Blueberry Gorgonian (Acalycigorgia) Care and Culture

[hypostatic]

So, I'd like to start off by saying that this isn't a "I purchased this coral on a whim without knowing anything about it, and now I'm freaking out because it's dying" thread.

 

I would like this thread to be a database on information about proper care and culture of the blueberry gorgonian (Acalycigorgia species). I am fascinated by this beautiful species (as I'm sure many of you on the forums are), and I find it quite a shame that I can't find much info on them. So I'll be posting any interesting/useful information I find on them, and if you have any information or personal success stories with this coral that you would like to share, please do!

[metrokat]

Very pretty species. Needs a dedicated auto feeding setup system to dose NPS foods 24/7. There are several DIY threads where hobbyists have modified refrigerators to be used with dosers for this continuous food source.

[hypostatic]

So, one of the things I've read more than once is people have had success feeding baby brine shrimp and/or newly hatched brine shrimp to Acalycigorgia with success, and that they'd even notice growth. (I'll post citations when I find them, as I feel this is very important credibility)

 

So does anyone know the proper food size range for Acalycigorgia? Does it eat only zooplankton, or phyto, or both?

 

ALSO, I've read somewhere (again, I'll have to dig up the source) that people have noticed nice polyp extension right after doing a water change. I've noticed that my sun coral (another NPS coral) does this as well. Does anyone know why a water change causes this response?

[metrokat]

Likely the detritus being stirred which leads to food being in the water column. You can achieve the same response by stirring the sand bed.

[Kiwi]

how old does baby mean? (in hours)

[Tripwyr]

I've heard of good feeding response from this:

http://www.aquaculturestore.com/Plankton-Feed.html

[JLynn]

Ultimate reefs has several users who reported long term (ranging from 1-5 years, I believe) success with the species in a thread on the subject. It was noted in the same thread that blueberry gorgonians preferred smaller particulate matter, and, more importantly, that while the gorgonians would INgest anything that was the right size (ex: brine shrimp), DIgestion occurred only when the polyp which ingested food remained closed for several seconds. I can't find the thread at the moment, but if I do I'll post a link.

[hypostatic]

Ultimate reefs has several users who reported long term (ranging from 1-5 years, I believe) success with the species in a thread on the subject. It was noted in the same thread that blueberry gorgonians preferred smaller particulate matter, and, more importantly, that while the gorgonians would INgest anything that was the right size (ex: brine shrimp), DIgestion occurred only when the polyp which ingested food remained closed for several seconds. I can't find the thread at the moment, but if I do I'll post a link.

 

Hmm yes, I think I've read that not only do the polyps have to catch and close up around the food, but the polyps have to then retract into the skeleton base for digestion to occur

[hypostatic]

Here is one thread on food:

 

I don't feed it specifically but do feed the tank twice a day with a small amount of reef paste (which my Scooters love as well) and once a day with the D&D clam and filter feeder powder
I don't use a skimmer on the tank, although I do weekly water changes to help compensate for this, I seem to have plenty of podlife and zillions of small feather dusters and bi-valves which seem to thrive in the tank.

 

Reef paste seems to be a product that that is sold across the pond that you can mold into a putty, and then stick it to the glass of your tank, where it would slowly dissolve and continuously feed the tank. Sounds pretty useful...

 

OH, and one thing that the thread touches on (and that I believe I've read in several other threads) is that overfeeding/phosphate spikes are a real issue that people have -- even though they might be feeding the right food or enough, algae growth on the branches can quickly cause death to the coral

[hypostatic]

how old does baby mean? (in hours)

 

I'm not sure I've read how many hours after hatching people have fed them out. But, first instar brine shrimp are 400 to 500 µm in length, so it seems this size food is acceptable. (source)

 

Although, I believe I've frequently read that they eat much smaller food particles, say 50 microns

[JLynn]

I think this may have been the one. This one also has some info. Looking through them, it seems that the Germans are the ones to ask about NPS gorgonians.

[Kiwi]

I have searched for this guy, but i did not find anything ….

 

do you have further information?

[hypostatic]

Here is another nice thread on Ultimate Reef. The author is Marcus Nitzsche, whose name I see pop up in regards to successful Acalycigorgia culture. Here is some info from the thread:

 

So apparently this is what Acalycigorgia looks like when it is "starving" but not dying

 

"First impression was ok, many nice blue polyps -BUT: the gorg was starving at this moment. Why? From my experience it was visible at the polyps. Please check out the detail, there you can see the polyp with very short tentakels and big body."

 

Another thread seems to have a picture of what healthy polyps should look like:

[Kiwi]

I have seen that…incredible

so FM food very continuously dosed seems to be one of the keys to keep them….

 

I still hink, that temperature should be quite low, because it is a coral living in deeper water and usually temperatures are in the 20-23°C range…so pretty cold for our reef tanks….

at higher temperatures it is supposed to need ha much higher amount of energy, so you'd have to feed it even more….

 

would like it sooo much to be able to keep a gorgonian like this… do you think I could try it in a system with live rock only, and some macros? (not this gorgonian directly….)

 

that's the feeding he uses:

 

 

Good night. First of all, sorry my English, is coming to pull translator, so I can forgive my mistakes in grammar .

Like to thank Alcoy limited by the information it has collected from various sites on the maintenance of Acalycigorgia.

Currently stand without major problems Tubastreas (micrantha and aurea), Actinia equina, Nephthyigorgia sp, Leptogorgia sp, Acabaria and now I begin to Anthogorgia sp.

All within a box of 50cm x 40cm x 40cm, connected to a system with a total of 400 liters.

I hope to have much luck with the Anthogorgia sp with the Acabaria, which was quickly noticed an amazing regeneration of tissue, based on a slurry made by:

Ultra Min S: 6 ml
Ultra Clam: 1.25 ml
Cyclop Eeze: 10 ml
Reef Roids: 10 ml
Boster Reef: 1 BOTTLE
Easy Reef: 1 mg
Water 1024: Between 20 and 30 ml


All well mixed until a mixture of about 42 ml, 7 delivery syringes, one per day.

The way is always to feed at night and is dosificiación directly to goronias with the whole system off.

Shortly begin a new formulation of the burn would like more help as much better, with the aim of improving the existing and especially to maintain as well as the Acabaria andalusia Anthogorgia sp.

We remain in contact.

[hypostatic]

I still hink, that temperature should be quite low, because it is a coral living in deeper water and usually temperatures are in the 20-23°C range…so pretty cold for our reef tanks….

at higher temperatures it is supposed to need ha much higher amount of energy, so you'd have to feed it even more….

 

I've read it as well, that since they are "deep water" corals they should be kept at colder temperatures. The higher temperatures in our reef tanks might very well boost the metabolism and energy demand for this coral. But I don't think the temperatures we keep our tanks at directly damage the coral.

 

Here is another thread.

 

"I stir up the sane every few days, and feed it BBS and anything else the fish get, also frozen rotifers and phyto at night. This is "tank" food not necessarily for the gorg. This is it a few weeks back and new growth, I think this is a relatively slow grower compared to some gorgonians, but it is growing. It's favourite food as can be seen in one of the pics is frozen cyclopeeze."

 

Pictures showing growth of the coral:

 

Picture of the coral catching cyclopeeze:

[JLynn]

Flow speed is also very important to get right. Ultimate reefers seem to be of the opinion that the optimal flow rate is 10-15 cm/sec for this gorgonian. I have also heard 8-9 cm/sec is good. Either way, flow rate ultimately determines what will be eaten and is a much under appreciated aspect of coral husbandry in general, particularly for gorgonians, whose polyps can be deformed by too much flow. Anyways, as far as feeding goes, anyone who wants to try their hand at this coral (or NPS in general) should give the Micom Continuous Dosing Pump a look. It is the only literally continuous doser I have found, and should be a huge boon to NPS keepers. As far as temperature goes, I agree that it would probably not damage the coral, but also feel that it is wiser to keep it at cooler temperatures for the same reason we keep seahorses at cooler temperatures: bacteria. For those of you not aware, one study found that bacteria reproduce exponentially more quickly at temperatures above 74 F and exponentially more slowly at temperatures at or below 68 F. Thus, to reduce the risk of bacterial infection for seahorses (which are generally more susceptible), tropical seahorses are kept at temperature from 72-74 F, although they are typically found in temperatures typical of reef tanks. I think a similar tactic would benefit those attempting to keep Blueberry Gorgonians, which seem to be very delicate corals. It doesn't mean dropping $400 on a chiller, though. Instead, you may be better served by trying out the gorgonian in a 10g with an Icepick chiller to keep the temperatures lower. This would also help heighten the concentration of food without breaking the bank, and thus increase the coral's chances of catching food.

[hypostatic]

What does that translate to in GPH? I've also read that the prefer direct laminar flow

 

 

Flow speed is also very important to get right. Ultimate reefers seem to be of the opinion that the optimal flow rate is 10-15 cm/sec for this gorgonian. I have also heard 8-9 cm/sec is good. Either way, flow rate ultimately determines what will be eaten and is a much under appreciated aspect of coral husbandry in general, particularly for gorgonians, whose polyps can be deformed by too much flow.

[JLynn]

That is what I mean about flow being an under appreciated aspect of coral husbandry; we calculate for turnover rate, but actual flow rate varies throughout the aquarium, which is why sometimes simply moving your corals to a different location (particularly NPS) will improve their health and growth. Not only do the multiple powerheads typically found in an aquarium tend to point in different directions, but they also often cause streams of water to "collide", which depending on their directions will either cancel them out or generate a lot of turbulence, but rocks and corals also divert and intersect the flow of water from the powerheads and return pipe, so actual flow rates can't be quantified in GPH. To test for flow rates, put something buoyant in the aquarium at whatever position you want to know about and hold up a ruler at its starting point, release the object, and look to see where it is a second later. Well- that is the easiest way to do it, but it is pretty imprecise and surprisingly difficult. To simplify things, I would suggest setting up a DSLR on a tripod so that both the object and ruler are within view of it, and setting its shutter speed at 1 second. Use one of those remote triggers to press the button and release the object at the same time. Then just look at the picture to see where the object was with relation to the ruler and voila.

[JLynn]

Found something interesting on wet web media! Last month someone reported tentative success with this gorgonian and had some interesting observations to share as well as a rundown of his set up---> http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gorgfdgfaqs.htm?h=Menella+feed. I would summarize, but it is really best to just read for yourselves. Hope this helps!

 

Also, the pictures in this thread support his observations about flow; the polyps are always pointing away from the "heaviest" flow.

 

Edit: Just found a follow up post from the same guy dated to the 8th- one month later---> http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gorgsysfaqs.htm

[hypostatic]

Found something interesting on wet web media! Last month someone reported tentative success with this gorgonian and had some interesting observations to share as well as a rundown of his set up---> http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gorgfdgfaqs.htm?h=Menella+feed. I would summarize, but it is really best to just read for yourselves. Hope this helps!

 

Also, the pictures in this thread support his observations about flow; the polyps are always pointing away from the "heaviest" flow.

 

Edit: Just found a follow up post from the same guy dated to the 8th- one month later---> http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gorgsysfaqs.htm

 

This is very helpful. My take from the second link that that, unlike some other NPS corals like tubastrea which don't mind bright lighting too much, it seems that acalycigorgia are actually very inhibited by it. Switching the coral form a 10,000K lighting to 460nm lighting improved the coral so that it was open for about 20hrs/day.

[hypostatic]

Also, the note on flow the direction of the flow is also important. It seems that the polyps feed in a similar manner as fan worms, where th e food should be approaching from behind. Here are some images I prepared for visual people like myself:

 

Correct Flow DIrection:

 

Incorrect Flow Direction:

[hypostatic]

A continuing thought from the above post:

 

I was looking at my tank the other day when I realized that there were some spots where the rockwork was riddled with fan worms, and other places where the rock was barren. I think that before deciding on a spot for acalycigorgia in any tank, you should survey the rockwork and see where there is a population of fan worms living, as this might be a good area for acalycigorgia to be. After all, if fan worms, which are another filter feeder, are thriving there, the flow at least must be good for the coral.

 

Very pretty species. Needs a dedicated auto feeding setup system to dose NPS foods 24/7. There are several DIY threads where hobbyists have modified refrigerators to be used with dosers for this continuous food source.

 

 

On this subject I've found a DIY thread on a chilled auto food doser:

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/268468-diy-chilled-automatic-liquid-micro-food-feeder/

[Kiwi]

But I have got featherdusters in spots, where there is almost no flow…. so this can't be an argument….also, because their flow requirements are probalbly not too similar with the Gorgonians' requierments….

But I think there are some very decent Ideas out there…..

 

just another question… would you recommend feeding live baby brine shrimps? (can you just throw the eggs into the water? )

 

Andy

[hypostatic]

But I have got featherdusters in spots, where there is almost no flow…. so this can't be an argument….also, because their flow requirements are probalbly not too similar with the Gorgonians' requierments….

But I think there are some very decent Ideas out there…..

 

just another question… would you recommend feeding live baby brine shrimps? (can you just throw the eggs into the water? )

 

Andy

 

 

Well the featherdusters argument was an idea based on the idea that both featherdusters and acalycigorgia catch their food with the polyps/fans pointing away form the direction of the flow (see posts 19 + 21)

 

If I remember correctly the baby brine shrimp were newly hatched -- I think 24-28 hrs after hatching (I also believe this is when they are the most nutritious). I would recommend reading a guide if you were interested in learning how to do this:

http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/res-hatching-c169.html

I don't think the eggs will hatch if you just put them in your tank, as from what I understand the water needs to be the right salinity to induce hatching. Also, I don't know whether or not acalycigorgia would eat the eggs themselves (or if they are the right size)

[Tamberav]

You would need to culture the shrimps which isn't too difficult but could get tedious doing that every day.

 

I plan on downsizing my 40B to a 12g Mr Aqua long dedicated to NPS at some point. Its size and shape I felt were perfect for a NPS tank. I could create flow something along the lines of this: