looking At getting "Purple Brush Gorgonian" (Pic i

[NewInTown]

I know little about sea fans. My LFS has about an 8in piece for sale

Anyone know anything about keeping this coral?

Is all the LFS told me was it needs strong light and strong water flow.

I'm not sure of the scientific name but this is what it looks like

 

[steve-s]

Re: looking At getting "Purple Brush Gorgonian"

Is all the LFS told me was it needs strong light and strong water flow.

To great degree that would be correct. It really depends on if the species is properly identified. What color are the polyps?

Even with the proper tank set up (light/flow), it will still benefit from a certain level of organics/feedings. The occassional addition of phytoplankton can be beneficial depending on your current feeding regiment.

Cheers
Steve

 

[NewInTown]

would zooplex work for feeding. every time I add phytoplankton my algae runs
wild. I think my phytoplankton might be bad though smells kinda like sulfer.

the best I could come up with is sea plume (pseudopterogorgia bipinnata)

Is it a sps or soft coral?

Found a better pic looks more like this one

 

[steve-s]

would zooplex work for feeding.

As long as the micron size of the food particles are not too large yes. Just be sure you only add small amounts weekly. Even with skimmer use a little goes a long way.

every time I add phytoplankton my algae runs wild. I think my phytoplankton might be bad though smells kinda like sulfer.

Phyto should not really have much of an odor at all. If it's "off", it'll smell quite foul. The sulfur smell could indicate the presence of bacteria. Is it refrigerated or shelf stable?

Is it a sps or soft coral?

Neither really. They are classed unto themselves. These corals have both a hard structured inner support as well as the tissue of a soft coral but no sclerites.

Found a better pic looks more like this one

Without knowing the polyp color, I'd say you where right about the ID of Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Shark Bait]

I have a single branch of a yellow polyp gorgonian to see how it's going to do before I but a entire piece. So far it has been doing good I use DT Photoplankton every three days and it has been responding very well. I have done some reading on gorgonians and they are alittle more difficult to care for, they will need good flow or you will see alge build up on the branches and the polyps will not extend and it will die. I have had this happen a few times and I carefully cleaned the alge off and it does well after that. Hope everything goes well if you get it.

 

[fishfreek]

Does it look like this? Have you seen the poylps extended in the store?

 

[SquishyFish]

I purchased a very large orange gorgonia about a year and a half ago. I called GARF. to find out how to best care for them because no one could give me any solid information. They told me that the biggest threat to gorgonia in general is the human touch. handle them with rubber gloves. They said everywhere I touch it, the skin will slough off, and thats exactly what happened. They also said that Gorgonia are considered some of the more difficult species to keep alive. They suggested that I take spirulina flakes, crush them and mix them with "Reef Plus". Even with all of that, mine slowly died off.

If you want to see how big my gorgonia was click on my link. Keep in mind that the tank its in is a 175 gallon tank.

Good luck with it, but IMHO, it is not a coral that should be in the hobby.

 

[NewInTown]

I stopped by the store on my way home could not see any polyps the guy told me that their nocturnal and the polyps only come out when the lights are off for some reason I have a hard time believing this. It looks just like fishfreak's pic's just no polyps. I think I might pass on this until I can get some more info. Is this the carpet anem of the coral world? Has anyone had one longer than a year?