Gorgonian care?

[PirateLove]

Are Gorgonians hard to keep? Would they fair in the back of an sps tank? I have never even seen one in person but it looks like they would want little flow, Anyone have any?

 

[homer1475]

Depends on the type of gorg. There are photosynthetic ones, and non photosynthetic ones.

I personally have a photosynthetic one and it started off as a small 2 branch frag, in just over a year its 5 branches and easily doubled its length. I do nothing special with it other then moderate flow and light.

Today, or rather a couple weeks ago....


And when I first bought it.....

 

[username in use]

That is the classic photosynthetic Gorg. I have a few branches right now in my kids nano and it's extremely easy to keep.

Good rule of thumb, if you are looking at gorgs in stores. White polyps or no polyps extended, it is most likely non-photosynthetic and should be stayed away from if you don't have a proper setup for them.

 

[thegrun]

The photosynthetic Gorgonians are easy to care for, but they require good light and a lot of flow. The non-photosynthetic Gorgonians require spot feeding and generally are difficult to keep long term.

 

[gone fishin]

I will also add that algae or cyano allowed to settle on a gorg will take it out quickly, so prompt removal of the algae or cyano is a must. I have 4 photosynthetic gorgs in my tank and do nothing special.

 

[PirateLove]

Depends on the type of gorg. There are photosynthetic ones, and non photosynthetic ones.

I personally have a photosynthetic one and it started off as a small 2 branch frag, in just over a year its 5 branches and easily doubled its length. I do nothing special with it other then moderate flow and light.

Today, or rather a couple weeks ago....


And when I first bought it.....

Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing. I will look into those too!

Thanks for the responses everyone. I checked out the site and am ordering a few tonight. The site does say, "As with all gorgonian, they will require regular supplemental feeding with some sort of plankton food, either a homemade mix of small particle foods or a commercially prepared product." but I will take everyones advice of high light and high flow.

 

[homer1475]

Yeah it really is easy to care for. Just saw a blue photosynthetic gorg that is most definitely going in my 80. They give great movement to the tank and grow pretty fast.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I checked out the site and am ordering a few tonight. The site does say, "As with all gorgonian, they will require regular supplemental feeding with some sort of plankton food, either a homemade mix of small particle foods or a commercially prepared product." but I will take everyones advice of high light and high flow.

Be careful. Photosynthetic Gorgonians really don't need much feeding. Non photosynthetic Gorgonians need a lot of feeding... regular as clock work feeding every day... or every other day at the longest. Unless you have a tank running high in nutrients.

I have both. The PS ones are easy and they like medium to high flow. I've seen them in the Florida Keys with the current just ripping along and they look completely happy. I have a 75g hexagon tank that is filling up with them. The NPS ones are completely unforgiving. If you don't commit to them, they won't survive very long.

Just my 2 cents.