Super simple xenia setup?

[austinpetemo]

After seeing a thread on here about a 10g xenia forest, it made me want to get back into reefing, but keep it as simple and cost free as possible. I know xenia like dirty water, but could i get away with using dechlorinated tap water? The only thing that would be in this tank is xenia as i really like the pulsing action and i miss my little xenia frag.

I was thinking that a hang on tank filter with a few airstones placed in the media chamber would be perfect for oxygenation and circulation of the water, would i need anything else to get the job done?

And one last question on xenia, do they care about light?

 

[cloak]

Check these out.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/ac/feature/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/fotm/index.php

 

[jarederaj]

it all depends where you live.. some dechlorinated water is unuseable.. but I live in california and my water is ok to use... Its only 10 gallons im sure you can go spend a couple bucks and at least get half the water RODI..

And if you are not going with any fish I would just get a powerhead, an area for cheato, and probably a small one or two bulb t5 light, and maybe later if you have extra money I would get a little hang on skimmer..


A shrimp and snails and small creatures that dont make messes would be good to where you rarely ever have to do water changes... (plus ive heard xenia cleans water too)..

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

Xenia certainly care about light. Luckily 6500ks are good lights; cheap too.

I had successful reefs with detroit tap water --not even dechlorinated, not saying it is a good idea, but I have done a lot of stupid things to save a buck, cycling with miracle grow being one of the more stupid ones-- but detroit water tastes a lot different than the Austin water where I currently live, not sure how it would work out. I would just try it and rebuild if it didn't work. A 10 gallon only needs a few pounds of rock so there isn't much to lose.

HOB filter with air stones work ok. Make sure you cover it to avoid salt spray.

The secret is to start with quality live rock and a decent sized colony. The xenia need to take hold before algae gets a chance. There probably won't be time to mature a frag. Be really careful with power outages; I think xenia are the single most susceptible coral to low oxygen levels.

Get a good strain of xenia, they are not all the same.

Also, start with the best salt you can buy (I like oceanic), then never water change and don't dose.

 

[scooter268]

12g JBJ with 1 actinic & 1 50/50 stock PCs. Cheapest salt I can find (top fin to be exact) 1 water change a month, and 1 purgien pillow looking thing. No dosing of anything.

This pic is a month or so old. The Xenia have now taken hold all over the back end of the tank and rocks. I have to remove the Zoas you see due to the Xenia blocking the light.

I do use RO/DI water for all my tanks. This one, another 12g JBJ, & a 120g mixed. The only thing with the nanos is the salt I use.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

 

[austinpetemo]

sweet, im looking forward to setting mine up. I threw some triops in there. They go through a complete life cycle in a month, so when they die ill add rock and salt and get this going. Need time to save up moneys though.

Is 50ish watts enough light? And until i get a skimmer what is the best way to oxygenate?

 

[austinpetemo]

Also @ joe, austin as in austin tx?

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

50 watts is plenty if it is fluorescent 6500k or higher temperature.

An airline works fine for oxygen, it is just a pain in the neck because of salt spray.

Austin Texas, precisely.

 

[austinpetemo]

They've got some pretty nice water there i here. A little hard, perhaps really hard. But great for african cichlids. You should check out river city aquatics there, theyve got some cool stuff.

Im down in Corpus Christi, the water here is pretty gross. I wont drink it unfiltered.

I may try to find a way to aerorate the water in a enclosed area to minimize the mess of the salt spray.

If my tanks has alot of airbubbles, can i keep the flow to a minimum? Because xenia pump more when there is less flow right?

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I think flow is pretty overrated if you can oxygenate the water without it. I don't know how I feel about breaking surface tension yet --I have had nice tanks that did not have a surface skimmer, but I tend to prefer something to skim the surface without having much evidence in favor of necessity.

 

[Islandfever]

12g JBJ with 1 actinic & 1 50/50 stock PCs. Cheapest salt I can find (top fin to be exact) 1 water change a month, and 1 purgien pillow looking thing. No dosing of anything.

This pic is a month or so old. The Xenia have now taken hold all over the back end of the tank and rocks. I have to remove the Zoas you see due to the Xenia blocking the light.

I do use RO/DI water for all my tanks. This one, another 12g JBJ, & a 120g mixed. The only thing with the nanos is the salt I use.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

Break me off a frag of that sexy beast!

 

[Rapide]

Worse than Aiptasia, of you ask me
I got this same Xenia once, and it took over my whole reef! Killed some of my more rare zoas, and a couple of fine Acroporas.
I have destroyed it compitely twice, and still it pops up somewhere!!

Beautifull coral when under control or in it's own system, like above, but a terrible pest when uninvited!

 

[johandagentile]

well now I'm gonna have to get me and n entire pulsing xenia tank. thanks for the motivation scooter!