Blueberry Gorgonian - please post your experiences!!!

[Morgandy]

All,

I am becomming very interested in knowing the success rate of blueberry's. I have not been able to keep them, nor have most of the people I know, or have communicated with online. They look awful after just a few days in the lfs's too.

Please if you've kept them, can you give info on their life span in your tank, and what you have fed. I think these are one of those species that we have not yet been able to meet the husbandry needs of yet, so very interested in seeing % of successes. I know only 1 person so far who is keeping one healthy and alive.

thx!

[gh0st]

I've got a frag of one and it's doing well so far, only had it about three or four months.

They seem to like lots of flow, low to moderate light, and frequent feedings of Oyster Eggs and Phyto.

They seem to ship poorly, so watch out for dying tissue on the base of the branches. Getting it on a good stable location helps as well as they seem to ship with very little of a base most of the time.

[Morgandy]

Have you seen growth, new polyps, much polyp extension? Just very interested in all different conditions and observations, and exact time frames people have had them. Thanks!!!

[dendro982]

Negative result:
I bought the half-dead one from LFS, together with swiftia, that had rapid tissue necrosis. Had to treat tank with Melafix-Pimafix. Swithia is doing good now, but not blueberry.

Aggravating factor - abundance of bryopsis in the tank, with nitrates and phosphates zero.

Same tank has Christmas tree worms, scleronephthya, and small-polyped blue gorgonian - all are doing well.

Feeding: from dried Cyclop-eeze to ZoPlan, frozen baby brine, rotifers.
Never seen blurberry eating.

When it become really bad - fragged, had some regeneration, but then the dead branches blackened and regeneration stopped.

What could be done differently:
- My salt mix is prepared on tap water - this could be corrected,
- blueberry gorgonian should be placed in observable place,
- better to have not too strong flow, not too weak - but less, than, say, for a swiftia,
- sps quality water - clear, no particulates. BTW, sps frags in the same tank are doing very well, despite the particulates in the water,
- no shedding rock in this tank (I have).

Would like to see pictures of blueberry gorgonian, catching and consuming food. Who has it close to the glass - it is possible, even with point-and-shoot camera, which has macro mode.

Maybe it feeds not on usual food - smallest crustaceans, and require something like mucus, who knows. This I do not have this in my tank.

Also interested in experiences of other keepers.

[renogaw]

I got a blueberry gorg frag (was v shaped, about 2" long each branch).

i doubt my system was correct for it, but it eventually succumbed to necropsis.

I don't think it is photysynthetic, so i must not have had enough plankton in my tank for it.

[Morgandy]

I think what is happening usually is that they are not receiving the right food, nor enough. Locally we have someone who has a 1-year old dendro tank, and the food going into it, and the flow, seems to be what the blueberry needs too. I want to keep hearing from others though, any successes at all, and for how long?