This is not an infection, but dieing tissue:
I suspect overheating during shipping to LFS. Other non-photosynthetic gorgonians had similar damage.
It can be fragged (the live parts being cut off and glued to the rock):
You can find many posts on the web about blueberry gorgonian.
Mine was badly damaged when I bought it - just like yours:
The dead parts were removed:
The whole tank was treated by Melafix and Pimafix (for this and another non-photosynthetic gorgonian, Swiftia, aslo with necrosis), and while most swiftia frags recovered, blueberry continued to decline and was lost in bryopsis outbreak - after initial short-term improvement:
Swiftia, in similar condition, also was fragged, and frags are alive. But it is more resistant to algae growth.
To frag it or not - your decision, but here is what else you may try:
- make very good water flow around it, fan facing dispersed stream, but the polyps shouldn't be bent too much,
- set continuous automatic feeding, the syringe pump seems to be the more economic option, comparing to peristaltic pump,
- feed zooplankton, 800 micron and less, and enriched food, like Fauna Marin foods or, at least, marine fish flakes, crumbled, soaked, decanted (GARF's gorgonians recipe). If you can, try set live rotifers culture. I can't guarantee, that it helps, but this is what I'm trying to do now for a blueberry gorgonian's relative, the live food. It may have something, lacking in the dried food. May not.
Flow and continuous feeding are more important. Search on "blueberry gorgonian" anf feeding or flow will give you other keepers' experiences.
Sorry, not much help, but this is all I have.
