Purple Gorgonians

[bceer]

I have a purple gorganian that look like it is lossing its skin. The base is some what black but purple in spots. I my gorganian on its way to its grave? There has been some little yellow spots on the branches and have removed them. Any suggestion would be great. BCEER@hotmail.com null

 

[wamp]

Where do you have it in the tank. How much ighting? flow? Nitrates?

 

[bceer]

Nitrates are good. Cal. is at 450. Phospat is at 1.0. Fish are active and all other corals are doing well. 29 gal. All reef with 3 fish. Lighting is a 50/50 and 10k.

 

[nm reef]

Close to a year ago when I cycled my first saltwater system and began researching which corals I'd like to add to my infant reef I learned that gorgonians had an extremely poor survival record and were best left in their natural environment...I have seldom seen or heard of any success in keeping these corals yet it seems every LFS has them and tons of keepers add them...personally I've avoided them and stick with corals that have a decent chance to survive in my system.

 

[kelly]

bceer,
I can not answer your question, but i do have a question. Is this a meaty/fleshy gorgonian, or is it similar to the yellow and red gorgonians. (The only purple ones that I have seen are not very fleshy.)
I have had a fleshy gorgonian for several years with no problems, and purchased a second on a several months ago. The second one got some kind of infection, and starting losing its flesh at the base. It is now growing back.
It seems that the fleshy gorgonians are easier to keep. Here is a pic of the one that I have had for several years. It is 16" tall, and had some bare spots when I got it. Until 2 weeks ago, I had 1 40W 10,000K Triton, and 1 40W Actinic bulb on the tank

Kelly

 

[out on a limb]

I have the same type as Kelly (very nice by the way Kelly) but I do not feel comfortable with the way I have it supported. It is kind of resting on some lr. What is the best way to do this?

 

[jmsullivan]

I just purchased a gorgonia that looks like that purple one only it is red with yellow polyps, it seams to be losing meat in spots, but still trys to open in others. I have seen my hermits it, could they be doing the damage?

 

[fishfood]

jmsullivan..
I also have a red one with yellow polyps. The same thing happened. I asked the guys at my lfs and they said that if you touch this type they will die back in the area. I also have two others(don't know what kind) that are doing great. The crabs are always crawling all over them and the tang even picks at the one but they are going strong.
I'm not sure if that is right about the red one but I would just get it where you want it and keep away from it. Make sure that no hair algae starts to grow on the dead spots. It should hopefully grow back. It has been 2 months and mine still opens but doesn't seem to be growing back yet.

 

[bceer]

It is a like the pic above by Kelly. It is fleshy. Seems to still have spots that are trying to grow and other spots that look dead. Should I cut the Dead out?

 

[dburr]

Out on a limb-
The best way to anchor a garg is to take a small rock and drill a 1/8 or 3/16 hole a 1/4 to 1/2 deep. Take the base of the garg and strip off 3/16 to 1/4 with a sharp knife (wire strippers work best). Put superglue gel in the hole stick in the garg. Try not to get superglue on the flesh. Put the rock in water from the tank (not in the tank)within 10 seconds (so it don't burn it).
Done.
I have used this method lots of times, always worked for me.
Yellow fingers, sea whips and candleopras(sp?).
good luck

 

[out on a limb]

thanks dburr that sounds like it should work. stripping the gorg will not hurt it i guess?

 

[kelly]

bceer and Out on a Limb:
bceer,
If it is fleshy, like mine, it will grow back as long as no algae has grown on the bare spots. Just keep a little water flow on it. The gorgonian will fill in the bare areas both in an upwards and downwards direction. If the fleshy keeps receeding, start above the problem area, and clean away about 1/4 to the receeding section, hopefully this will stop the problem.
Out on a Limb,
What dburr said is correct, but clean a little extra, and make sure that the super glue gel does not touch the meaty area. You could also anchor it by filling the hole you drill with styrofoam. Make sure the rock you attach it to is large enough to hold it when full grown, and that the hole is deep enough also. Minimum 1/2" deep, and the closer to the diameter of the hole to the diameter of the cleaned gorgonian the better. (for support.)
Kelly

 

[lettheirberock]

what are you feeding it? i dont think your lighting would matter much with that species,because they aren't photosynthetic. they need large amounts of food to survive.

 

[adrian]

Gorgonians need a ton of current. Gorgs depend on current to feed them, and to rid themselves of debris. If you see your crabs or tangs picking on them, it's a good indication that their not recieving enough current and the result is algae growth. Some gorgs are also highly photosythetic and need a good deal of light to survive, and there are also some gorgs that are not phto and do not tolerate light well. I have two gorgs, a purple, and a yellow, I dont feel like typing out the sci names . They are both phtosynthetic. The purple does well, grows quickly, and the polyps are always open, the yellow on the other hand is tough, it has its good days and its bad days, im going somewhere with this, really I dont feel lack of food or lighting is the problem, I feed heavily and they are under a 250MH. the purple gorg has very flexable branches and they sway easily in the current. The yellow has very firm branches, and its tough to get enough current to keep it happy. Ive been battling with the yellow for months, im in the process of re doing my plumbing so I can provide a very high flow for it on one end of the tank. The moral to the ramble is this, if the gorg has really flexable branches its probably native to an area with a moderate to high flow, if the branches are stiff, it comes from an area with fast sweeping currents. There are a ton of species of gorg out there, the best thing you can do is research your individual gorg and its native habitat and try to mimic these, as you would with any coral HTH

 

[tomato clown]

I have purple gorgonians in my tank, After I purchased it is when I did my research. As Adrian said, mimic their natural habitat. I give mine a good semi-strong current, and feed them dt phytoplankyon 2-3 times weekly. I not knowing about my proper cal. levels started to lose my gorg. but since last week when I started doing what I was supposed to have noticed a significant improval in them.
If you notice when there is minimal current they will look wilted and distressed, yet in semi-strong currents they are full and you will see their antanni coming out to collect their food. being you have a 29, (same size as mine) try feeding 2-3 times with phytoplankton and keep any stringy debis off of the branches this will also hurt the gorg.
HTH
Dan

 

[wamp]

Listen to the man adrian he is right on. I have a purple gorg. and about 8 months ago he started to die. I wondered what it could be killing it. After researching a while I saw that they needed massive amounts of current. Moved him to a new spot where a sweeping powerhead was directly on him and presto! He is back to life and growing more than ever!