Xenia and Flow ??

[Lee_Bay]

I am trying to aim the powerhead in my tank. My Xenia looks like it loves it, all open and just flowing back and forth real gentle like. Every now and then though, one or two of the arms look they are being "folded" from the flow. Is this normal or should I aim the powerhead different?

 

[Reef4Fun]

I dont know, my xenias were looking pretty good until I put in a "in the tank"skimmer and the bubbles (not from the skim) were getting on them. I modified the skimmer and made the bubble go straight up to the surface instead of in the tank, but the xenias still don't look well. I don't know what I did to them or what to do for them now. Good luck with yours, sounds like they are doing great.

 

[MattG]

I would not worry about the 'arms' bending.

The more flow the better with most xeniids.

On a side note I have noticed that you can change the way most xeniids looks based on the amount of flow you provide for them. The more flow the shorter/thicker the anthosteles ('arms'). Providing less flow makes the anthosteles usually become elongated.

 

[Lee_Bay]

Thanks Reef and good luck. I hope they recover okay.

Matt I have noticed the change in height/thickness when there is more/less flow. I guess it's just a matter of preference?
And thanks for not laughing at the "arms" thing, but I didn't know what else to call them. lol

 

[MattG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6785610#post6785610 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lee_Bay
And thanks for not laughing at the "arms" thing, but I didn't know what else to call them. lol

If you are interested in learning more about softcorals i would suggest a good book such as "Soft corals and Sea fans" by fabricus/alderslade.

 

[firefish2020]

I would also suggest the article Matt wrote up on octocorals on our web site

Thats one I don't own Matt, is it as good as I have heard?

 

[MattG]

Soft corals and Sea Fans is a must for anyone wanting to learn about octocorals. Alderslade is the definitive expert in octocoral identification.

Ron, next time i'm at the shop i will bring it with me.

The book gives detailed info for many different family and genera. For each they include: colony shape, polyp descriptions, sclerite descriptions (detailed pictures to scale from all parts of the coral), colour, habitat and abundance, Zoogeographic distribution, and similiar/related genera. Of course there are lots of pictures on top of that for each genus.

Of course they also talk about the Ecology (distribution, enviroment, chemical ecology) and biology (Anatomy, Reproduction, Nutrition), and other aspects. It is my favorite reference book.

 

[firefish2020]

Well if you like it then I guess I'll have to get it as well

 

[Lee_Bay]

Thanks for the info. I'll look for the book.

 

[firefish2020]

Not sure if you got an official welcome to the club or not

 

[XeniaMania]

Xenias don't mind flow. I've got pretty good flow over mine. The only thing high flow does to them, is that they don't pulse as much since there's no need to.

 

[mcox33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6788174#post6788174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MattG
Soft corals and Sea Fans is a must for anyone wanting to learn about octocorals. Alderslade is the definitive expert in octocoral identification.

Ron, next time i'm at the shop i will bring it with me.

The book gives detailed info for many different family and genera. For each they include: colony shape, polyp descriptions, sclerite descriptions (detailed pictures to scale from all parts of the coral), colour, habitat and abundance, Zoogeographic distribution, and similiar/related genera. Of course there are lots of pictures on top of that for each genus.

Of course they also talk about the Ecology (distribution, enviroment, chemical ecology) and biology (Anatomy, Reproduction, Nutrition), and other aspects. It is my favorite reference book.

Maybe we should do a group buy on this book. Since a lot of members want to get it.

 

[Reef4Fun]

yes, group buy, i want one

 

[XeniaMania]

I'm sorry, but I have that book and I plan on returning it because I didn't think it was all that informative. Maybe I was just expecting more on xenias...:lol:

 

[MattG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6910826#post6910826 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by XeniaMania
I'm sorry, but I have that book and I plan on returning it because I didn't think it was all that informative. Maybe I was just expecting more on xenias...:lol:

It's a great book but doesn't go into tons of detail on the Xeniids.
I haven't seen any book that is really any better though. If you really want info on Xeniids specifically then IMO the best bet is to look through some of the scientific literature. The best info i have found on Xeniids was through google scholar and the databases i have access to through school. Especially articles by H.A.F. Gohar.

 

[MattG]

XeniaMania: i am a huge xeniid fan also. What rare xeniids have you been able to get your hands on? I would imagine some nice stuff since you are over in Ca.

Rarest i have are Cespitularia and Sansibia. They both took a couple years of searching to acquire. By threads on RC the cespituria over the last year seems to have become much more common. Havent seen too many with Sansibia though

 

[Lee_Bay]

Matt can you post some pics of your rare xeniids?

I think I might have seen a frag of one of them in a local tank, but would like to see more.

thanks

 

[MattG]

LeeBay:

If you saw one of my xeniids it was most likely Cespitularia. In your area I have traded the cespitularia with one person and just recently brought a few frags over to Berts in Ashland. Jim put one of them in the display tank but im not sure if it's still there.

It's a really tough coral to photograph. The pictures don't pull out the glittery sclerites. The coral looks somewhere inbetween these pictures. It looks like the first pic but with lots of specs of the bright color in the second picture.

Daylight picture

Daylight with flash

Here is the sansibia. I havent traded any frags of this though. Well i did sell some rock that had a piece of it to a local reefer. The stuff grows SLOWWWWWWWWWW for me, much slower then the cespitularia.

I have some cespitularia if anyone is interested. I recently downsized my tank and dont have room for all of it.

If the xeniid wasnt one of the above or something that is common i would be very interested in seeing it.

 

[coralreefer]

In your area I have traded the cespitularia with one person

and it doing great Matt

On a side note I have noticed that you can change the way most xeniids looks based on the amount of flow you provide for them. The more flow the shorter/thicker the anthosteles ('arms'). Providing less flow makes the anthosteles usually become elongated.

Good example. My cespitularia doesn't get anywhere close to amount of flow Matt's does. Notice how much thicker his is.

 

[MattG]

Great to hear Amy!

Yea mine is getting quite a bit of flow in the new tank and for that matter the old one also

You can see how amy's picture looks kind of between mine. It still isnt what it looks like in person though. Very tough to get an accurate representation of this coral.