Red Gorgonian

SRT80

New member
I picked up a red gorgonian the other day. I thought they was easy to keep. But after doin' some research. I found more sites saying they are difficult and should only be kept by more experienced reef keepers. Then I came across one site that said easy. I don't know, as much as I like it...I might have to find a new home for this. I paid $24 for it. Any info would be much appreciated. This pic was taken the night I got it after the lights went out with flash...

78713RED_GORGONIAN.jpg


Thanks,
Steve
 
We have one, not red, and it's been doing pretty well in the one cave...no direct lighting. One of the things that we've heard is that you need to make sure they don't get any algae on them - if they do you need to pick it off ASAP.
 
Since it is not photosynthetic, its survival is dependent on regular and frequent feedings of micro-plankton, live, baby brine shrimp, or foods for filter feeding invertebrates.

They do best under PC lights in the bluer range on the kelven scale such as 15000K to 20000K
 
Oh yeah, google them in the google images, and see how they are in the wild, and look how "blue" the water looks. That should give you an idea.
 
what would be the best thing to feed it. like kent phytoplankton? I'm not seein' hardly any polyps comin' out. That pic was takin' the first night I got it. Maybe I should try it in another area? Its just where I have it at right now has some good flow. Will it still feed if the polyps arent out? Thanks for the info...

Steve
 
I got it Monday. Most of them were out when it was at the store, it was under normal flouresent lights though. I'll try getting it into some shade and see how that goes...

Steve
 
ask the store what they were feeding it. Gorgonians are nice, and I can get the pretty cheap, I am thinking about setting up a 75g carribean tank with all sorts of gorgonians
 
i'll check. I think danieljames (club member) has a tank with lots of gorgonians. Maybe he'll give some info too when he reads this. Thanks for the help.

Steve
 
Non photosynthetic ones are almost impossible to keep long term. They usually live for 6 months to a year slowly shrinking and wasting away. What they really need is an almost constant supply of zooplankton. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I have heard of very few people that have had much success.
 
Unfortunately what mike said steve. The yellow bodied ones seem to be more forgiving, but all generally waste away long term because you can't feed it what it needs. Brine shrimp nuplii are useless long term nutrition for anything imo. You could try cyclop-eeze along with just pureeing as much of a variety of marine flesh as you can and spot feed with a turkey baster. The particle size needs to be very small though, or you could try rolling a good quality flake food in your fingers until it's almost powder, then hydrate in your tank water and use the turkey baster with that. Here's a good read for photosynthetic gorgs
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2004/invert.htm

PS: I have some really small micron golden pearls your more than welcome to try.
 
Last edited:
I'll just take it as a learning lesson. I really thought it was photosynthetic. I'll try my best though. I can't see trading it or selling it when pretty much everywhere I'm reading says they usually don't make it. And I'm not worried about losing $20, just wished I could keep it happy long term instead of just for a little while. So, I'll just ride it out and see. Thanks for all the info...

Steve
 
Last edited:
Lighting

Lighting

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9303051#post9303051 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HelloMyNameIs__
Oh yeah, google them in the google images, and see how they are in the wild, and look how "blue" the water looks. That should give you an idea.

I saw Gorgonians in the Bahamas earlier this year in water that was less than 10 feet deep. Everything looks blue to me when diving/snorkeling.
 
Don't feel bad, I bought a couple of them years ago. They were the yellow ones and lasted probably 6 months.
 
The last Coral magazine was focused on gorgonians. It might also be a good source. They spend a lot of time talking about "species" tanks (or ways of plumbing them into a system) where you can feed them a lot and keep the particles suspended in the water column (i.e., not getting skimmed out) so that they have a chance to eat what you feed.

One thing they talked about (and I had read before) is that it actually costs gorgonians energy to extend their polyps, so unless they can recover that energy and then some, they don't extend their polyps. Now, it does take time for them to adapt to a new environment, but if yours isn't extending its polyps in a few days, it's probably because it can't meet that energy requirement with the amount of food in the water.
 
Back
Top