Lighting for Gorgonian

[crrichey]

Hey everyone. How much light do gorgonians need? Are pcs enought, or too little?

[FishAffair]

Probably too little. It really depends on the type of gorgonian and whether it's photosynthetic or not. Many gorgonians need phytoplankton supplementation as well in order to survive.

FishAffair

[iCam]

Heya. What's up? As FishAffair said, many of the gorgonians you find are not photosynthetic, and require supplemented phyto often. Considering the gorgonian IS photosynthetic, how many watts of PC are we working with, and on what size tank?

[crrichey]

130W on a 29 gallon tank. Im talking more about atlantic species.

[erc111]

I have an brown Atlantic that is about 9 yrs old.
I started it in a 55 w/, If I remember, 120w vho.
It has been in my 120 for a yr with 384w of pc, half 10k/half 03.
It likes the more watts.

I also have a yellow polyp, red stalk indonesion and it is growing as well.

That said, I will be replacing the 10k pc with 2x250 10k MH in the next few days.

[MarLooney]

i thought the yellow polyp with red stalk ones were non-photosynthetic... save mine if i'm wrong, its in a cave. were you just saying you have one growing well just to say it?

[Frick-n-Frags]

If someone said "Bet your dollar", I would say a red stalk w/yellow polyps is non-photo also.

[erc111]

Yea, I just added that as in I have one that is growing.

I feed the tank phyto and cyclopseze.

[MarLooney]

ok, cool... i just wanted to make sure i wasn't killing this guy.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/38399red___yellow_gorg_02.jpg
anyone got a latin name on these guys?

staying on the subject... FLCL787! do you have the gorg already or were you just planning on keeping one?

[FMarini]

you know why those beautiful little polyps are extended.. its feeding (or trying to).
These guys need food; Rotifers, BS nauplii sized food, not phytos (althou phytos will feed the sandbed/live rock infauna, they inturn reproduce larvae, and their larvae is food for your gorgonian). There are a few gorgonian in the hobby which are photosynthethic, many are not.
great looking gorgonian by the way
frank

[brahm]

I have two similar gorgions, I found the highest flow placement gets them to stay open the most...ie right in front of the retrun from your Fuge, and I feed them Cyclopse a couple times a week.

[EnderG60]

Seeing as I just got me a brown stalk one with blue polyps I did some reading and seems like the general rule is if the polyps are white or brownish in color its photosythetic, it the polyps are well...nice and have a cool color they probly are not.

Time to up the Combo-vital dose :)

[erc111]

Yea, my yellow likes flow to stay open also and I've seen it catch cyclopseze.

[mickey57]

OK,I got 4 from garf.In the pics you can see algea on the yellows with white polyps.The purle with the brown polyps are doing fine,I think?First I had the yellows in this tank(96watt 10,000k & 96 watt actinic,PCs)they opened a little.So I moved them to another tank with 440 VHO,no improvement.Now I have them back under the PCs and the friggin algea has started.This tank is a seahorse tank so it has medium flow.the other tank has 3 mag 12s.Can I take the yellows out and clean the algea off,gently with a tooth brush?What to do????:confused:

[brahm]

Originally posted by EnderG60
Seeing as I just got me a brown stalk one with blue polyps I did some reading and seems like the general rule is if the polyps are white or brownish in color its photosythetic, it the polyps are well...nice and have a cool color they probly are not.

Time to up the Combo-vital dose :)

..i've got a red and white one, i'ts non-photo (red stalk white polyps)

[EnderG60]

like i said its just a general rule....I have no clue what mine is...so im just guessing its not photo- so i stuck it in some high flow and im gonna feed it alot

[MarLooney]

shame on garf for putting photosynthetic and non-photosythetic on the same plug... or atleast that's what it looks like. that's just bad reefing. mickey57, to combat the algae i'd break the plug to seperate those that need light from those that don't. the yellow one should be gently scrubbed with a soft brush. and a freshwater bath for no more than 1min can also be done... but that's only if it's really badd and i don't even know how well that works. the main thing is to get the algae off and get the gorg in the right environment. low/no light and good flow. my gorg BTW is hanging in a cave. it doesn't get good flow there but atleast algae isn't growing on it anymore. got any info on that white one with black polyps? it looks really cool. here's my blue gorg... it goes along with bright colors equalling non-photosynthetic.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/38399blue.JPG

[liz3]

So, do I understand this right? Non-photosynthetic need high flow, while photosynthenic does not? I tried keeping one in a 55 under VHO's never opened, until in my crammed tank I gave it some shade and only one branch opened. I ended up returning it, but now have a 180 with high flow. I'm thinking of trying again but don't know where to put it?

[mickey57]

MarLooney,Thanks.They are 3 sepeate plugs.I am getting that algea off right now
;)

[xcreonx]

I've got three different gorgs in my tank. 2 ultra purples with white polyps - Non photo... 1 orange with red polyps - also non photo.. and 3 silver gorg3 with brown polyps - photosynthetic.

I have all three kinds under a 250w DE/108w T5 in high flow and they have done great. I feed Dts and lots of frozen enriched brine and mysis. The non photo ones don't seem to mind the light as long as the algae stays off of them, which a light shake or a light tap takes care of quickly.

[EnderG60]

Originally posted by MarLooney
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/38399blue.JPG

that one looks ALOT like mine, sept mine has a darker brown base

what kinda stuff are you dosing / feeding to keep it happy?

[crrichey]

liz3 to answer your question, both need good strong water flows, otherwise, neither will open.

[MarLooney]

ender, some days i feed a mixture of phyto, cyclopeeze, and selcon. on other days i feed a meaty mixture with a little bit of that included for the other corals and the gorg gets some too. stirring up the gravel and blowind detritus from your rocks does wonders for non-photosynthetics. make sure you keep that gorg out of the light.

[dillycheeze]

is that a blueberry gorg? if it is, i hear those are pretty tough to keep.....good luck though...they look great

[technoshaman]

Originally posted by liz3
So, do I understand this right? Non-photosynthetic need high flow, while photosynthenic does not? I tried keeping one in a 55 under VHO's never opened, until in my crammed tank I gave it some shade and only one branch opened. I ended up returning it, but now have a 180 with high flow. I'm thinking of trying again but don't know where to put it?

I have about 8 Pterogorgia guadalupnsis a.k.a. purple blade gorgonians in a tank by themselves. They do well with STRONG flow and good quality lighting. They will eat small food items like cyclopeeze - you can see the polyp close and ingest it. I had 3 of these for about 6 months languishing in my old 75. When I moved them I placed them in strong current and they get much better polyp extension and color - also has the added benefit of washing away the waxy skin they shed periodically. I would go more flow rather than less. The nonphotosynthetic ones you may want to keep out of light and in higher flow also to prevent algae and detritus from settling on them.

Sadly a large number of non-photsynthetic gorgs are sold in the hobby and though it may be possible to feed them it would put a real strain on your average reeftank trying to keep them fed.