Yellow Gorgonian feeding

[beanhead]

I purchased a yellow gorgonian from the LFS about a week ago, It had been there for a little while and is showing mild signs of deterioration. I got it home, acclimated, and it has opened up to feed which it wasn't doing at the LFS. I have been giving it Algagen Coral Smoothie about 5ml a day lightly pushed into the current so it goes all over the coral. The extended white polyps appear to capture food and close up slightly but how do i really tell if it is feeding adequately? just wait and see if it thrives? let me know your thought or experiences please

 

P.S. you can see the mild deterioration on the little branch on the bottom right were it appears to be down to the skeleton. It hasn't got better or worse since being in the tank

[hey]

I purchased a yellow gorgonian from the LFS about a week ago, It had been there for a little while and is showing mild signs of deterioration. I got it home, acclimated, and it has opened up to feed which it wasn't doing at the LFS. I have been giving it Algagen Coral Smoothie about 5ml a day lightly pushed into the current so it goes all over the coral. The extended white polyps appear to capture food and close up slightly but how do i really tell if it is feeding adequately? just wait and see if it thrives? let me know your thought or experiences please

 

P.S. you can see the mild deterioration on the little branch on the bottom right were it appears to be down to the skeleton. It hasn't got better or worse since being in the tank

 

a proper ID would be helpful the azoox forum is pretty good about helping ID them aswell as give feeding advice. I don't think many here have expertise in the nps gorgonians.

[beanhead]

I've found several different articles based on the coral but none that clearly identify a way to tell if it is being fed sufficiently. The proper ID if i'm not mistaken is Diodogorgia nodulifera but its commonly called a yellow finger gorgonian. I know there are different thought on the polyp extension based on placement and water flow and if its actually related to feeding or not. I was just hoping to find someone who has had success with the same or similar breed of nps coral, so i could possible steal some of there tried practices.

[clownfitch]

I kept one of these for about 6 months. The problem that I ran into was it trashed my tank with how much it had to be fed to keep healthy and growing. They need to be fed daily and my 65 gallon system was unable to keep up with the nutrient export so it turned into an algae bloom. I ended up selling it. Zooplankton, phytoplankton, and cyclopeez is what I fed with and like I said, it was thriving. You will know if it isn't getting enough nutrients because the ends of the branches will begin to shrivel over time and it does take some time to deteriorate but it definitely will if not fed enough. You also need to keep it shaded to keep microalgae from growing on the branches which can eventually kill it as well.

[beanhead]

thanks for the feedback, I've got it positioned where it is fairly shaded by the toadstool and in a high current area to prevent the growth of algae. It has obviously gone without proper feeding for a little while because one branch is slightly deteriorated at the tip. im gradually ramping up on the feedings so i dont shock the tank and end up with a bunch of algae. Is the algagen stuff im using a good food source or should i use something like marine snow?

[hey]

the catch with most nps isn't the feeding, its the nutrient export. That would be another reason to read up on nps tanks to decide the most effective ways to remove the excess after feedings.