gorgonians

[blkhawk10]

how hard are these to keep and what kind of lighting do you need for them?

 

[celacanthr]

There are both photosynthetic, and non-photosynthetic gorgonians. the photosynthetic gorgs need medium-high to high lighting, and are fairly difficult since they sometimes require spot-feeding, but it is not always absolutely necessary to the well-being of the gorgonian. Non-photosynthetic gorgonians are some of the most difficult of all corals to keep healthy, since they require tons of spot-feeding with various sizes of plankton, few survive unless they are kept in a tank made specifically for them.
I recently read an article on them that suggested that cleaning the gunk from the sides and back of the aquarium invoked a larger feeding response than offering plankton that you can buy. This is not to say that merely cleaning your aquarium glass will produce enough food for them to live off of though.
HTH

 

[alyssia]

I had a deep sea yellow gorg and out of everything I've had in my tank, it was the only thing I couldn't keep alive.

 

[azocean709]

I have a yellow gargonian. have had it for quite some time. I feed phyto plex , and microvert have had it for a long time and have fragged it several times....I keep it low in the tank, more or less in the shade and have high current on it.. some times i put it in a little tank and feed it all by itself, but haven't done that for awhile.

 

[dburr]

Check out the purple garg on the left. I've had it almost 5 years. The more light you throw at it the faster it grows. I used to feed it under lower lighting, but now it's under 250 MH. I haven't fed it in a long time.

I frag this alot and trade it with other club members.
HTH

 

[sterling]

I've had a brown gorgorian for almost 5 years, and frankly, I never feed it. It started out with 3 stalks and now has about a dozen at least, so I guess what I'm saying is that it doesn't seem difficult to have at all.

 

[fallnhorse]

great pic!

i have a red one. I find it a little difficult to keep him. Like you said differen't size plankton. It's almost the shotgun method. One days he's 5 inches tall the next he's 2". I"M trying really painstaking to figure out why. Right now he's coming back up. I have in in very low light. Since he's red and of course means no photoysnthesis. The pet store where i got him had him in lighting and he was dying. So i bought him. He's doulbled in size but i think i could do better.

 

[hkdonreefs]

I would say only get a photosynthetic one. I got a purple sea blade and its doing awesome has grown 1 inch in 2 months. I dose dts and zoo alternating days.I have 2 175 mhs in a 75.