Oh wow. I apologize for not paying attention, the thread went from doing nothing to 10 or so replies.
The plastic plants serve solely as a hitching post for the horses, I do plan to switch to macroalgae when I get the money to do so. But adding marco increases the chance of hyrdoids as well. You have to be VERY careful with dwarves.
The gorgonia is indeed real, and has been going great for the few month's I've had it. It gets cleaned off via the turkey baster weekly and shows regular polyp extension. The tank is so small due to the horses, nothing larger than a 10 gallon is recommended. And I perform water changes weekly religiously, and all parameters appear in check.
Thanks again for the kind words everyone. I should be having another batch of babies any day now ... I'll be sure to post some updated pictures when they arrive!