Does my Gorgonia need light or a bunch of food to survive

[PACHY-FAN]

I bought a Gorgonia thinking that Gorgonians need to be fed because of the lack of internal algae, cannot remember the scientific term. My coral book says that some Gorgonians need light, for the internal algae, and not so much food. My Gorgonia was sold as a Purple Gorgonia and has brown polyps. The guy at the LFS said that I should feed it frequently. I cannot post a pic because the upload is constantly failing and am hoping the description is enough for the required info. If it is dependent on food does it require phytoplankton or just plankton for sustenance or a combination of both.
Your response is greatly appreciated. Thanx!

 

[Budman422]

with the polyps being brown it is possible photosyntic and will need light. the food will not be necessary. post a photo for id

 

[Epicreefer]

A "purple gorgonia" sold in Florida is probably a photosynthetic. Still could use food to help it grow. I've seen them do good without food but it depends on the system and gorgonia. There are several Florida species, all look purple or a tan brown and some do good others rarely do. Wouldn't be surprised if you ended up with a deep water species that needs to be fed, need a picture.

 

[bluekoi]

If you have a pic, that would help tremendously. The general rule of thumb I always heard was that if it was pretty and colorful - it was probably not photosynthetic and needed to be fed (something like marine snow is good, but don't go overboard with it). If it was brownish and not as pretty, it's probably photosynthetic! Just goes to show you that the pretty stuffs always needs more work!

 

[PACHY-FAN]

Here's a pic.

 

[PACHY-FAN]

No pic. Problems uploading

 

[Fishtitious Per]

I've got a couple of eco-gorg gorgonians like these:

http://www.aquascapers.com/store/eco-gorgs/262-purple-candelabra-eco-gorg-plexaura-flexuosa.html

Also have a purple ribbon gorgonian, and a couple of Grubbe's gorgonians in my seahorse tank. I believe all of mine need light, but are always happiest after an occasional target feeding of Reef-Roids.

Just make sure you have decent random flow in the tank as a couple of my gorgs regularly shed a filmy coating now and then.