Can I remove Xenia from my frag?

[Ollie67]

Hello all,

Today I picked up a smaller Xenia frag on my way home. I got the coral acclimated by floating the bag for 30 minutes and placed the piece inside. Currently, it hasn't opened back up yet fully, but I shouldn't expect it to the first day right? My current dilemma is that the Xenia is sitting very awkwardly on the frag, and the rock it is on has very awkward angles (can't get a good way for the frag to sit). I was thinking about removing the Xenia from its frag to place it on the rock. I need some help on going about this, as the way the frag currently is, it has fallen onto the sand once already, so I have my powerhead turned to 10%.

I heard that I could cut/scrape the Xenia off the plug with a clean razor blade and then place it onto the rock itself (using reef glue if necessary). Is this a possible method? I was told that by doing this I could risk the Xenia sliming out...

Looking for any other suggestions, methods, or tips about this coral.

Thanks

 

[ReefStable]

You could cut it, but I would cut the chunk of the disk it's on and glue that down. A bone Cutter, or even a pliers could break the disk and some gel super glue would do the trick!

 

[Pistondog]

I dont know if they'll slime off like a mushroom, but for mushrooms we loosely bind to a rock with a rubber band or place in a shot glass with small rock, and cover with orange plastic mesh. Either will have the xenia attaching to the rock in a few days.

 

[Ollie67]

You could cut it, but I would cut the chunk of the disk it's on and glue that down. A bone Cutter, or even a pliers could break the disk and some gel super glue would do the trick!

Oooo you're right! I actually have bone cutters on the way along with more glue, as I was going to use them to cut another frag plug off the disc. So I can just cut a small piece of the disc off on the Xenia most likely. I like this idea, thank you

 

[Ollie67]

I dont know if they'll slime off like a mushroom, but for mushrooms we loosely bind to a rock with a rubber band or place in a shot glass with small rock, and cover with orange plastic mesh. Either will have the xenia attaching to the rock in a few days.

Thank you for the suggestion. I've heard of the rubber band / tooth pick technique for bonding them to rock or frags. I'm not sure if I'm experienced enough for such a technique lol, I may try and cut the frag disc for now!

 

[The_Paradox]

I would honestly just leave it. At the least for a week or two to adjust. Plus Xenia will grow to cover the entire plug if you wait 5-10 minutes.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I would honestly just leave it. At the least for a week or two to adjust. Plus Xenia will grow to cover the entire plug if you wait 5-10 minutes.

Lol, that's basically true.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Just cut the disc like suggested. You can even glue that piece of cut disc to another disc. That is how a lot of ppl make frags in the first place. I wouldn't razor blade it though. Its not worth the risk of it sliming or worst not attaching with glue and then finding a place in your tank you don't want it. Xenia can act like a weed sometimes so once it starts growing I would watch it and remove what you don't want or trade it to ppl near you.

 

[Ollie67]

I would honestly just leave it. At the least for a week or two to adjust. Plus Xenia will grow to cover the entire plug if you wait 5-10 minutes.

LOL I knowww. I'll leave it for a few days to adjust and then cut the plug if anything like I said above. I kinda have to in order for it to stay on the small island I want it to be on. Right now it's temporarily on my larger rock, so I hope it doesn't spread yet (it shouldn't in just a few days).

 

[Ollie67]

Just cut the disc like suggested. You can even glue that piece of cut disc to another disc. That is how a lot of ppl make frags in the first place. I wouldn't razor blade it though. Its not worth the risk of it sliming or worst not attaching with glue and then finding a place in your tank you don't want it. Xenia can act like a weed sometimes so once it starts growing I would watch it and remove what you don't want or trade it to ppl near you.

Sounds good! I'll end up cutting the disc. Thanks for the advice! If I stick it to the small rock, hopefully it won't spread much.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Sounds good! I'll end up cutting the disc. Thanks for the advice! If I stick it to the small rock, hopefully it won't spread much.

They will still probably spread even from the rock but you'll be able to get those that spread and remove them or frag them. I've never really known them to to accidently detach once they're growing wild on a rock and not end up somewhere else bit it's much easier to manage on an island.

 

[Ollie67]

You could cut it, but I would cut the chunk of the disk it's on and glue that down. A bone Cutter, or even a pliers could break the disk and some gel super glue would do the trick!

I got my bone cutters and glue in today! I cut the small edge/chunk of the disk and glued it down to the rock successfully. The Xenia seems to be doing fine but closed up a little more and is now closed since my lights went out for the night. It is getting hit with medium-high flow currently, is that fine? I heard they can tolerate high or little flow.

 

[CrimsonTide]

I got my bone cutters and glue in today! I cut the small edge/chunk of the disk and glued it down to the rock successfully. The Xenia seems to be doing fine but closed up a little more and is now closed since my lights went out for the night. It is getting hit with medium-high flow currently, is that fine? I heard they can tolerate high or little flow.

I find they do great in about any flow. Sometimes I feel like in higher flow they can tend to release spawns that float around and populate the tank more. So medium to high flow is probably fine. If it's the waving kind they wave more visibility in lower flow. If it's not the waving kind then it doesn't matter really.

 

[Ollie67]

I find they do great in about any flow. Sometimes I feel like in higher flow they can tend to release spawns that float around and populate the tank more. So medium to high flow is probably fine. If it's the waving kind they wave more visibility in lower flow. If it's not the waving kind then it doesn't matter really.

Sounds good. I'll keep an eye on how it's doing throughout the week

 

[CrimsonTide]

Sounds good. I'll keep an eye on how it's doing throughout the week

Ok just let me know after the week. I'm invested now! Haha. It should be good though. Make sure it doesn't get too much light. They really don't enjoy too much light.

 

[Ollie67]

Ok just let me know after the week. I'm invested now! Haha. It should be good though. Make sure it doesn't get too much light. They really don't enjoy too much light.

I'll post an update! I'm interested to see how it will grow out. Currently, I have my lighting schedule set for 41% but will be upping that to 51% next week. I won't go much higher than 60% for my tank.

I post regular updates on my tank thread!

 

[CrimsonTide]

I'll post an update! I'm interested to see how it will grow out. Currently, I have my lighting schedule set for 41% but will be upping that to 51% next week. I won't go much higher than 60% for my tank.

I post regular updates on my tank thread!

I just commented there.