Is Green Lace Gorgonian Dead?

pitbull01

Active Member
Oh yeah, he is sooooo dead. Take him out of there before he pollutes ur tank. (not that he would do much) What are your levels like? What fish do you have in there?
 

bang guy

Moderator
Shake it. If some flesh stays attached then it still has a chance. Something is not right with your tank though.
 

spafeature

Member
My Levels are fine--
Fell off rock last night and when I picked him up he looked like that.
What should I do?
 

shawnts106

Member
ok you mean to tell us that he just fell of a rock and OVERNIGHT he turned into a dieing blob?
this isnt right!
something is SERIOUSLY WRONG!
looks like a deep sea yellow?.. they eat Phytoplankton... they are a filterfeeder, cyclop is good too, so try target feeding it next time you see those polyps out, they like low light and med/strong water movement!
 

spafeature

Member
Well, he was never looking great. Have him in med-high water flow. Tonight will target him w/live phyto plankton.
Question: Do you turn off your power powerheads when feeding phytoplankton. I have not been--
 

pitbull01

Active Member
What do you mean your levels are "fine"? You mean ok or excellent......exact measures please....those are pretty easy to keep as far as gorgonias go and it wouldnt look like that from having fallen from a rock...something is really, really wrong with your tank. What are its tankmates? Some fish eat them, and it may be getting stung by a nearby coral or something.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by spafeature
Well, he was never looking great. Have him in med-high water flow. Tonight will target him w/live phyto plankton.
Question: Do you turn off your power powerheads when feeding phytoplankton. I have not been--
Doesn't matter, they can't eat phytoplankton.
 

irishsalt

Member
Originally Posted by shawnts106
Beg to differ!

Second that....
UUuhhh can you please Elaborate BangGUy....I've had them and Just feed up DT's with the Rest of the Plankton loving Creatures being dosed in the tank.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by IrishSalt
UUuhhh can you please Elaborate BangGUy....
There are predatory Gorgs, photosynthetic Gorgs, and those that can do both. Perhaps there's a Gorgonian that can eat phytoplankton but the one pictured can't, it's the predator/photosynthetic type. It can eat almost any small animal based particle including fish waste, ground up fish food, and small zooplankton. Cyclop-eeze was an excellent suggestion.
 

spafeature

Member
What should I do? He is looking better today--i think--following are some of my other corals who seem just fine.



 

shoreliner11

Active Member
First of all spa is right in that its a green lace gorgonian and not a deep sea yellow gorgonian. As bang said they are a predatory gorgnian. If you look at the polyp structure and sheer size it is unlikely that phytoplankton makes up much of their diet. The presence of nematocysts in their polyps would suggest that small zooplankton would be a more likely food for them. It doesn't mean it won't benefit from phytoplankton though. The phytoplankton would feed small zooplankton which in turn would be fed on by the gorgonian. So dt's doesn't help them directly.
Being as that this is a photosynthetic gorgonian it doesn't solely rely on feeding for nutrition. There are several different things that could have caused this. If indeed it was fine before it fell on the sand and then came out like this I would suggest an animal culprit. It could have also been dying and when it fell of the rock the tissue had a better means of falling off in the fall. What kind of light and how much is this gorgonian under?
There are also plenty of diseases that gorgonians can get as well. Did it fall on any coral in particular? Although the picture you showed doesn't look like a stinging from another coral this can also happen. Sorry to hear about the loss.
Aaron
 

shoreliner11

Active Member
One more thing. It might be best to frag the gorgonian. Many times once recession has started if you cut off the receding part it will stop the issue. This depends on what the reason for its demise is but looking at the coral it doesn't have the best outlook anyhow.
Aaron
 

spafeature

Member
Thanks Aron--
What is the best way to frag it--Must I keep it under water while fragging? Can I attach branches w/epoxy to LR?
 

spafeature

Member
Oh well--tried to cut him and any tissue that was still in place basically fell off. Have more coming soon--hopefully will have better luck. I have a feeling it was not that healthy from the get go-
Thanks!
 

shawnts106

Member
It can eat almost any small animal based particle including fish waste, ground up fish food, and small zooplankton. Cyclop-eeze was an excellent suggestion.
True, but what Nanometers are we talking about here? I would say it is possible that some gorgs do eat some phyto, the reason being is of course they do eat zooplankton and such but if the zoo is eating phyto than the phyto is still in its gut and the gorgs to digest it do they not?
Cyclop is good food to feed them I agree!
there is one type of gorgonian that is EXTREMLY easy to keep and very nice too... its called a creeping Gorgonian or a encrusted Gorgonian... they look almost IDENTICLE to green or purple starpolyps there is very little that differenciates the two! but they are very intersting we have one growing at the store, which will soon be mine and it is absolutly spectacular, if I get it I will post some pictures and info, I know its in the CORAL hardback book by Julian Sprung... really interesting, I think its hardiness scale is like a 9 out of 10.. I agree, these gorgs and the purple whips I think are the best to get... there are a few more too, but I like these too! :)
 
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