Self fragging Xenia

[ibefishy]

I have a xenia in my tank that is starting to frag itself. I put a rock in the near vicinity and over time it stretched out and attached itself to the rock and is now starting to get thin where the two branches came together. Its going on about a week and a half since I first noticed it it. I started taking some photos of it to document the event. Anyone else have this happen? It seems like a much nicer way to frag a xenia than cutting it with a razor blade. I will post some more photos as it progresses.

[charlie]

Happens all the time, pretty soon if it keeps it up you'll be trying to figure out why you even bought to start out with!!!!! Have fun.

[ibefishy]

My lfs buys frags and cheato from me from time to time so I am pretty sure I could always get some store credit. I get credit for cheato every few weeks, I take him 6 sandwich bags full and he credits me a fair price. Its nice because I dont generally have to but food for my corals. I paid $10 for my little clump of cheato and have gotten around $80 store credit from thinning it out. I almost wish it didnt grow so fast. Does anyone need any?

[cdearing]

I had one head of xenia about 8 months ago that I bought from the LFS for a small fortune. It is now trying to take over my tank. Once it gets going, little pieces will start floating around your tank and attaching wherever they feel comfortable and the whole process starts over. I have little pieces of rubble all over my tank, lying next to all the culprits, trying to rid myself of the nuisance. Some people can't grow it to save their lives and some, like me, grow it like a noxious weed. If my LFS gave me decent credit for all of my xenia frags, I'd be rich by now. I have never used a razor blade, just let the xenia move itself to a little piece of LR rubblem, then give it to unsuspecting reef fanatics like myself. If I can't get it under control this way, I will start using scissors, razor blades, whatever, just to get rid of it!
Cyn

[charlie]

Some people can't grow it to save their lives

This is where Charlie raises his hand up!!!!

[underseaworld]

I can say I can not get the xenia's to grow in my tank.

[Minh Nguyen]

I frag Xenia by scrape it off, or cut it off at the stalk. I use a sharp end toothpick and skewed the Xenia. Then I tied the toothpick (just loop the rubber band on two end of the toothpick so that the oyster shell is between the toothpick on one side and the rubber band on the other side) to a piece of rubble or oyster shell on the indented surface of the oyster shell. Two days latter, I have a new colony of Xenia. Once I remove the Xenia frag from my tank, it take me only 15 second or so to do this. If the Xenia frag is large enough, I never have the Xenia come loose once I attach it. I put the newly skewed Xenia in a high flow area of the tank and it heal very quickly. Once attached, I just remove the rubber band and the toothpick to reuse it. I am for fortunate to have a LFS that give reasonable credit for my Xenia and Acropora frags. I got supplies and some animals using this credit.
I find the the best way to frag Xenia. No Xenia floating around that may get suck into the pump, and very quick. Just the smell of the Xenia on my hand that is not easy to get off.