Xenia umbellata overgrowth control

[mintleaf]

My Xenia umbellata has taken over half my 75-gallon tank. It's spreading onto my Zoanthids and even the rockwork. I run two AI Primes at 70% intensity, 8 hours a day, with weekly 10% water changes. Parameters are stable, 1.025 salinity, 78°F, 0 nitrates. How do I control it without harming the rest of my corals?

[jason]

Xenia's a beast once it gets going. I had the same issue in my 120-gallon. You gotta cut it back manually, but be careful—it'll slime up and mess with your water quality if you're not quick. I use bone cutters to trim the base, then siphon out the bits. Also, try reducing your light intensity to 60% for a week. They're photosynthetic, so that might slow 'em down.

[peacock9]

Xenia's a beast once it gets going. I had the same issue in my 120-gallon. You gotta cut it back manually, but be careful—it'll slime up and mess with your water quality if you're not quick. I use bone cutters to trim the base, then siphon out the bits. Also, try reducing your light intensity to 60% for a week. They're photosynthetic, so that might slow 'em down.

Yep, the slime is no joke. I'd add a polyfilter to your sump after trimming to catch any toxins. Also, what's your flow like? Xenia hates high flow, so maybe point a powerhead at it for a few days to stress it out.

[robinfly]

Dude, Xenia's wild. Mine went nuts in my nano until I added a peppermint shrimp. They don't eat it, but they kinda mess with the polyps enough to keep 'em in check. Not a perfect fix, but it's something. Also, your nitrates are zero? That's sketchy for corals long-term. Maybe bump 'em up to 5 ppm with a tiny bit of reef roids.

[linden]

I've had success with fragging the Xenia and trading it at my LFS. It grows back, but slower if you keep removing the larger colonies. Also, check your magnesium levels—keeping it around 1350 ppm seems to slow their growth in my tank. What salt mix are you using? Some are higher in trace elements that Xenia loves.

[focus]

Is Xenia bad? I have some in my tank and it looks nice.

[peachy]

Is Xenia bad? I have some in my tank and it looks nice.

It's not bad if you like it, but it can crowd out other corals. If you're happy with it, no need to change anything. Just keep an eye on its growth.

[mintleaf]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll try trimming it back and adjusting the flow first. I use Red Sea Coral Pro salt, and my magnesium is at 1300 ppm, so I'll bump that up a bit. Appreciate the help!

[jason]

Good call on the flow adjustment. Let us know how it goes. And yeah, Red Sea's got a lot of good stuff for Xenia, so switching salts might help too if this doesn't work.

[robinfly]

For real, keep us posted. Xenia's one of those things that either chills out or goes full zombie apocalypse. No in-between.