Warboz Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 Got a frag of a Yellow Gorgonia at my LFS for $5 and even though I realize it's difficult to keep, it's better for me to try to do it then them. The polyps were open at the LFS and when it was sitting in the bag on the way home all of the polyps were out. Ever since I've put it in my tank they havn't opened, not one. What's going on here? As for an idea of placement its at an intersection of 2 water columns so there is a "chaotic" water flow around it, which I read was best. Only problem it's no good when the polpys don't come out. Almost looks like there's a thin film over parts of the gorgonia but not over the whole thing so I figured some polyps would emerge. Please help, I've always loved how these look and now that I have one I don't want to lose it. Thanks Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 is the hard "tree" type or the encrusting? i have the encrusting, so if its the hard type I wont be able to help. when i got mine, it was a "freebie" from a LFS. it came attache dto a LR shipment. The large piece (about 2 fingers wide) developed a film on it as well. In about 4 days I touched it and it satrted falling apart. The small piece (about the size of a quarter) thrives! same general placement. it has encrusted 1/2 a rock about the size of my hand in 6 months. im not sure why the one died like that. It seemed to eat away from the inside. Link to comment
Warboz Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 Yes mine is the the "Tree" type, but I touched mine a little today and small peice fell off as well...what happened with the film on the one you had, did it eventually just fall off? Anything about gorgonias being out of water, are they like sponges and can't get air in the passages or something like that? I can't figure this out and I don't want it to die. I see many people with these in their tanks and I think they are awesome, what are their secrets? What can I do to get it's polyps out so I can feed it? Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 sorry, but like i said I have never had any of the "tree" type so I really dont know if I can help you The one that developed the film...well the film never really went away, but like I said it wasnt more than 3-4 days and it started deteriating something fierce. I gave it to another reefer to see if they could anything with it. when they opened the container I had put it in, it was almost in pieces. Being in nature they are located in turbid locations on reef shelves, its hard to imagine that they dont grow near the water tops. And hard to imagine that they dont get exposed to air some. But im no expert on them so... How did you acclimate it? Everything testing fine with your water? What kind of lighting did the LFS you got it at have over it? How long has it been in your tank before this started? Link to comment
Warboz Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 I acclimated for about 1.5 hours, everything else in my tank is someone closed more then usualy ever since I added this guy, and I think it's due to toxins being excreted producing the slime/film. The LFS has VHO but not too powerful, right now I have close to 10 wpg, so I don't think thats it. They aren't photosynthetic, sholdn't matter anyway. It was like this ever since I added it, I did it at lights out at night when I got home and when I woke up it was like this. The car ride from the LFS was about 1/2 hour. I'm going to goto a LFS where a buddy works and have them test all water param. including the expensive test kits and get a full reading. Nothing unusual happening though with everything else other then slightly closed like I said. Over on reef central they have a article this month about how Gorgonia's ship really bad and they start to excrete toxins in the bag that can kill themselves. I didn't have it in a bag any longer then usual really, I don't know why it's so bad with this particle speciman. Hopefully it turns around. Link to comment
BlackSumbel Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 They're picky about polyp extension. Pretty much only do it late in the evening or when the moonlight is on (IME)... and probably won't open for a few days untill it gets settled. Mine only opens the polyps on the stalk that is being -blasted- by the powerhead... so... go fig. SERIOUSLY high flow critters when they're non-photosynthetic. Link to comment
Warboz Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 Mine is right by a PH and in the cross current from my AC 300. Isn't a stronger flow spot in my tank. Hope it helps. This slime/toxin thing is worrying me, anyone see this slime and their Gorgonian live through it? Mine was only in the shipping bag flor at most an hour. Link to comment
Dr. Saltwater Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Don't place it in too much current. I've read that the polyps won't fully extend when too much current passes trough. Link to comment
Warboz Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 I havn't seen any poylps extend... Link to comment
petes Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Thin film is probably a thin layer of algae. It usually happens if you have it in too much light. Try putting it in a cave or overhang where theres less light and hopefully the flim will peel off itself. You can blast it with a powerhead when you notice it start coming off. Then the polyps should extend... given that your tank parameters are okay. Remember to point the powerhead or flow to the SIDE of the gorgonian... not the front or back, know what I'm saying? Mine lived through the algae phase... took a few days for all of it to come off after I put it in a cave. I was dumb and thought since they were photosynthetic I can just place it anywhere... so I put it in the center where my 250 W MH blasted it with light... and the next day it was covered with slime. I also had mine in a bag sitting in my fuge for over 24 hours because I was too lazy to drop acclimate it. Polyps came out hte first day... disappeared for the next few... but are now back and are stunning. Blue polyps on blue base... never seen anything like it before.... unforunately extremely hard to keep. HTH Link to comment
Warboz Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 I don't think this is an algea thing, I will get a pic posted as soon as I get back from my final. If it helps, this Gorgonian looks exactly like the one in this months TOTM. Would it be a good idea to try to FW dip this and remove the algea with my finger gently? Pics soon. Thanks Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Warboz- any luck with it? Link to comment
Joe_the_Hun Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 I have a red gorgonia in a nanocube and it refused to open its polyps for three-four days. Then slowly (mainly at night), it opened a few. Mine is the tree variety and I just have it "planted" in the sand. The current isn't too strong at this location, but the branching is exposed to the current at an angle of 60 degrees (current isn't hitting the entire expanse of its branches). I am currently using marine phytoplankton spiked with cyclopeeze to feed it (not directly). Occasionally I see the film you talked about, but I've never touched it or the coral since I but it in the tank. With regards to the algal growth, I've had some hermits doing chin-ups on the branches cleaning them off. Don't know if the FW dip would help much, but I would minimize contact with the gorgonia to not stress it out. Link to comment
Warboz Posted June 12, 2004 Author Share Posted June 12, 2004 Before I left for FL it still hadn't opened. I moved it to a darker part of my tank hoping to coax is out and was feeding cyclopeze to try to get them to come out. No luck. Now I have a roommate with a tank looking over mine doing topoffs, hope everyhitng is ok until I get back. Any new tips or anything? Link to comment
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