The 40B Caribbean gorgonian forest!

[Mirya]

I know all your Gorgs are photosynthetic, but do you ever feed them specifically with anything? I've just noticed that when I feed rotifers to some of the things in my tank, one of my photosynthetic Gorgonians gets excited so I target feed it too.

[zooman72]

Is that special grade sand or crushed coral?

 

It is Carib-Sea special grade aragonite reef sand - I use it in all of my marine aquariums.

 

 

 

Love this tank, the grammas really give it a unique touch, mainly because I haven't seen so many together in a tank before.

 

Thanks, and I have been saying for a couple of years now that they can be kept in groups if the tank size and cohabitants allow - maybe now people will believe me...

 

To be honest, I could probably keep another 2-3 in here...

 

I know all your Gorgs are photosynthetic, but do you ever feed them specifically with anything? I've just noticed that when I feed rotifers to some of the things in my tank, one of my photosynthetic Gorgonians gets excited so I target feed it too.

 

I used to feed them with Cyclop-eeze and various zooplankton "blends", but cut back in the smaller tanks because I had lots of algae growth (probably due to my lack of water changes from laziness, plus I did not use any GFO or carbon either) - I am contemplating going back to feeding them every now and then just to see if I can get some of them to resume growing. I may have to do it after lights out however - I have noticed great polyp extension in some after it is dark.

[zooman72]

Well, I now have two of the chalk bass out and about when feeding - fed a bunch of brine shrimp, and the largest was aggressively feeding, while the second largest ate a bit, but wouldn't venture far from his "spot". Still worried a bit - they are quite thin, and I have not seen the smallest one for a few days now. Still no obvious aggression from either the grammas or the angels, which is good.

Largest one out and about for a bit...


Second one hiding - can you see it?


Pic of my 8-year-old banded coral shrimp...


Pic of my largest rock/ flower anemone...


Pic of the never-growing blue ricordeas...


Finally, a pic of the black sea rod behind the purple sea rod - black sea rods are more difficult to collect/ less common for KP Aquatics, and I had been waiting for one for a while...


That's all for now...

[FlowerMama]

8 yr old shrimp? wow, didn't know they lived that long. That's awesome. Love those gorgs. I'll be getting a nano-spiny orange from KP soon.

[zooman72]

8 yr old shrimp? wow, didn't know they lived that long. That's awesome. Love those gorgs. I'll be getting a nano-spiny orange from KP soon.

 

Yep, grabbed it when we moved to our new house 8 years ago - was just a tiny little thing back then...

 

Thanks - I love the gorgs too, and the orange sea rods are quite hardy and colorful - good choice!

[metrokat]

Very nice tank.

[zooman72]

Very nice tank.

 

Thank you Kat!

[joy13]

Little chance of a video unless my oldest son does one, sorry, but thanks for the nice comment.

Talk to your son.

 

My son will take pictures of my tanks just to prove to me it can be done with my phone. then he takes some with his camera to compare them.

[opaquelace]

Love it. You could definitely qualify for TOTM. I love all the gorgs. Also I have the same problem as you with ricordeas. Mine never seem to take off and grow grow grow. They'll get larger, but won't reproduce/split like I've seen happen in a lot of other tanks. The only one I've gotten to reproduce is an orange yuma from Lalani on here that dropped 3 babies in one week and has since stalled lol.

[TJ_Burton]

I like what I am seeing in this thread so far! Keep it up.

[zooman72]

Talk to your son.

 

My son will take pictures of my tanks just to prove to me it can be done with my phone. then he takes some with his camera to compare them.

 

That's the problem - we all have smart phones, but quality is quite limited. He also works full-time and is in college, so I don't see him all that much - if I get the "itch" I will see what he thinks, but no promises...

 

Love it. You could definitely qualify for TOTM. I love all the gorgs. Also I have the same problem as you with ricordeas. Mine never seem to take off and grow grow grow. They'll get larger, but won't reproduce/split like I've seen happen in a lot of other tanks. The only one I've gotten to reproduce is an orange yuma from Lalani on here that dropped 3 babies in one week and has since stalled lol.

 

Thank you, and that is very nice of you to say.

 

The ricordeas looked better (i.e. larger) previously, but I wonder if I am better off upping feedings or trying organic carbon dosing to get some more stuff in the water for them - I may be keeping the water too "clean"...

 

I like what I am seeing in this thread so far! Keep it up.

 

Thanks, and I plan on keeping this running for some time...

[jedimasterben]

If your filtration allows for more feeding, then do it.

 

 

Moar food = moar better, for everything in the tank.

[natalia_la_loca]

The ricordeas looked better (i.e. larger) previously, but I wonder if I am better off upping feedings or trying organic carbon dosing to get some more stuff in the water for them - I may be keeping the water too "clean"...

 

IME, carbon dosing makes rics look worse, not better. I agree with Ben...feed more if you can.

[jedimasterben]

IME, carbon dosing makes rics look worse, not better.

Not necessarily. Any coral will look bad when carbon dosing if the aquarist doesn't do it correctly. It was originally used for better nutrient control in SPS tanks that had many fish and a lot of nutrient import. Now people across the globe are using it, but many are still under the assumption that if they feed their tank more than once a day or every other day that they'll have an 'algae explosion' which flat-out isn't true.

 

 

Anyway, the moral of the story is FEED FEED FEED. Think you're feeding enough? Well, you're not, so double it. If you still think you're feeding enough, double it again

[natalia_la_loca]

Not necessarily. Any coral will look bad when carbon dosing if the aquarist doesn't do it correctly. It was originally used for better nutrient control in SPS tanks that had many fish and a lot of nutrient import. Now people across the globe are using it, but many are still under the assumption that if they feed their tank more than once a day or every other day that they'll have an 'algae explosion' which flat-out isn't true.

 

 

Anyway, the moral of the story is FEED FEED FEED. Think you're feeding enough? Well, you're not, so double it. If you still think you're feeding enough, double it again

 

All true. I didn't make myself clear. I meant that carbon dosing by itself, i.e. not balanced with adequate feeding, will starve corals.

[GHill762]

this is gorgeous zooman!! I love gorgs, always wanted one but haven't picked one up yet, they're a little on the pricey side and I don't know a lot about them..

[jedimasterben]

this is gorgeous zooman!! I love gorgs, always wanted one but haven't picked one up yet, they're a little on the pricey side and I don't know a lot about them..

Give them good light, even better flow, and particulate foods at least weekly and they'll be fine.

[zooman72]

If your filtration allows for more feeding, then do it.

 

 

Moar food = moar better, for everything in the tank.

 

I should have plenty of filtration with a filter sock, Curve 5 skimmer, GFO/ carbon reactor, and plenty of live rock. I also feed 1-2 times per day, and the long-term residents are plenty "thick", with some of the gorgs also growing quite well - it is just the rics that have not shown me anything.

 

Also, the type of food used is also important - feeding the same amount of pellets will result in far more "fouling" than an equal amount of frozen, since pellets are much more nutritionally dense (despite the continuing fallacy that frozen foods contain more "bad things" like phosphates).

 

Not necessarily. Any coral will look bad when carbon dosing if the aquarist doesn't do it correctly. It was originally used for better nutrient control in SPS tanks that had many fish and a lot of nutrient import. Now people across the globe are using it, but many are still under the assumption that if they feed their tank more than once a day or every other day that they'll have an 'algae explosion' which flat-out isn't true.

 

 

Anyway, the moral of the story is FEED FEED FEED. Think you're feeding enough? Well, you're not, so double it. If you still think you're feeding enough, double it again

 

My thought process was maybe that maybe the rics might do well with more microorganisms in the tank - sort of like the theory that zooanthids do better when kept in under-skimmed or skimmerless tanks, since skimmers are quite good at removing bacteria.

 

I also do think it is possible to overfeed, especially the resident fish, but that is a discussion for another time maybe...

 

this is gorgeous zooman!! I love gorgs, always wanted one but haven't picked one up yet, they're a little on the pricey side and I don't know a lot about them..

 

Thanks for the compliment, and if you want to keep gorgs check out KP Aquatics, as they have a nice selection at pretty good prices, and they are all photosynthetic.

 

Give them good light, even better flow, and particulate foods at least weekly and they'll be fine.

 

Light and flow are essential, and several species (Eunicea, Plexaura, Muricea, Pseudopterogorgia) have done well for me without being fed for several years. Feeding does seem to benefit some of them long-term however, but care must be taken to not overdo some of those planktonic "substitutes" or else prepare for some algae!

 

Another Pacific species (this aquarium is all Caribbean/ Atlantic) that rocks is Grube's gorgonian (Pinnigorgia flava) that is cultured through ORA - not all that gorgeous in color or shape, but almost bullet-proof in husbandry needs. I have a huge one that I grew from a 2" frag into a 16" beauty in just a couple of years in my other 40B, and another 10" one in my 15g column - check out those threads for pics, and note that neither of them have ever been fed specifically with anything.

[markalot]

Hey Zooman, glad you started this thread. Great tank, great ideas.

[zooman72]

Hey Zooman, glad you started this thread. Great tank, great ideas.

 

Awww shucks.....thanks.....

 

 

[jedimasterben]

I should have plenty of filtration with a filter sock, Curve 5 skimmer, GFO/ carbon reactor, and plenty of live rock. I also feed 1-2 times per day, and the long-term residents are plenty "thick", with some of the gorgs also growing quite well - it is just the rics that have not shown me anything.

Man, start dumping in it, then!

 

Also, the type of food used is also important - feeding the same amount of pellets will result in far more "fouling" than an equal amount of frozen, since pellets are much more nutritionally dense (despite the continuing fallacy that frozen foods contain more "bad things" like phosphates).

True story.

 

My thought process was maybe that maybe the rics might do well with more microorganisms in the tank - sort of like the theory that zooanthids do better when kept in under-skimmed or skimmerless tanks, since skimmers are quite good at removing bacteria.

I've designed a lot of lighting for small and large scale coral farms, and out of the dozen or so I've done so far, none of their soft coral propagation tanks are skimmerless and are usually kept near low-nutrient conditions.

 

I also do think it is possible to overfeed, especially the resident fish, but that is a discussion for another time maybe...

 

Light and flow are essential, and several species (Eunicea, Plexaura, Muricea, Pseudopterogorgia) have done well for me without being fed for several years. Feeding does seem to benefit some of them long-term however, but care must be taken to not overdo some of those planktonic "substitutes" or else prepare for some algae!

Could not be farther from the truth.

 

 

 

That was fed on a daily basis (along with 2-4 feedings of NLS pellets) for 6 months or so, before I managed to acquire dinoflagellates. I had no algae issues unless you count film algae on the glass (which is more food for everything when I scrape it ).

 

You have to match your nutrient import to your nutrient export, and that's what I did. I had a very large refugium (~20 gallons) and was lightly carbon dosing with an SCA-303. It's a balancing act, definitely, and I didn't start off feeding that much - I maybe started with a quarter of that and slowly started adding more over the course of several months and stopped at that amount.

 

Another Pacific species (this aquarium is all Caribbean/ Atlantic) that rocks is Grube's gorgonian (Pinnigorgia flava) that is cultured through ORA - not all that gorgeous in color or shape, but almost bullet-proof in husbandry needs. I have a huge one that I grew from a 2" frag into a 16" beauty in just a couple of years in my other 40B, and another 10" one in my 15g column - check out those threads for pics, and note that neither of them have ever been fed specifically with anything.

I have a frag of Grube's gorgonian I got a few weeks ago, it's lovin' life in front of an MP40

 

I'm going to place an order probably next week for one of every gorgonian that KPA carries.

[jonny roks]

looks like the fl. keys! beautiful

[zooman72]

You have to match your nutrient import to your nutrient export, and that's what I did. I had a very large refugium (~20 gallons) and was lightly carbon dosing with an SCA-303. It's a balancing act, definitely, and I didn't start off feeding that much - I maybe started with a quarter of that and slowly started adding more over the course of several months and stopped at that amount.

 

Yep, nutrients in, nutrients out - and that is where many fail (including me) - I have to keep up with water changes more than anything, which becomes a problem with several reefs and a couple of small children to care for! I may try some carbon dosing (Red Sea NO3-PO4-X) in my 20L just to get the hang of that product before I try it on the gorg's 40B, as everything else is fine but the rics. I try to feed as much as I can in a reasonable fashion, but have to remember not to get carried away with the pellets.

 

 

 

I have a frag of Grube's gorgonian I got a few weeks ago, it's lovin' life in front of an MP40

 

Grube's gorg is severely underrated, especially for the inexperienced gorg keeper - they are awesome , and grow fast! I will try to grab a quick pic of my larger one in the other 40B...

 

 

I'm going to place an order probably next week for one of every gorgonian that KPA carries.

 

A quick and easy way to get up to speed quickly, and they are a great vendor - their specimens are top quality. I consult for a few public aquariums, and within the last year did a "small" gorg exhibit (approximately 220g), using KP Aquatics to supply the gorgs and fish - the stuff they sent was unbelievable, and there were so many extras...

 

 

 

 

 

 

looks like the fl. keys! beautiful

 

 

 

Thank you for the compliment!

[markalot]

... but they're stinky

 

I have a brown one that is unstoppable. Cut off the stem leaving only some encrusted base and moved to my 20, now I have it in both places. I need more variety.

 

I have rics and feed very heavily. They look a little better than yours, but still don't grow. Constant frustration.

[plainrt]

Loving this tank. Nice work