| Difficulty | Very easy |
| Time Required | 10–15 minutes |
| Healing Time | About 1 week |
| Best Method | Cut a branch, band or mesh it down |
| Coral Type | Fast-growing soft corals |
Overview
Pulsing Xenia and Kenya Tree barely need your help to propagate — Kenya Trees literally drop babies (branchlets detach, drift, and settle), and Xenia walks across rockwork splitting as it goes. Fragging is mostly a matter of catching that energy and pointing it at a plug. Like leathers, their slippery tissue shrugs off glue, so use bands, mesh or toothpicks.
What You’ll Need
- Sharp scissors or scalpel
- Rubber bands, bridal-veil mesh, or toothpicks + plugs/rubble
- A colander or rubble cup for the lazy method
Step-by-Step
- Snip a branch or stalk an inch or two long — for Xenia, take a stalk with several pulsing hands; for Kenya Tree, any branch (or just collect the dropped babies).
- Attach mechanically: rubber-band the stalk gently to a plug, pin the base with a toothpick, or lay pieces on rubble under mesh in a low-flow container.
- Wait about a week — these corals grip fast. Remove bands/mesh once attached.
- Alternatively, park a rubble cup next to the colony and let nature hand you attached frags.
Aftercare & Healing
Minimal. Xenia may stop pulsing for a few days after handling — normal. Both species grow visibly week to week once attached. Trim the parent regularly; with these corals, fragging is pruning.
What Can Go Wrong
Xenia melting after a move: Xenia hates transport and parameter swings more than cutting — frag in-tank when possible. Spreading where you don’t want it: the eternal Xenia/Kenya issue — keep them on isolated islands, and remove every scrap of tissue when evicting them (fragments regrow). Bands cutting tissue: loosen; snug only.