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Gorgonian? GSP? what?!


Alexraptor

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Alexraptor

Can anyone give me a clear ID to what species this is?

Its still adapting to the new environment so the polyps are slowly but surley extending.

 

It was sold to me as a easy photosynthetic gorgonian.

Some things seems to be consistant with a gorgonian of the Briareum species, but the polyps here look alot like GSP...

 

coralIDnew1.jpg

coralIDnew.jpg

 

Oh and most importantly, ive heard some photo gorgonians are highly toxic/noxious and needs carbon filtration, is this one of them? ive had him now for 5 days and none of the other corals seem unhappy, some of them being fairly close.

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"Green Star Polyps" is a name that has been applied to more than one genus and species, but last I heard it was considered Briareum. According to Sprung, Briareum was once considered a gorgonian but is now in the family Tubiporidae. He considers Briareum a synonym of Pachyclavularia...

 

If this is GSP/Briareum, I don't think you have to worry about toxicity... :)

 

--Diane

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formerly icyuodd/icyoud2

Corky Sea Finger

(Briareum ashetinum)

it is an octocoral/gorg (8 points on each polyp)

truely an easy care gorg at that.

i've had this one for over 2.5 years

IMG_4688.jpg

IMG_4343.jpg

 

 

mines approx 1.5' tall in a 1" tall aquarium :) it just started to branch out after 2.5 years

 

heres what live aquaria has to say

Care Level: Easy

Light: High

Water Flow: Strong

Placement: All

Tank Conditions: 72-78°F; sg 1.023-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4; dKH 8-12

Color Form: Brown, Green, Purple, Gray, Orange

Temperament: Semi-aggressive

Ideal Supplements: Calcium, Iodine, Trace Elements, Strontium

Origin: Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean

Family: Briareidae

 

 

 

Corky Sea Fingers, also referred to as the Sea Stalk Briareum, Deadman's Fingers, Moss Coral, Encrusting Gorgonian, or simply Briareum. It has long, grass-like polyps which are normally extended continuously, retracted only when disturbed. Briareum asbestinum can have multiple forms including encrusting, flat or knobby crusts, or upright branches as pictured above. The polyps will vary in many color variations, sizes, and shapes.

 

Briareum is fast growing and care should be taken in placing the Corky Sea Finger within the aquarium, allowing ample room for expansion and any interference from other neighboring corals. It is moderately easy to maintain and propagate when encrusted to substrate rubble. It requires medium to high lighting combined with medium to strong water movement. For continued good health, it will require the addition of iodine, calcium, strontium, and other trace elements to the water. Some species of Briareum are toxic.

 

It is highly photosynthetic, containing the symbiotic algae zooxanthellae from which it receives most of its nutrients, but may also capture some particulate matter.

 

i've never had toxin problems, and my finger eats mysis,cyclopeeze, etc.

 

these are some star polyps i have in the aquarium. i believe them to be closely related like diane said.

IMG_3914.jpg

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Wow, great pics & info as always, icy! Your finger is really thriving. :D

 

Do your GSP also eat Cyclopeeze, etc.? Mine sure don't seem to...

 

(BTW, pretty amazing for a 1" aquarium... :D )

 

--Diane

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formerly icyuodd/icyoud2
Wow, great pics & info as always, icy! Your finger is really thriving. :D

 

Do your GSP also eat Cyclopeeze, etc.? Mine sure don't seem to...

 

(BTW, pretty amazing for a 1" aquarium... :D )

 

--Diane

2x2x1' :)

 

i have a few color green gsp, and none of them eat meaty foods. these however are different from my green stars. the base is biege and the stars are brown. very different from the purple base and multitude of different color greens.

 

upon occasion i'll see em latch on to meaty foods, but thier nothing like my sea finger.

 

IMG_3982.jpg

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formerly icyuodd/icyoud2
Thanks peeps :D

 

btw is it normal for the polyps to close up at night?

 

yup.

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  • 5 years later...
Alexraptor

Well thats pathetic, some online store ripped off one of my images from this thread for their store. <_<

And yeah i know, Necro! :P

 

http://www.aquacon.com/seafan.html

 

Whats really tragic here is that whatever bozo that stole the image decided to use the one with all the polyps closed up... :lol:

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Builder Anthony

the tuff thing about them is balanceing the amount of bright light and not haveing it build up algae.they like flow alot and you probally wont see polyps if its not in flow for a extended amount of time.I wouldnt suggesdt fragiing it as i did it takes a long time for it to heal maybe a month or more.Once cut the inside branch is a sponge like materail and the matt will eventually close up around the cut but again i wouldnt suggest doing that.and be sure not to grasp the coral tighly otherwise you risk crushing the internals of the inner tissue which is sponge like as i said.very hardy but also prone to algae.algae buildup is your main concern with this coral since it doesnt fight it well.

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RayWhisperer

It's aquacon. What do you expect? They steal a lot of images from this, and other sites. They steal peoples money, too, from the numerous reports I've heard.

 

BTW, 5 years? You really remembered this thread after 5 years?

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Alexraptor
It's aquacon. What do you expect? They steal a lot of images from this, and other sites. They steal peoples money, too, from the numerous reports I've heard.

 

BTW, 5 years? You really remembered this thread after 5 years?

 

I remembered this thread when I came across my stolen image, and remembered this was the only place I had posted it. :lol:

Funny... i found it while doing an image search for "photsynthetic gorgonian" on google. :lol:

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Alexraptor
Ah, I see now.

 

BTW, you still have the gorg?

 

Sadly no, it and most of the rest of the livestock I had back then died when my tank crashed several years ago.

Long term use of tapwater, fueling an epic and unsustainable flatworm population that crashed hard and nuked the tank. :(

And since then ive used nothing but RO, RODI now.

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