Xenia is a genus of soft corals (octocorals) and is found in the reefs of the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea. They are small soft corals with a short stem on which sits a ball of polyps. They can reach massive colonial populations and reproduce vegetatively very quickly, so under the right conditions they can easily become a nuisance - other corals, while not directly stung, are shaded out and thus displaced. It is therefore best to place Xenia far away from the reef setup on an extra rock. To remove Xenia is very difficult, since even from small tissue remnants corals can grow again - it is best to pluck them off and smear calcium hydroxide slurry on the former location; but the easiest way is to throw them out of the tank together with the whole rock.
They thrive on light via their zooxanthellae and can tolerate high levels of nutrients, which would make them a great beginner coral if they weren't so terribly prone to overgrowth. Many xenia species are fascinating because they pump their polyps constantly in the water - Israeli researchers have found that pumping xenia do this to improve metabolic exchange, primarily to expel excess oxygen from photosynthesis. If xenias are ailing, a problem may be that the water is simply too clean for them. Deficiencies in iodine and halogens can also cause problems, sometimes caused by aggressive filtration through activated carbon. Here it helps to limit the use of activated carbon and to add appropriate trace elements.
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