I know that xenia is good source of filtration and decided to put some stalks of it in my sump. My question is, does it need a real light (i.e fuge lighting) to grow and thrive as I don't have a fuge down there. Or can it survive with just the occasional sump lighting led when doing maintenance?
I actually thought of doing this but then I had a vision of my whole tank being taken over. LOL to answer your question yes xenia needs light. Actually it said medium to high light. Just thrown a cheap led down there.
I ended up with some Xenia in my fuge by accident. For a while I had lights over the fuge that weren't very strong and the Xenia were barely alive. I upgraded the lights and they did much better so I believe that they are definitely photosynthetic and will die with minimal light like you are suggesting.
yeah, the xenia is gone. decided instead of getting a fuge light, just let it go to my girl's tank where it will eventually meet its demise. oops, don't tell her i said that. lol
that's funny, after reading this thread, i was thinking about cutting off a piece of pulsing xenia stock from the DT and sticking it into the sump and let it go..
i think i'll still do it, just to see how it does.