Are non-photo coral more aggresive?

[rykna]

I have cared for several different kinds of gorgs. All of them were photosynthetic. I currently have a photo purple sea whip. I recently added a non-photo blueberry gorg.
My tank has assorted mushrooms,zoos, a kenya tree, a sea whip, and star polyps. At first the blueberry would open just fine, but over the week after introducing the blueberry, all the corals began to open less until almost all were closed, especially the photo sea whip. I moved the blueberry to a empty tank.You could see the mucus strands trailing of the blueberry's branches. Within two days everyone in the DT had return normal. The blueberry started to open a few polyps after 4-5 days.
Most of the ocean pictures I have seen of these non-photo gorgs. Show a 2-3- foot specimen with no neighbors with in 5-6 feet on the gorg.
So, because the non-photo blueberry doesn't have the bonus food source from sunlight. I think that this would make it much more aggressive coral. Therefore causing the unsuccessful experiences we have had trying to keep this coral successful in our tanks. The non-photo gorgs, in their weakened state on arrival, spend all their energy fighting with adjacent corals to ensure they get enough filter food to survive. Thus sealing their path to starvation.
Now that I have moved the blueberry to a "private" tank. It is slowly regaining color, and opens a few polyps. I had a single elephant ear mushroom in the gorg tank, but had to remove the mushroom due to the toxic war between the two. It was very obvious that the mushroom was loosing too.
So, could this aggressive behavior be a big part of why most of us are unsuccessful keeping these non-photo gorgs alive in our tanks?
~Rykna

 

[sculpin]

That is a very interesting observation and I'll have to keep an eye on my tank to see if I'm having any ill effects.
I've had my blueberry in for a month now and it appears to be doing very well. I've even noticed a few spots healing up but I have not noticed any problems with my coral until just the other day. I have recently seen a drop in ORP and have been seeing some possible issues with some of my zooanthid colonies but it could of just been the time of day so I'm not sure. As far as any immediate problems when introducing the coral, I have not seen any.
Here is a couple of pics I took about 2 weeks after purchase.

Good luck and I'll keep and eye on mine and let you know how it goes. No one really knows a whole lot about these so any observations in anomalies can be very helpful I think.
Sculpin

 

[sculpin]

Oh and what are these mucus strands your has. I've not noticed this happening to mine at all. I have seen a few strands of vermetid snails snag on mine but nothing that looks like the gorg is causing it.
Sculpin

 

[rykna]

WOW!!! I sure would love to hear what food and such you feed your gorg. My poor little gorg is barely hanging in there. After getting it home I realized there was a lot of die off that i did not see in the LFS. After the separation I gave it a iodine dip. It seemed to help, the color got better, but only a few polyps open now....any input you could give would be greatly appreciated!
~Rykna

 

[sculpin]

Well I am no pro by any means with these. This is my first gorg and all my care taking knowledge is what I've gathered on the internet that works best. There is only a hand full of people that I know of that have keep these alive for long periods of time (longer then a year). No one really knows what these things eat per-say but a few things are tried and true.
-Feed yours smashed cyclopseez every few day and it will open every day around that time (very similar to a dendro or a sun coral) ready to be feed. You'll need to smash them because the cyclopseez sp. can be to large for the polyp mouth and will be spit right back out. Also it helps to mix up your sand bed. They will feed on detritus trapped in the sand too. I generally get a good feeding response when I do this so the must be eating some of it.
-Keep them in a very high current. This accomplishes two things, it keeps food passing through them all the time and keeps hair algae from taking hold. Hair algae can wipe a non-photo gorg out no problem. Also to prevent hair algae place them in a darker area of the tank. You can see optimal placement in my full tank shot. I've got it tucked in the darkest corner next to 3 walls to better help the current rush it's way past.
And be on your game with keeping the water as pure as possible. Adding all this food to your system will likely have ill effects so do your water changes religiously and you may want to consider running activated carbon instead of a skimmer. I've not done this myself but I'm told it works.
That is just my two cents and like I said, I'm no pro, I only bought a strong speciment a month ago and have managed to keep him happy thus far.
Good Luck
Sculpin