Deep sea yellow Gorgonian

[salix]

I have been reading some of the other post about gorgonians. i have a deep sea yellow.
People have said that theres will only open now and again or just at night.
Does it open when its hungry or does it open when it is in ideal conditions for it?
I have had mine for about two weeks. it was opening at night at first, but now it is open all the time. i would say it has been open constantly for 5 days now. Is it finding some food that it likes or do i need to spot feed it more?
I have a 240 long reef tank with the overflows about eight inches from the corners, so it creates a dark spot in the corner. i made a rock wall to make it even darker then added a small power head and point it at the glass. i have spot feed with dt's phyto, i just got oyster eggs. if it is open i would think that it is eating something, or is it open because i need to feed it more.
Does it stay open 24/7 in the wild?
just wondering if my gorg is happy?
:thinking:

 

[sato]

If hes open hes probably happy, usually the brighter colored deep water species are nto photosynthetic and will require regular feeding so I would try to get a schedule and perhaps feed him twice a day with some form of phytoplankton or other small food such as the oyster eggs.

 

[rujelus22]

I don't know about the yellow but I have a rusty and a orange tree and they are both open about 99% of the time, there doing great and growning. I've even fragged the rusty a few times so I don't think they need more food.

 

[ctgretzky9]

Gorgs are hit or miss in peoples tanks...both of mine stay open for about 70% of the time, and always during feedings.
One thing you need to know is the "particle size" and flow each needs. There was an awesome article in coral magazine a couple of issues back regarding this. I suggest getting it if you can, it really helped with placement and feedings. Since I moved each into where they ave now been for a couple of months, they are thriving and growing steadily...
Pics of both below, sorry, I am not the best photographer! But you get the idea lol

 

[barkdog]

My gorgonian took a long time to open up regularly. I bought it in January. It would put maybe 5-10 polyps out at a time for a few hours a day for the first few weeks. Then it did nothing (at least not while I was watching) for maybe a month. I figured it was dying or dead. I moved it to my 180G fish only tank, and it seems to have been revitalized. Now it has hundreds of polyps out all day. I dont know why it is doing so much better in this tank. I'm assuming that there must just be more particulate matter in the tank with the big messy eaters I have... trigger, lion, puffer, wrasse. The 55G tank it came from only had hermit crabs and 2 shrimp.
Amazingly, none of the fish have taken any interest in it as food. They all just leave it alone. If it continues to do well, I may add more to the tank. I'm still a little skeptical though. After I bought it I heard that most gorgonians dont really last past a few months in an aquarium.

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by barkdog
I'm assuming that there must just be more particulate matter in the tank with the big messy eaters I have... trigger, lion, puffer, wrasse. The 55G tank it came from only had hermit crabs and 2 shrimp.

This is, basically, what the article was stating. Each gorg has certain polyp sizes, that catch particular sized food. The more diversity in food and how it gets broken down (ie fish tearing and spitting some back out etc...) and the food you are feeding specifically is important. As well, the flow rate was important passing by the polyps themselves.
I do a mix of dt's oyster eggs and daphnia that seem to do the trick with each, and as well, the mysis shrimp gets torn up and spit in and out by the fish...even the flakes get broken down this way etc...
Great article..i can dig it out and scan it and post clips form it if I can remeber...or get the back issue. Was a very good article on this subject.