dwas wondering on the placement. I have read that it is better to have them higher up in a tank "in order to control the growth," so do they grow faster or slower when near the light?

 

[kathainbowen]

Xenia growth varies depending on the overall conditions, such as the type of lighting/how powerful, and the water flow.

The argueably *best* placement for Xenia is on a sort of rock-island, away fro the rest of the rock pile, far enough away that the Xenia cannot reach it and climb on over. This way, you can have your Xenia and not worry about it overtaking more desirable corals.

Personally, I put my Xenia in my 10Hex at the top under my PCs. Why? Xenia generally grows in an "upward" manner, scaling rocks to get closer to the light. This puts the rest of my coral out of the path of potential growth. It can grow faster or slower all it wants, because I know that the rest of my coral, which are at least 3 inches below that "level" or lower, are well out of danger of being damaged or overtaken by the Xenia.

 

[Reno Reef]

Another factor of xenia spreading is the direction of the flow. Mine have spread across the top of my rocks because they were being pushed by the PH.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

there are lots of things that can determine where it grows, flow and light being the main 2. Personally, if i ever get xenia again, (which i doubt i'll ever get any from someone else since i cant get rid of mine! ) then i'll ONLY place it up at the top of the rock. I started with the xenia at basically the sand level (on a rock). Xenia grows towards the light usually. So now i've had xenia crawl up all my rockwork before it finally reached the top, and when it crawls upwards, it leaves babies everywhere.