purple frilly gorgonian

[tranboy]

I just picked up a new purple frilly gorganian form the aquarium store. When I purchased it I notices some of the tissue was receeding. I know that i needs alot of flow. I also read that they are photosynthetic. If I'm wrong please correct me.

Does anyone have any good tips that i could use to keep the gorgonian happy and healthy?

 

[nwkennard]

Also consider a wide variety of foods; rotifers, cyclop-eeze, golden pearls. Good lighting, moderate to high flow plus a good diet are the most important factors that affect its health.

 

[mikekman]

From what I read, the colorful looking gorgonias are non photosynthetic while gorgonias that are like brown and not bright are photosynthetic.

With yours, it may be non photosynthetic so you will have to feed it.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[nwkennard]

If it's purple with brown or tan polyps it is photosythetic. If the polyps are white,yellow,red, or blue it's non photosythetic.

 

[sjfishguy]

The purple guys (with a few exceptions) are photosynthetic, yours probably is. I have kept these purple gorgs for years, great coral but difficult to acclimate/ship. If the tissue recession is on the tips, I would recommend cutting down the affected stalks about 1'' from the tip. If certain branches are affected, cut the off. If the base is affected, cut it off the base and remount. This will help with the long term health of the coral for sure. Second, these guys do not need to be fed at all, just make sure they have plenty of flow and light.

 

[nwkennard]

They don't have to be fed, however, if you want them to heal up quickly I would recomend feeding.