I`ve got a yellow gorgonian that`s been in my tank for a couple of months now.It acts healthy(polyps extend every day) but the outer tissue is dying from the bottom up for some reason.I was thinking of fragging out the whole thing to see if I can save some of it.Is this wise to do or should I wait to see if this one comes around before I cut it up?I don`t know why it`s not thriving,everything I`ve read so far tells me I`m doing the right things to keep it alive.This variety is non-photosynthetic.
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frag out gorgonian
- Thread starter paats
- Start date
Paats,
Are you sure you're feeding it enough? What are you feeding it? What kind of flow do you have. I recently collected some filter-feeding gorgonians and placed some in 3 different tanks. Two of the tanks are typical reef tanks which get a small feeding of cyclop-eeze once a day. The other tank is a tank of all filter-feeders and gets 3 to 4 heavy feeds a day (Cyclop-eeze, Artemia, and phytoplankton). In this tank, the gorgonians are thriving and growing. In the other two tanks they all died within the first week or two - losing tissue from the bottom, up. I don't know whether or not you should frag what's left of it, but whichever way you go, be sure to give them plenty of food and flow.
A good trick to getting plenty of food into gorgonians is this: Often when we feed them (during the day), the polyps are closed. You'll notice a little while after feeding, that the polyps are often open and extended - but often, by the time they're fully extended, the food has been filtered out or settled. I try to put a small amount of food in to get them open, then about a half hour later, add the bulk of the food.
Good luck,
Are you sure you're feeding it enough? What are you feeding it? What kind of flow do you have. I recently collected some filter-feeding gorgonians and placed some in 3 different tanks. Two of the tanks are typical reef tanks which get a small feeding of cyclop-eeze once a day. The other tank is a tank of all filter-feeders and gets 3 to 4 heavy feeds a day (Cyclop-eeze, Artemia, and phytoplankton). In this tank, the gorgonians are thriving and growing. In the other two tanks they all died within the first week or two - losing tissue from the bottom, up. I don't know whether or not you should frag what's left of it, but whichever way you go, be sure to give them plenty of food and flow.
A good trick to getting plenty of food into gorgonians is this: Often when we feed them (during the day), the polyps are closed. You'll notice a little while after feeding, that the polyps are often open and extended - but often, by the time they're fully extended, the food has been filtered out or settled. I try to put a small amount of food in to get them open, then about a half hour later, add the bulk of the food.
Good luck,
I feed this gorgonian two or three times a week with Kent Microvert.The polyps open every day and are always open when I do the feedings.I have been turning off the power heads and spot feeding with a syringe.I let the food settle over the gorg for a while before I turn the heads back on.I have it in a 55g in a good current.Good flow throughout the tank.I`ll try increasing the feeds to once a day for a while and try the foods you mentioned.I hate to frag this one when it`s not healthy,seems like I could be just making it worse.Thanks for your help.I`ll let you know if I get an improvement.
I feed this gorgonian two or three times a week with Kent Microvert.The polyps open every day and are always open when I do the feedings.I have been turning off the power heads and spot feeding with a syringe.I let the food settle over the gorg for a while before I turn the heads back on.I have it in a 55g in a good current.Good flow throughout the tank.I`ll try increasing the feeds to once a day for a while and try the foods you mentioned.I hate to frag this one when it`s not healthy,seems like I could be just making it worse.Thanks for your help.I`ll let you know if I get an improvement.
paats":1q47076f said:I`ve got a yellow gorgonian that`s been in my tank for a couple of months now.It acts healthy(polyps extend every day)
Polyp extension is not a very accurate indicator of Gorgonian health. Actually polyp extension can occur even when the gorg is slowly starving to death.There are a lot of reefers that are way more knowledgable than I and have written many books advise typical hobby reefers to stay away from keeping gorgonians.
Yes the photosynthetic types last longer than non photo types but actually how many hobbyist kept gorgonians has anyone around this board seen kept in captivity for longer than a year or more.
One of the realities is no one really has a firm grip yet as to the diets of the gorg species and this is probably why they dont do well in captivity.
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