Purple blade gorg? ATTN: ReefkprZ

[petjunkie]

Go into my pet store tonight because they ordered in live rock from their new supplier as a test run and see this sucker acclimating. I set up their saltwater tank, it's pretty new, still in the algea phase and this is a expert only type gorg. So I took it home

Kinda afraid it's already a goner, you can see the branches I cut off and a couple that look iffy.

This is a gorg I already have that has been very hardy so far, what they thought they ordered. Any idea what mine is and if the new one is indeed a blade?

You can't really tell in the pics but the new one is much thicker and a different color purple.

 

[reefkprz]

yeah thats a Pterogoria, the blade thickness and shading difference is normal (flow and light related they can be brown, grey, purple). Honestly IMO those are both Pterogoria. if your fist one is thriving you may be in luck.

 

[reefkprz]

what was the original one labled as?

 

[petjunkie]

Really, because I haven't been feeding the first one. Phyto once a week and stirring up the tank during water changes, other than that I ignore it, I ordered it as a purple plume which is supposed to be hardy in my coral book. That gives me a little hope but I've only had the first one two months or so. If the new one starts going downhill would it be worth fragging from the bottom? The tops been out of the water quite a bit but the bottoms stayed mostly submerged except for across a room once I realized it wouldn't fit. I wasn't really careful with the 1st gorg and air exposure either. Should I cut off the funky looking branching that appear to be oozing?

 

[reefkprz]

I would snip the tips that look bad. if the branches start to decay then you can go on an observational descision on what fragging method would work best. I have seen brances decay but leave a healthy tip. that was easy to frag off.
stirring your sand feeds the gorgonian by suspending detritus and bacteria that the gorgonian feeds on.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by petjunkie
I ordered it as a purple plume which is supposed to be hardy in my coral book.

purple plume is diferent from both of those
Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata is a hardy photosynthetic gorgonian but it looks more like this

 

[petjunkie]

Hmmm, that's what I thought I was getting but then I wasn't too sure about the form and where the polyps were. I guess I'll start making more of an effort to feed. Should I maybe cut my skimmer off? It's a Remora so it's not pulling out tons especially with only one fish in the tank and I do weekly water changes. I don't have any algea in the tank or water quality problems to speak of so I doubt it would hurt the tank any not to skim and may help the gorgs out. Rest of the tank is lps and softies so they won't care either as long as I keep bioload down.
You're so helpful ReefkprZ, as soon as I saw that gorg I knew you were the person to ask about it. Also I was curious about them touching corals and vice-versa, my gorg spent a week resting up against my pagoda cup and the cup receded from that area.

 

[reefkprz]

I dont know how powerful their stings are(I'll look into it but gorgonians are generally considered non aggressive) it could have just been the physical rubbing of the branch against the cup, but its always safer to assume corals cant touch eachother.
as for feeding, more would be better as gorgs often do fine for a couple months then just crash, I wouldnt eliminate skimming but maybe shut it down for an hour or two when you feed phyto, maybe stir your sand more often then just at waterchanges, try doing it 2-3 times a week. just make sure you use good phyto (if you can't buy it out of a refrigerated unit its not good, often the micron size has grown beyond a usefull size) so most of it goes to waste. also its considered wise by some (smarter people than me) to blend the phyto before use to break up particles stuck together, they say hand shaking isnt really sufficient. the sand stirring is a GREAT way to feed as often the detritus and bacteria sizes stirred up are ideal for SPS and other small mouthed feeders like gorgonian. (for anyone out there thats new to the idea of sand stirring you only disturb the top inch not deeper deeper, especially in a DSB, it can release toxins and kill anoxic and anaerobic bacteria seriously harming your balance).
if I think of anything else I'll let you know. keep us all updated on how it does.

 

[reefkprz]

I have to say that one you just got is a MASSIVE specimen. I really hope you have enough flow for it. best of luck.

 

[petjunkie]

Yeah I know, it's huge! Tomorrow I'm going to frag it smaller and move some stuff around in the 33 to make room for it in there, it doesn't stand a chance in my 20 gallon, that tanks just a random mushroom tank that got set up because I wanted them out of my main tank to make room for lps. There's not much rock or flow in there. I may put a piece in my aquapod too. I'm so worried about this gorg I know I'm not going to sleep tonight, stuff like this drives me nuts. I am happy I learned how to frag these though.
I'll order another koralia tomorrow I think, been meaning to do it anyways and I have DTs phyto in the fridge at the proper temp. Tomorrow I'll stir everything up and feed if it opens. I'll keep this thread updated whether it lives or dies but I'm not too optimistic based on my reading so far.

 

[reefkprz]

hey dont feel bad if it doesnt make it. I have killed two of them. and that was when i knew what I was getting (they were both in bad shape when i got them and already disentegrating) but I was hopefull I could revive them.