sps with gorgonians?

[ctreefer]

Hi, I know I've seen people say you can mix the two, however, I recently added a gorg from my small 10 gal nano that wasn't doing too well to my sps tank (figured it would like the more frequent feeding) and now most of my PE on the sps is minimal to none. The gorg in question is a blade gorg and it has similar characteristics to sarcos in that it frequently sheds and not sure if this could be causing my problems. Either way, its coming out tonight.

Has anyone had any problems with any gorgs with sps?

thanks

 

[coker98]

i have found that gorgonians are non photosynthetic and do not prefer high lighting conditions. im sure there are ways to acclimate him but im guessing your 10 gal nano did not have adequate light for keeping sps. just put it under a ledge for a while and slowly move it out over the couse of a couple weeks and make sure it gets good flow.

 

[fijiblue]

ctreefer - What kind of gorgonian is it? Some of them are photosynthetic and some are not. All need to be fed as often as possible. I've never heard of them affecting sps though. There are certain sps (Firecoral) that will sense the gorgonian in the water and drop little buds in order to overtake the gorgonian and use it for a skeleton.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Re: sps with gorgonians?

I've kept Pterogorgia with Acropora. I don't think the Gorg is to blame for the poor PE on your Acros.

 

[ReeferMac]

Ditto what Gary said. I currently have 2 types in my tank, and their activity doesn't seem to affect the rest of the corals one bit.
One way to check, would be to throw a big wad of carbon in the water next time you suspect them. It will absorb any alleopathic chemicals in the water, and should do so rather quickly.

- Mac

 

[ctreefer]

Thanks all,

Gary, yes that's definitely the same gorg. I do have another gorg in the tank (purple lace) that is doing very well and has been doing well along with the sps. The Pterogorgia wasn't doing well (deteriorating) in my other tank and perhaps this is why. It might be beyond repair and is just polluting. I've placed it back in the nano and completed another water change in hopes of salvaging it.

ReeferMac, yes, I just added carbon the same day I added the gorg, so probably wasn't an issue of chemical warfare even though the carbon is just in a bag in the sump. I also did a water change the same day I added the gorg. Tonight I'm going to check my levels and see if perhaps something is off. As of my last testing when everything was going well last week all levels were normal aside from a slightly low dkh (7.0) which I boosted accordingly.

 

[kevensquint]

My ptergorgia does really well and seems not to be affected, nor have an effect on my mixt tank. Although it is supposed to be quite toxic. A year and a half later its one of my champions. It also tells me when I'm overdue for a WC.