Propagating Xenia

Introduction

The following information are the notes I took while attempting to propagating Xenia.

• Day 1 - Cut 7 individual polyps of xenia elongata and 3 of Bali two-coloured xenia. Placed polyps in plastic container at bottom of tank.
• Day 2 - No sign of attachment. Polyps keep floating out of container. Mainly shrunken.
• Day 3 - Only 3 elongata remain visible in container. They are still withdrawn and unattached. Possible slight thickening at base. One Bali Remains visible in box. Slight movement and expansion but no attachment. Probable thickening of base. One polyp of Bali has settled right side up on substrate. Although in a slightly darker area it shows good expansion and some pulsing.
• Day 4 - 6 elongata now visible in the box. Four of these have definitely attached to either gravel or the container. The other two are not properly visible. The polyps have expanded to about 1 inch in length. No Bali remains visible in the box. One has appeared on the substrate in a dark area, next to one of the other Bali polyps.
• Day 8 - Polyps have been removed from the box as they have all started attaching. Others have been found. Seven of the elongata are fixed and two bali. Not bad hey!! The stems are thickening on them all. Some of the polyps had attached to the plastic box. After using a sharp blade to slice them off, they reattached within 24 hours. It would seem that the first three days may be needed to develop the ability to hold.
• Day 20 - All nine elongata have been found. One has been in a dark spot, trapped between the rock and glass. It has been there for at least a week but is still alive although small and withered. The other eight elongata are all attached and show up to eight new nodules or polyps. Three of the Bali are attached and show up to five new nodules or polyps.
• Day 44 - Elongata growing well and showing up to 12 new polyps. Some showing different rates of growth. Bali doing very well showing up to 9 new polyps, some of which almost the size of the original polyp.
• Encrustation - For the purposes of this article a distinction is made between tissue growth at the branches of a coral and at the base. The base tissue growth will be referred to as encrustation growth.

Trimming

The following information are the notes I took while attempting to trim back Xenia.

• Day 1 - Trimmed a small branch of elongata with scissors and left it on the bottom of the tank. The wound on the mother colony was closed up after 24 hours.
• Day 3 - The polyps are still floating about, the base is looking more closed. I will try to secure it tomorrow.
• Day 11 - The base of the cutting is closed but it has still not attached. I may try pinning it to the substrate with a wooden pin.
• Day 30 - Several trimmings made. All fixed with skewer method. Attached, growing fast and new polyp development.

Super Glue

The following information are the notes I took while attempting to super glue Xenia. to substrate.

• Day 1 - Cut one polyp on Xenia elongata and attached it to a piece of gravel with superglue. Positioned mid tank. Polyp is open and pulsing.
• Day 2 - Polyp has come off and disappeared!

Sandwich

The following information are the notes I took while attempting to sandwich Xenia. between substrate.

• Day 1 - Cut 1 polyp of elongata and one polyp of Bali, Placed each polyp between two pieces of gravel, sandwiching the stem of the polyp in between and holding the pieces together with superglue at either end.
• Day 2 - Polyp has come off and disappeared!

Notes

After these tests and others, there are two methods that seem to work best. The individual polyp trimming works well. Polyps are simply cut with scissors three quarters of the way down the stalk and placed in a container at the bottom of the tank. Cover the container with netting to prevent the polyps coming out. The polyps attach after a few days to coral gravel in the bottom. Within 4 weeks they have developed up to 10 new baby polyps, and developed a stalk with about a 5-7mm diameter and a height of 1 - 1 and half inches. This method is easy and quick but the babies take quite a while to reach a decent size (well I guess they are starting from 1 polyp). The smaller colonies seem more susceptible to environmental fluctuations and can have problems with algae. I have noticed throughout my propagations that green hair algae strongly inhibits their growth and in tiny colonies may even lead to their death if just left. The hair algae does not need to smother the coral to inhibit it, it only needs to be growing around its base. The larger cuttings seem to fair best. I now remove branches from the mother colonies and with a splintered toothpick, skewer the base of the cutting to a piece of tuffa rock. These branches will attach after a week and grow rapidly in good current and light. The larger cuttings also seem to have the ability to inhibit and stop the growth of hair algae around them. Xenia elongata seems to be incredibly tough and even hard to kill. You can drop them on the floor, keep them in the dark for weeks, and even expose them to hours of water at less than 10 degrees C and they still recover. I didn't try all these on purpose by the way!! I have successfully propagated xenia under normal output tubes (4w per g), halides and natural daylight. Attachment seems quickest on porous rock.

By Clayton Smith