Floribbean Photosynthetic Gorgonians: Care?

[happyclam]

I am in the planning process of setting up a Red Sea MAX 130D Caribbean biotope tank. The main corals would be ricordea, zoanthids, and of course, gorgonians. I'm pretty sure that the zoas and rics should easy enough for me (a beginner), but I wasn't sure of the hardiness of the gorgonians. I was under the impression they were fairly hardier than most b/c they are photosynthetic so aren't as dependent on food. How hardy are they? Will the MAX support there needs? What food is required? I read that their polyps are so small that they don't really need feeding and can absorb what nutrients they need from the water, true?
Thanks for your help!

PS: here is a link that gives all the specifics of the MAX 130D:
http://www.redseamax.com/redseamax/250Temp/redseamax/Red_Sea_MAX_specs130D.html

PSS: I currently have (4) Koralia 1 (400 gph ea.) pumps left over from a pevious tank... would those work if I needed more flow? How many would I need? Do I need a wave timer?

 

[happyclam]

I guess I'll just start with 1 cheap gorgonian and see how it does.

 

[Jacob D]

A really good bet for hardy photosynthetic gorgs is Live Aquaria. They offer captive propagated gorgs under their 'sea fans' category. You can also get them direct from the source, Scientific Corals, which is where L.A. gets them from, however I don't know about a live arrival guarantee if buy direct.

I picked up a couple of these and they are very healthy. They were in my QT tank for about 2 months and have been in my display for close to the same amount of time. They had some damaged tips from shipping and not only did they recover but they have grown quite a bit. I don't feed anything.