gorgonian questions

[Pea-brain]

HI. I got a hitch hiker gorgonian in some live rock rubble. It is either caribean or floridian live rock. It was a white stick about 2" long with 8-10 little purple/brownish polyps on it. I put it about 4-5 inches away from the surface of the light (a 50/50 18 watt fourescent) and under the highest flow in my tank from a haang on biowheel filter. for a while the polyps were extended. about a week ago the waxy white exterior dissapeared and left a little brown twig, but the bottom still had the white covering. I had read that gorgonians molted, so I wasn't concerned. Now all the white is gone, I see no polyps, and haven't seen any open poylps since it shed. The only thing I've seen near it is a hermit crab. And I don't think it could have eaten it without breaking the gorgonian as it climbed or tipping the little 1/4 pound peice if rock of the top. I'm wondering if the gorgonian is still alive? I have some pics I'll post soon from before when I first got it, and I'll snap some pics of it now. thanks!

 

[dendro982]

It seems to be photosynthetic gorgonian, you can check here . I have only non-photosynthetic gorgonians (they come in red and yellow colors) in NC6 under 18W 50-50 PC, but from what I had read, this is may be not enough for photosynthetic kind. You can place it closer to the top, or add desktop lamp over that (with 27W daylight spiral bulb, not cool or soft white).
They shed waxy coat, and have to be kept in fairly strong flow, not in direct blast, but at some distance or in reflected flow. Have to be fed by the finest food. You may search for "Feeding gorgonians", or may be someone else will post here.
If the some live tissue was left - you may try to cut it off and glue central rod to the rock.
Sorry, not much help.

 

[Fish'InMN]

I have to question your claim of it being a photosynthetic gorg, as he mentioned purple/brownish polyps. This most likely indicates a NON-photosynthetic gorgonian, read here, specifically the post by cmsargent stating

The non-photysynthetic gorgonian are more likely to have either white, orange, red, or purple polys. The stalk colors can be almost anything. This is just a generallity though there are exceptions to every rule.

Chris goes on to explain the feeding required for the different polyp sizes as well as other helpful information. Following that are some pictures with common non-photo gorgs.

I happen to have first-hand experience with non-photosynthetic gorgonians as well, having lost one that was incorrectly labelled by an online retailer who provided no picture ID. It arrived with a purple flesh and purple polyps and I knew I was in trouble. The loss of the white flesh down to the brown twig indicates it has indeed died; mine did the exact same thing despite my best efforts.

Note: I'm basing this solely on your description, it could indeed still be alive and could be a photosynthetic one as well; but it seems highly unlikely given the details you've provided.


Marty

 

[cmsargent]

Sorry to say it sounds like your gorg is dead. If you can see the brown twiggy part (the gorgonian skeleton) that means the flesh is dead. When it sheds you'll still have the fleshy part (the calyx) all that should come off is a very thin coating. It the brown 'skeleton' is showing this is bad. If there is any flesh remaining you could try to frag it but from you description I think this is dead and beyond hope.

Heres a pic of one shedding. Its not the best pic but you can see the thin sheets slouthing off. You can also see remains of diaton bloom which is what cause the shedding.

Shedding

Healthy

From the decsription its hard to day if this is a photsynthetic gorg or not. Did you mean it is purple stalk with brown polyps?. If so purple stalk with tan/brown polyps is a very common color for photosynthetic gorg. Now if the entire gorg including the ployps is purple that would lead me to think its non-photosythetic. Would need to see a pic to ID for sure in any case.

 

[dendro982]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9632891#post9632891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fish'InMN
I have to question your claim of it being a photosynthetic gorg,

Claim? "Claim - A demand for something as rightful or due." (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Any gorgonian, that I have right to, are in my tank. I also did not claim (claim, verb, "To state to be true, especially when open to question", quote from the same page), because used by me "seems to be" explicitly states only assumption.

Don't pick fight with somebody - better help Pea-brain with proper ID and sources of care, specific to that particular group of gorgonians.

I am out.

 

[Pea-brain]

from wat you say the gorgonian is definately, 100% not alive. I will pos pictures of it before it died later. It died really fast too. I didn't see it rot or anything. Alll the sudden the skeleton was there and the skin wasn't. I should have acted faster. I might've been able to save a piece. Oh well. A moment for the dead gorgonian........Ok thats enough. I was planning to trade this to a better equipped aquarist too. I wanted some GSP or xenia...