We don’t show enough of our tanks from the other side of the Atlantic so I thought I would show my own little project from the UK – this 200 liter/52 gallon soft coral-dominated lagoon tank. It was devised over…
WWC True Blue Xenia is Strikingly Blue
Xenia has long held a special esteem in the reef aquarium world, once cherished for its polyp pulsing behavior, and subsequently reviled for its capacity to rapaciously grow and take over tanks with the right conditions. There’s a long history…
‘Xenia’ is Unsurprisingly Taking Over Venezuelan Reefs
‘Xenia elongata’, recently reclassified as Unomia stolonifera, is a soft coral that is well known in the aquarium hobby for its supernatural growth rates in reef tanks. This fleshy octocoral is so prolific that it has been used in dedicated…
Unomia is the New Name of Xenia elongata
Unomia is a brand new genus of Xeniid soft corals that has been created to classify one of the most common of all aquarium soft corals, Xenia elongata. The entire group of Xeniid soft corals that includes Xenia, Cespitularia, Efflatournaria and others have…
These Are Not the Cespitularia You’re Looking For
The soft corals of Xeniidae is a family containing many aquarium favorites such as Xenia, Anthelia, Cespitularia, and today we can add two more genera, Conglomeratusclera and Caementabunda. Those two genus names are a handful for even for experienced latin practicers and…
13 Creatures To Photograph At The Murex Bangka House Reef
Murex Bangka House Reef Guests staying at the Bangka Island hotel are in for a treat. The Murex house reef is only a fin toss away from the shore and full of interesting creatures to photograph. And regardless of where…
Some idiot planted Xenia on a Venezuelan reef to awful effect
We reefers have long considered Xenia species to be a particularly weedy species in our aquariums. There once was a time when any Xenia was worth its weight in gold but now you’d be lucky to get $10 a pound, and…
Why Did My Pulse Corals Stop Pulsing?
Pulse corals (e.g., Xenia and Heteroxenia spp.) are among the more enigmatic sessile invertebrates. Many hobbyists and non-hobbyists alike find their rhythmic, hypnotic pulsing behavior fascinating and relaxing to observe, but precisely why they pulse the way they do has…
Pulsing Xenia mystery solved
The pulsing Xenia has been a scientific mystery for that last 200 years since it was first discovered by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829). Why does this particular coral spend so much energy pulsating? Corals are extremely efficient organisms and do not waste energy…
Photosynthetic Gorgonians for the Home Aquaria
Of all the amazing corals that are available to the reef aquarium hobbyists nowadays, gorgonians are frequently overlooked when choosing corals for our aquariums. In the wild they are a vital part of the environment; they filter water, provide sanctuary…
