Lighting
50-150 PAR is a flexible starting range; growth control and steady flow usually matter more than exact PAR.
Soft CoralBeginnerCare score 2/10
Xenia
Xenia spp.
Use this Xenia profile to compare soft branching stalks with Clove Polyps and Green Star Polyps, plan conservative spacing, and watch for closure, shedding, or tissue slump under moderate flow.
Compare soft branching stalks, care range, and nearby lookalikes while checking an ID.
Snapshot
Quick Care Snapshot
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Care score
- 2/10
- Placement
- Variable
- PAR range
- 50-150 PAR
- Flow
- Moderate
- Aggression
- Low
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Minimum tank age
- 2 months
- Minimum tank size
- 10 gallons
Care note
This entry has low confidence or is marked for expert review. Treat the ranges as conservative starting points and compare them with your own system.
- Verify taxonomy before species-level SEO or care claims.
Images
Reference Photos
Photos are shown only when a source includes reusable license metadata. Always verify appearance against the coral in your own lighting and flow.
Primary reference: The original uploader was Dawson at English Wikipedia.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 2.5
Photo: Diego Delso
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Diego Delso
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Ranges
Water Parameters
These ranges are approximate starting points from the coral database and should be adjusted to the stability and history of your system.
- Temperature
- 76-80 F / 24.4-26.7 C
- Salinity
- 1.023-1.026
- Alkalinity
- 7.5-10 dKH
- Calcium
- 380-450 ppm
- Magnesium
- 1250-1400 ppm
- Nitrate
- 2-25 ppm
- Phosphate
- 0.03-0.2 ppm
Care
Care Notes
Flow
moderate flow should help shedding and detritus removal while avoiding constant collapse of the colony.
Stability
For Xenia, review salinity, nutrient swings, and flow before assuming decline; temporary closure, shedding, or posture changes can be normal.
Variability
Xenia requirements vary by specimen, aquaculture history, shipping stress, and tank maturity; use these ranges as starting points, not guarantees.
Feeding
Feeding
- Benefits from feeding
- No
- Food types
- dissolved nutrients, fine suspended foods
- Frequency
- direct feeding not usually needed
ID
Identification
Key features
- soft branching stalks
- feathery hands
- pulsing motion in some varieties
Common colors
- Pink
- Tan
- Silver
Similar coral references
How to tell apart
Xenia forms soft upright stalks and may pulse; GSP spreads as a mat and cloves have more flower-like polyps. When Xenia is confused with Clove Polyps and Green Star Polyps, the useful clues are soft branching stalks, feathery hands, and pulsing motion in some varieties. Color is secondary; structure, expansion pattern, and the first place tissue irritation appears are more reliable. For soft corals, growth habit, polyp arrangement, and shedding behavior are usually more useful than a loose trade name.
Placement
Compatibility
Compatibility depends on specimen size, flow, growth, aggression, and spacing. Use these references conservatively and watch for contact over time.
Usually compatible with spacing
Use caution near
Avoid close placement with
Spacing recommendation: keep about 3 inches of clearance, then adjust based on extension and neighboring coral response.
Troubleshooting
Common Problems
Use these as troubleshooting checks, not a diagnosis. Symptoms may point to more than one issue.
Xenia closure, shedding, or tissue slumpOpen for symptoms, likely causes to check, and practical next steps.
Symptoms that may indicate it
- polyps stay closed, surface film appears, or branches look limp
- Xenia shows less normal extension, inflation, or feeding response than its recent baseline
- changes are localized rather than a confirmed single-cause condition
Likely causes to check
- normal shedding, salinity change, low indirect flow, or chemical irritation in a mixed reef
- recent placement, lighting, flow, or chemistry changes affecting Xenia
- possible irritation from neighbors, pests, detritus, or handling depending on the coral group
Quick checks
- check whether Xenia is shedding before moving it
- improve indirect flow across the surface or branches
- review recent salinity, carbon, or chemical-filtration changes in mixed reefs
Checklist
Common Mistakes
- allow normal soft coral shedding while checking flow and salinity trends
- placing Xenia before confirming soft branching stalks and its spacing needs
- using Xenia color or trade name alone instead of comparing it with Clove Polyps
- changing light, flow, and chemistry together when Xenia looks irritated
- ignoring spread control when keeping Xenia
Compare
Similar Corals
Neighbors
Compatible Corals
These corals are usually compatible with spacing, observation, and stable conditions. This is not a guarantee.
Usually compatible with spacing
Zoanthids
Zoanthus spp.
- Category
- Zoanthid
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Aggression
- Low
Usually compatible with spacing
Leather Coral
Sarcophyton spp. / Sinularia spp. / Lobophytum spp.
- Category
- Soft Coral
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Aggression
- Moderate
Usually compatible with spacing
Mushroom Coral
Discosoma spp. / Rhodactis spp.
- Category
- Mushroom
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Aggression
- Low
FAQs
FAQs
Is Xenia beginner friendly?
Xenia can be beginner friendly in a stable reef, but still needs acclimation, space, and observation after moves.
Where should Xenia be placed?
Start Xenia on a movable frag plug or isolated rock so it can be adjusted without disturbing the main aquascape. Use 50-150 PAR and moderate flow as a starting point, then adjust from tissue extension, color, and nearby coral response.
Does Xenia need food or just stable nutrients?
Xenia does not usually need direct feeding. The database lists dissolved nutrients and fine suspended foods and notes: direct feeding not usually needed. For soft-coral style care, stable nutrients and enough flow to keep surfaces clean are the main checks.
Can Xenia spread onto nearby rock?
Give Xenia about 3 inches of clearance as a starting point. Its database aggression level is Low. Use caution near Green Star Polyps and Clove Polyps. Avoid close placement with Acropora and Chalice Coral. Compatibility is not a guarantee, so check contact points as colonies expand. For spreading or mat-forming corals, also watch the edge of the colony so it does not grow into neighbors unnoticed.
What should I check if Xenia looks stressed?
Use this as a troubleshooting check. For Xenia, polyps stay closed, surface film appears, or branches look limp and Xenia shows less normal extension, inflation, or feeding response than its recent baseline can indicate Xenia closure, shedding, or tissue slump. Likely causes to check include normal shedding, salinity change, low indirect flow, or chemical irritation in a mixed reef and recent placement, lighting, flow, or chemistry changes affecting Xenia. Start with these database checks: check whether Xenia is shedding before moving it and improve indirect flow across the surface or branches.
What should I check before moving Xenia?
For Xenia, review salinity, nutrient swings, and flow before assuming decline; temporary closure, shedding, or posture changes can be normal. The database lists 2 months as the minimum tank age and 10 gallons as the minimum tank size. With soft corals, temporary closure or posture changes can happen, so compare against the recent baseline before moving it repeatedly.
Coral Identifier
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Compare soft branching stalks, care range, and nearby lookalikes while checking an ID.
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