gorgonian going south

[flaunt]

ok i don't want to hear "do a search" because i'm just plain annoyed and i have never seen a gorgonian of this type on any other thread. i've had this thing about six months now, and it started out very nicely. i fragged it about four times in fact and it still did well. then i had a bout of about every imaginable algae type and it was all downhill from there. diatoms and cyano would grab onto the branches, especially the exposed parts that didn't have any of the yellow flesh. then the flesh just began flaking off. i stopped feeding phytoplankton about a month ago but resumed again a week ago. so far i haven't noticed any positive impact in doing this. please help!

 

originally it looked like this:

 

now it looks horrid:

[flaunt]

damn it, here's the original picture of it looking healthy.

 

[Rock Anemone]

Not sure what kind of gorgonian that is but, considering it's vibrant colors of yellow I would say it's non-photsyntetic.

 

So, it would need to be fed daily and in a medium/strong current. If you have cyano growing on it, you probably don't have enough flow. It needs the flow so it can shed off layers every know and then othwerwise it will sufficate.

 

Most Photosyntetic Gorgs are: Brown, Tan, Purple/blue, etx.

 

Most Non-Photosyntetic Gorgs are:Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, Yellow, Green, etx.

 

Hope This Helps!

Rock Anemone:D

[flaunt]

thanks rock. maybe i'll move it back to the rear of the aquarium where it'll get more flow and less light. i assumed it was photosynthetic. it would still eat phyto being non-photosynthetic wouldn't it?

[tinyreef]

flaunt,

i don't think it'll go for the phtyo since those would be photosynthetic to some degree as well. but that's not to say phtyo wouldn't help the gorgon by supporting the food chain that feeds it (i.e. microfauna or zooplankton). you may want to try pureed shrimp (w/shell and head :x ) and target feed minimal amounts of the 'slurry'.

 

i'm not going to go into rotifers and other stuff but you should research into them. time-wise it wouldn't help your gorgon. you need immediate nutrient injection imo. you can check seahorse.org for some further info.

 

gorgons are one of the animals that desperately need refugium systems or bio-diverse LR/LS imo. if your system can hold more snails i would opt there too (gametes are plankton too :x ). i can make a REALLY digusting joke there : but i'm too refined.

 

i'll post it in the lounge instead. jk

[kimura]

I have a Red non-photo gorgoninan, and I noticed that after I moved it to a less turbulant area, the polyps didn't come out. When it was there it started to get covered with green algaeX) Now I moved it back where there was lots of flow and the polyps are coming out more:D I noticed that once I started to use napuli brine (I think that's how you spell it) and DT's it starts to come out more often. I think that feeding helps out a lot and lot of water flow. I hope that helps.

[flaunt]

thanks for the suggestions. right now i feed dt's every other day (one capful on a small bottle) targeting the gorg specifically. i also do daily generous feedings with a liquid "coral food" that contains some non-live zooplankton and some other stuff that's supposed to be a substitute for live brine nauplii. i doubt it's lacking food quantity, so maybe it's food *quality* that is lacking. perhaps it would help to target feed the gorgonian with both of these foods; i usually just dump the liquid food in and let the current mix it up in the water (it's cloudy for about 30 minutes after feeding). i do have a brine shrimp hatchery and some eggs that i could hatch if it might make a difference. is it worth a try? i'll relocate the gorg to an area of higher water flow. i have plenty of snails right now, so i don't think i should add anymore, but the ones i do have never breed... atleast not that i've seen! are they supposed to?

 

about rotifers, i very much want to get into culturing live foods, so i've been doing some research on it for awhile. first i think i need to get some phytoplankton cultures going with a nannochloropsis disk from florida aqua farms. i believe it will take several weeks before the first culture will be mature... i then plan to use the phyto to start more phyto cultures, direct feeding to the tank, and to start a zooplankton culture using roti-pods as the starter. i plan to use the 2-liter bottle method for phytoplankton culture but i haven't decided yet whether i'll use 2-liter bottles or just a seperate aquarium for culturing roti-pods. any suggestions on that?

[tinyreef]

the snails don't have to breed, just foreplay is enough. the snails will contribute to the plankton in the water column, each sex in their own way. (use your imagination : )

 

i'm sure the phyto is good quality but it's veggies versus the zooplankton (meat), that's all. the phyto will still ultimately feed the carnivorous gorgon thru its role in the food pyramid, just indirectly.

[flaunt]

well thanks for the help anyway, but i think he's a goner i moved him to an area where he's getting a good bit of current from the HOB filter, but the polyps don't even come out anymore. i haven't seen them out for atleast three days. the only other thing i could do is stick him in directly in front of the minijet to increase the water flow further. i've also tried spot-feeding all kinds of foods, still the polyps never emerged. *sniffle* :*(

[tinyreef]

have you tried feeding it at night? the polyps may only emerge in darkness. also keep an eye on the nutrient levels. too much feeding can be just as bad.

 

also i wouldn't 'blast' it. a gentle flow is better imo. hth

[Crakeur]

gorgs are generally cooler temperature, low light critters and tend to do poorly in reefs, although I had a purple whip that grew fairly well for a while. My yellow with white and red polyps seems to have areas that grow but it is buried under rock and hard to see.

[Rock Anemone]

My Purple Bush gorg has been doign excellent and so has my Tan Sea Rod. Very nice corals...

 

Rock Anemone:D

[flaunt]

i haven't paid a lot of attention at night as to whether they're coming out at that time, but i'll look tonight. i see little raised bumps where it looks like there could be polyps trying to come out, but i'm not sure. the way it has been ever since i've had it is that the polyps just come out whenever the feel like it, day or night. it's always been pretty unpredictable. i think the amount of flow is fine right now, it's not getting blasted.

 

 

Originally posted by tinyreef

have you tried feeding it at night?  the polyps may only emerge in darkness.  also keep an eye on the nutrient levels.  too much feeding can be just as bad.  

 

also i wouldn't 'blast' it.  a gentle flow is better imo.  hth

[Asterix]

If I remember correctly you found that thing at lowtide in SC? or somewhere off the east coast...It was collected from a temperate zone if this is the case, and as such, Probably cannot tolerate high tempatures for much longer than.....hmm....6 months? (About the time inbetween warm and cold seasons from the area it was collected) Further, These things are probably found in 10ft + water, In 10ft of water off the east coast there is usually 6 " of visiblity...no light penetration.....Therefore this thing NEVER sees light and probably is not used to fighting off algae for long periods of time. The ideal conditions for this thing, as stated more than once above....are in the lowers 70's, and lots of micro-organisms present in the water...These conditions do not match yours. About the only immediate thing you can do, is place the gorg in a dark cave and hope for the best or put it back into the ocean from where it was taken......When the tissue begins pealing off the skeleton transfer it into the toilet...I belive Some types of gorgonians can pollute your water...better safe than sorry..............