purple gorgonia

[jsfakianos]

I have been wanting a purple gorgonia for a long time. My LFS offered to order one for me and it came in yesturday. They told me to cut off the branches with damaged skin when I got home.

Unfortunately, nearly every branch has damaged skin.

Rather than cut off every branch, I fragged the best branch and glued it to a rock. I clipped the worst looking branches and have my fingers crossed.

I had read that gorgonia are diificult to ship and expected a less than perfect specimen. However, after seeing this under better lighting, I am not impressed.

Can anyone give me any suggestions?

How did your gorgonia look after arriving?

More descriptive... Many of the branches have the small white skeleton showing. Only 1 or 2 have the thicker purple skeleton showing. The base looks very secure and the main stalk is in good shape.

Is this recoverable?


Thanks for any help.

[Agu]

My purple gorg sheds an outer skin once in a while. It's similar to what leathers do when they're irritated. Make sure it has good flow and you should be fine if it's just shedding. If it is diseased you did the right thing, if not you'll have several gorgs.

Agu

[jsfakianos]

That sounds hopeful. Thanks.

One more question. Are all purple gorgonia photosynthetic. This may have been my second mistake. The new one has white polyps but purple skin. I did not know until I searched the reefcentral board that some purple gorgonia have purple polyps.

My wife leaves me alone for one Saturday and look what happens.

[LgIslandreefers]

I bought a purple gorgonian with purple polyps a few weeks ago. Found out it liked the light.However colored gorgonians with white polyps are VERY likely to be non photosynthetic!

[BurnNSpy]

Non-Photo gorgians usually die in reef tanks not designed with them in mind. It is prudent to investigate livestock needs before purchase. Good luck.

BurnNSpy

[Adrian]

I have a purple gorg with white polyps. When I got it I cut off the damaged tissue and glued the bas to a rock. It is place on the sand under a 175MH. The tissue has regrown and new branches are appearing. I also have a yellow gorg, the one with flat branches and white polyps. They have both in been in the tank about two months and seem to be thriving under the MH, I think the yellow one is photosynthetic, but not sure about the purple now that you all mention the different colored polyps, he sure dosnt seem to mind the intense lighting so I guess hes ok. I do they do much better in a mature system. I feed all my corals a little golden pearls and some frozen phyto twice a week but havent directly fed them. Is it easy to propagate these guys, just a mater of removing a branch and attaching it to a substrate?

[jsfakianos]

Thanks ADRON420. That is what I read the gorgonia would do. However, everything seems a little strange until you go through it once. I expected some damage from shipping, but not this much.

I did order a purple photosynthetic gorgonia from the LFS. I was told that the specimen is photosynthetic, however, I was surprised that it would have white polyps.