pulsing xenia coral

[jwhitlow1031]

i have a 54 gallon tank with lots of lr and about 2.5 inches of ls, the basic parameters are great and the calcium is about 400-500, i have herd that xenia corals need lots of strong lighting and can be hard to keep with lower end lighting, i was wondering about this because i would like to add them to my tank and i have 130 watts of pc lighting, would they be ok?

 

[Teremei]

Should be ok near the top on top of some of your highest rocks.

 

[Agu]

Xenia should be fine in your tank. Depending on the species it would be OK anywhere from on the substrate to high on the rock. Move it around the tank until you find out where it looks healthy and pulses strongly.

 

[woofyitalian]

People say it's the easiest thing to have and it grows like a weed but I had it die on me 3 times while the other corals in my tank (much less hardy ones) were thriving...
On my 4th (and last trial - people told me not to even try again), it's thriving amazingly and the weird part (at least weird to me) is that it moved halfway across the tank (didn't spread, moved) to where it liked the lighting better, I guess? It's a nano without a huge amount of light... Seemed to be hit or miss for me. Best of luck to you... it's really fun to watch.

 

[jwhitlow1031]

hmm, so what species would be best/easiest to keep then?

 

[dastratt]

My xenia seem happy in my 54g under 130W PC at mid level but caveat is I've only had them about 1 mo.

If anything from what people say about these things growing so fast, I'm not too worried them gettting minimal lighting.

 

[techigirl78]

I have pom pom xenia under PC and have no issues. You will notice if it is closer to the bottom that the stalks look long and lean. When moved towards the top, the stalks look fat and short.