# Xenia elongata, First Frag



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Well!

I finally got some free time to muck with the sw tank and decided to frag out my plusing Xenia. From what I had read it's very easy to do.. and it went well accept for my nerves lol.

I'll grab some photos asap.


----------



## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

frag out my plusing Xenia... humm what does that mean? i presume it doesnt mean that you blasted your Xenia with your rail gun...


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

LOL i cut up my Xenia soft coral. So i could share it with other SW keepers if they wanted.


----------



## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

Ciddian said:


> LOL i cut up my Xenia soft coral. So i could share it with other SW keepers if they wanted.


share is such a free word, in that case I'll share it with you


----------



## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

humm cool. if coral is so easlially grown why is it so bloddy $$$


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Expense in bring it to the table: it has to be harvested, survive harvesting (so you have to pay to make up for the ones that don't survive collection), then they have to be held for a bit (and you have to pay for those that die), and then they have to be shipped from somewhere generally in the west side of the pacific (indonesia, australia being the two main locales) and you have to make up for the ones that don't survive that trip too, and then you have to pay for the ones that don't make it to sale at the shop, and then you have to pay the middleman fee, and then finally, you have to shell out $45 for a little 'colony'.

They also have to flourish and grow in your system to a level that you can fragment ('frag') them too. 
It's the same as FW plants; you have to get them to flourish before parting them out too. Except I've never paid anything more than $30 for a single plant.


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Oooh, Pulsing xenia! I'd love a frag, but I think the flow that I want in my tank would be too much for it.

When I first fragged my Dendrophyllia I was scared I was going to kill the whole colony too....killed one head (it's starting to re grow ), but I think I've got the hang of fragging LPS and softies now (leathers were nice and easy...just cut into pieces!).


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

my tree coral is about ready if i wanted to cut it up but i love it too much lol.

i hope the frags do well.. i am still learning.  I have a show xenia that i wont cut up and he sits under the hob filter flow lol they seem to like it so you might have good luck with one.


----------



## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Fragging is a good way to help out fellow reefers, save our reefs and fund our addiction. You will find different levels of fraggers: 1. Ones that go to stores when shipments come in and buy out all the nice colored colonies before the colonies go on sale to the public. Take that colony home and destroy it by fragging it all just for a quick $. Certain companies are thriving by this method. 2. Hobbyists doing it to trade and add variety to their tank. This is how I started and I liked the fact that I could bring home a frag and watch it grow into a large colony. 3. Being environmentally conscious is where I'm at now. With the farms we now have around the world I don't see any need to purchase a colony that has been removed from the oceans. Aqua Cultured is the way to go and will be the way of the future with various areas shutting down their reefs for harvesting.

As far as the cost of the corals, aqua cultured is a little more expensive right now as it is not as simple as plucking the coral from the ocean, bagging and shipping. A lot of Research and Development goes into culturing corals and when you consider, utitilites, supplies, additives, food and equipment it's really not that bad getting a frag for $15 - $20.

Ciddian....
Congrats on fragging the Xenia. What method did you use? One of the easist ways to frag this is to place small rubble around the mother colony and as it spreads you can just remove the rubble when you want to sell the frag - no glueing required, just an exacto. Depending on how long you had it removed from what sometimes it may take a little while to recover but should start spreading like wild fire in no time.

Chris


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

pretty sure this was originally an AC coral and was tied down with fishing line. It didnt like that at all.

Funny you say that chris.. Remeber that frag i bought from you a while back? It happened to get knocked down beside the Xenia and the darn thing grew over the polyps! D: 

I learned that method of fragging the hard way LOL. Eventually the Xenia split. I just helped it along with a small cut. One i keep as show and the other i hope to share.

I did the snip and mesh baggie method. I was wondering about glue but i had only read about this way and wanted to try that first. I will remove the baggie soon and hopefully its taken to the bit of rubble i used.


----------



## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

i suppose you are right amplek the same deal goes with FW plants. i go to my club auction and get big freeser bags packed with plants for like $5 and i bring freezer bags filled with plants that i sell for $5 where at a LFS a freezer bag filled with even the cheepest FW plants would be liek $100. and i agree about the enviromental thing. My first aquarium mentor told me about how alot of SW things are shipped from the ocean and have a high mortality rate and i guess that made me feel a lil bad. i know that some FW fish are wild caught but its not nearly as much. its cool that people are learning how to cultivate and breed more SW things


----------



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Well i lost one frag to a hermit crab. He's very naughty and loves to move my rocks around and i think he stressed the hell out of one of the frags.

The other is doing well and expanded as I speak. Sooo tiny and cute. 

I removed the netting to see if it had taken and it has... really happy how it turned out.

Next time I look forward to using glue and see how that works.


----------

