gorgonian question

[Kelso]

I just recently purchased a gorgonian coral, i believe a yellow finger. I was wondering if anyone knew if all coral of these type have polyps that open up at night. Im not sure what type he really is. Anyone know anything about it?

 

[Zer0]

Looks to me like a deep sea yellow gorgonian. They have little white polyps that will open up once they feel comfortable in your aquarium. This gorgonian doesn't really have a specific time for its polyps to open up, so if you begin to see polyps coming out, then you'll know he is in good shape.

They consider this a very hardy gorgonian in the aquarium, so if you have the proper lighting he should do fine. They need strong flow and strong lighting, so i hope you've got both.

 

[Kelso]

Okay great thanks for the info. He's brand new and i just noticed tiny little polyps at the base so im pretty sure and hoping he will open up eventually.

 

[Zer0]

No problem. If he's happy, he'll look something like this:

 

[Innovator]

First off, these are Diodogorgia nodulifera. Secondly, they are definitely not considered hardy because they require feeding (not photosynthetic!), are slow growing, and need to be cleaned of algae growth if water flow is not adequate.

 

[Zer0]

You sure? This looks alot to me like Diodogorgia sp

Sorry, just edited this post^^

I meant picture, and not link. The picture above your post.

 

[Innovator]

I think you either received misinformation or quoted the wrong gorgonian. I don't see a link?

 

[Kelso]

i do add different essential elements if that what you mean by require feeding

 

[Zer0]

Well, when he means feeding them and it's "non-photosynthetic", he means you need to target feed that gorgonian "Marine Snow" or PhytoPlankton or other filter feeding foods. Not trace elements like calcium, iodine, the things from salt mix, etc..

 

[Kelso]

Ah, well I do have an electric scallop I feed phytoplankton regularly. He's been kikin for about two months now so hopefully they have one in the same feeding wise. The guy at the LFS I bought from agrees with Zero, saying they were reletavly hardy, need lower light and high water movement. But I guess we will never know for sure.

 

[melosu58]

There is not too many if any that are hardy. Most I`ve seen in Liveaquaria are difficult.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yeah... they need "lower light" because they need NO light. They rely on getting food from the water column. There are some gorgonians that are photosynthetic, but I do not believe yours is one of them. What makes non-photosynthetic species difficult is that you have to continuously feed them, which then fouls your water because we're working with closed systems. It's tough to keep pristine conditions for everything else when you're having to feed phyto.

As far as never knowing "for sure"... no - that's not the case. Researching before making purchases is a really good habit to get in, if you're going to be in the hobby long term. It will save you a LOT of money.

 

[Kelso]

"As far as never knowing "for sure"... no - that's not the case"
So your saying you know for sure what this is. Which means I was misslead by the store sales man. Waited a week or so before buying. Reacherch is done before purchase, thank you.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Huh?

OK... if you did research before you bought, and you understand the needs of this coral, then I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I'm just not sure how else to read your opening post though... to me it sounds like you're not sure what you have and what it needs.

Regarding being misled by a fish store employee... it happens. Sometimes out of simple ignorance, sometimes not so much.

 

[Kelso]

Ya the guy was a talker. Who knows what his intentions were. I was not upset in any way, sorry if it came across like that. I couldent put my finger on which one it was in the first week. From what the store guy said and what I gathered I thought it was a yellow finger gorgonian(from first thread). I didnt really know fully which exact type it was, after looking at all the pictures but felt like I could keep one. When you said, "As far as never knowing "for sure"... no - that's not the case." I thought you were telling me you knew for sure what it was, which is exactly what I want. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Innovator]

I am fairly certain it is Diodogorgia nodulifera. The callous-like spots where the polyps extend from within are rather distinct. They hail from Caribbean waters over 50ft. deep. These gorgonians lack the zooanthellae (symbiotic algae) required to photosythesize, which is why they must be fed in order to thrive. You could probably get by with phytoplankton, but perhaps better off with more planktonic food such as rotifers, eggs, and copepods. Remember with lfs salesmen, they are there to make a sale and often don't know much about what they are selling in the first place.

 

[Zer0]

Well my bad on the misinformation. This looked pretty similar to Diodogorgia sp. so that's why i gave information on that gorgonian. Thanks for the clarification though Innovator and Kurt.

 

[Kelso]

Thanks inovator, very helpful. Hopefuly everything goes good, thanks again.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Well my bad on the misinformation. This looked pretty similar to Diodogorgia sp. so that's why i gave information on that gorgonian....

I'm still not understanding why you're saying this. From what I've read, ALL species of Diodogorgia are non-photosythetic. Doesn't matter what subspecies it is... none of them utilize light.

 

[Kelso]

Ya, none of them do (none I could find anyway) since this thread I have been doing quite a bit of looking around. Mine only seems to open his plyps during the time the tank is lit. When the light goes away so do the plyps. I know he's not using light as energy, he's probly just adjusting.