liquidglass
New member
I have been target feeding this awesome looking coral with DT's and cyclopies.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
Any other suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
Feeding a Blueberry Gorgonian?
- Thread starter liquidglass
- Start date
reefkeeper2
Premium Member
I do not know a great deal about feeding these corals, but I do know that you must keep the iodine in your tank at NSW levels for them to thrive. This also applies to the photosynthetic gorgonians as well. I have seen them decline in my tank when I stopped additions, and return to health when I resumed.
Kreeger1
KING LEAR
I'd say no to DT's forsure and maybe to cyclopeeze's
But really if your trying along those lines theres 2 better products out there, Reed's shellfish diet and nutrmar uva.
I personally think High flow and 24 hour feeding is the only way it will live. Not really sure what it eats either. I've tried alot of things, When i moved mine to the new tank it didn't make the move and was lost within 3 days. I had thought it was doing good prior to the move but comparing pictures I took of it I think it was slowly starving. IMO thats the hardest to keep gorg I've seen for sale.
Erik
But really if your trying along those lines theres 2 better products out there, Reed's shellfish diet and nutrmar uva.
I personally think High flow and 24 hour feeding is the only way it will live. Not really sure what it eats either. I've tried alot of things, When i moved mine to the new tank it didn't make the move and was lost within 3 days. I had thought it was doing good prior to the move but comparing pictures I took of it I think it was slowly starving. IMO thats the hardest to keep gorg I've seen for sale.
Erik
Hormigaquatica
Active member
Ive gotten a pretty good/consistent response using Rotifers. As Kreeger1 mentioned, high flow is a big factor IME.
Stottlemire
New member
Beautiful Blueberry
Reeds Rotifeast is geat for this, also cyclopies I have seen one feed on both.
Chuck
Reeds Rotifeast is geat for this, also cyclopies I have seen one feed on both.
Chuck
dtaylor123
New member
This is a stunning coral! No one has figured out how to make it grow and thrive in a closed system. More than likely it will starve to death. Feeding it 24/7 may be successful, using Reeds is probably a good idea, there are other Sea Fan foods you can try as well, Fauna Marin sells one. Some people think that coral mucus brings it the food it needs, you can try and get your other corals to slime and let the mucus float to the coral, I realize that's a stretch. I wish you luck and I hope you will be successful.
Dan
Dan
liquidglass
New member
Thanks for the info everyone, Will see what happens.
theimpulsive1
New member
tough ones. very beautiful though
Kolognekoral
New member
I know a few people keeping this gorgonia for well over a year. I would have to call that successful. They are feeding a variety of foods, such as artemia naupli, cycloeeze, rotifers, frozen plankton, powdered foods from Ultra Marin and Timo, plus pappone-type fish mash.
Proper current is absolutely important, but too strong is, also, not good. I think one needs to play around a bit and see what current(s) give the best feeding response.
Here is a recipe I've used with success from my friend Stephan P.
4 parts spirulina flakes
3 parts cylop eeze
3 parts Ultra Clam
6 parts Ultra Min F
1 part spirulina powder
these dry ingredients are mixed with Ultra Pac and water to create a thin, slimey fluid that is fed to the animals.
Another approach is with Timo food 1 and 3, which are mixed with water and vitamins of choice, allowed to stand for a half hour or so and then fed. I mix an additional portion of Ultra Clam, Ultra Sea Fan and cyclop eeze and some coral snow. This is fed every evening under blue light or darkness.
I find letting the mixed food sit for a while to stew a good method. Possibly a bit of bacteria starts to bloom or the ingredients simply become more palatable. Response seems a bit stronger, but this could be imagination!
Proper current is absolutely important, but too strong is, also, not good. I think one needs to play around a bit and see what current(s) give the best feeding response.
Here is a recipe I've used with success from my friend Stephan P.
4 parts spirulina flakes
3 parts cylop eeze
3 parts Ultra Clam
6 parts Ultra Min F
1 part spirulina powder
these dry ingredients are mixed with Ultra Pac and water to create a thin, slimey fluid that is fed to the animals.
Another approach is with Timo food 1 and 3, which are mixed with water and vitamins of choice, allowed to stand for a half hour or so and then fed. I mix an additional portion of Ultra Clam, Ultra Sea Fan and cyclop eeze and some coral snow. This is fed every evening under blue light or darkness.
I find letting the mixed food sit for a while to stew a good method. Possibly a bit of bacteria starts to bloom or the ingredients simply become more palatable. Response seems a bit stronger, but this could be imagination!
Kreeger1
KING LEAR
Over a year I would also call that a success, In the 20 years I've been keeping corals I found this one the hardest.
I've tried to feed alot of things, but nothing like the mix you've made up.
I'd really love to see a video of it in the wild. Try to duplicate what I'm seeing
Erik
I've tried to feed alot of things, but nothing like the mix you've made up.
I'd really love to see a video of it in the wild. Try to duplicate what I'm seeing
Erik
Kolognekoral
New member
Janna, the stuff from UltraMarine is in the USA. Google the net to find a store or mailorder firm. I don't know if the Timo products are available or not. The foods from Reed Marine are from the San Francisco Bay area and come-up on google.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Jamie V.- thank you for your post regarding Acalycigorgia
Up to this point I've heard of no long term success with this species. I'd be interested in hearing if someone breaks down the two years in captivity barrier, so please update us
Up to this point I've heard of no long term success with this species. I'd be interested in hearing if someone breaks down the two years in captivity barrier, so please update us
Kolognekoral
New member
Gary, I may pick one up myself next week and proof the pudding, as it were. With gorgonians in general, we are really just starting to scratch the surface. We need to forget some of what we have learned with stone corals and consider why animals such as the gorgonians and azooxanthellate soft corals have conquered their niche. As we see them together with the stone corals, they must not create a direct competition, rather expand the limits of the environment. In other works, what the zooxanthellates do with zooplankton and symbiotic algae must be coverd via a non-competitive feeding strategy. Katharina Fabricius' evidence that many soft corals are actually planktavores opens a whole new window. Clearly, many members of the NPC are not relying on their stinging cells to capture and hold their prey. Being able to identify this quality in an animal may simplify its feeding regiemen.
One aquarist that has been holding this Acalycigorgia for over one year related the following tank parameters:
PO4 - off the scale, it is so high! This is still questionable, as he keeps Acroporas in the tank as well. It may be a constant flux of phosphates through feeding that keep the reading so high.
NO3 - 20-50mgl
Current 5-7cm pS, over this rate it does not feed well!
Miracle Mud filter with weak skimmer.
Stands in shadow with only indirect light.
The animal is fed mornings and evenings 4-5 times with a mix of cyclopeeze, lobster eggs, UltraClam, UltraMin F, UltraMin S, being changed in mixture to give a varied diet. Various vitamins and aminos are used on occaision. The two main ingredients are cyclopeeze and UltraClam (both of which I use, along with the new Ultra Sea Fan, plus Timo foods). He feeds 1ml of the mix in 20ml of water and injects it into the current before the animal, in small amounts.
He has had growth, as well as polyp bailout in the year and the animal has not degenerated. He will be reaching the 2 year mark this Spring! Something he mentions is that, if the animal does not open its polyps after a few days, it is very hard to get it back into form. This may be the main reason we have so few successes. The animals are half starved when we get them and cannot recover.
When I hear more, I'll report back.
One aquarist that has been holding this Acalycigorgia for over one year related the following tank parameters:
PO4 - off the scale, it is so high! This is still questionable, as he keeps Acroporas in the tank as well. It may be a constant flux of phosphates through feeding that keep the reading so high.
NO3 - 20-50mgl
Current 5-7cm pS, over this rate it does not feed well!
Miracle Mud filter with weak skimmer.
Stands in shadow with only indirect light.
The animal is fed mornings and evenings 4-5 times with a mix of cyclopeeze, lobster eggs, UltraClam, UltraMin F, UltraMin S, being changed in mixture to give a varied diet. Various vitamins and aminos are used on occaision. The two main ingredients are cyclopeeze and UltraClam (both of which I use, along with the new Ultra Sea Fan, plus Timo foods). He feeds 1ml of the mix in 20ml of water and injects it into the current before the animal, in small amounts.
He has had growth, as well as polyp bailout in the year and the animal has not degenerated. He will be reaching the 2 year mark this Spring! Something he mentions is that, if the animal does not open its polyps after a few days, it is very hard to get it back into form. This may be the main reason we have so few successes. The animals are half starved when we get them and cannot recover.
When I hear more, I'll report back.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
I will be waiting to hear more over time. Please post directly to this thread so I don't miss your reply.
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