white patches on purple gorgonian

[ulysses191]

hi,
i recently purchased a purple brush gorgonian as seen here

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=606

it has white poylps. lately, white patches of dying tissue started to form on it. there was 1 patch when i bought it, but it is now starting to pop up all over the gorgonian.

i feed DT's every other day.

Can anyone help me figure out what could be causing this?
and what can be done?
the gorg gets good flow on upper half. lower half gets minimal flow,
lighting - 150watt hqi, 2x65watt pcs.
the gorg gets direct light up top and indirect light 2/3 of the way down...

the polyps are usually open.
Water parameters

amm-0
nitrite-0
nitrate - .5ppm
ph - 8.3
alk-10
po4 - undetectable using salifert kit

please, any help would be highly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Joseph Shin

[billpa]

Hi Joseph...

A couple of questions for you. This "dying tissue"...does it look patchy or is it more like a film that is peeling off? I doubt it...but it could just be shedding a layer of "skin" Usually they do it all at once though.

Your gorg could quite possibly have a bacterial infection. My one purple gorg had a little infection at one time and I just cut off the affected area. Im not sure if this is what your gorg has but it is possible.

hth

billpa

[moggyhill]

do you have any current pictures please

[ulysses191]

sorry, no pic. no digital camera.
ok, after what you said, i actually rubbed a piece with my hand... what i thought was exposed tissue is not.
the patches are definitely forming over the gorg. i wiped off a white patch and the gorg was still purple underneath...
is it "shedding" and should i try to scrub all of em off. or maybe put it under a powerhead to "blow it off" .
or is it something else?
or is it still dying, and needs to come out....

thanks for any help..

Best Regards,
Joe

[bertoni]

From your description, it's just shedding, in which case you should leave it alone, IMO. Just be sure your water parameters stay fine and it gets some food. Phytoplankton alone might not be enough.

[ulysses191]

cool....
so i can just leave it alone?
also, what else do you feed?
going to go pick up cyclopeeze. how about golden pearls?

thanks for the help,
joe

[bertoni]

I don't know what the prey range is for that creature, but some size of the Golden Pearls should be good. I use the coral food recipe in the coral forum for my tanks.

[billpa]

Cool...its just shedding. Like someone else said, just leave it alone. I noticed mine taking in cyclopeeze. I dont really target feed my gorgs. They get what they can catch.

billpa

[ulysses191]

still not 100% sure its shedding, i hope so..

how long does the process usually take?

thanks
joe

[billpa]

Well does it look like peeling skin or something else? Usually it would take my gorg a few days at least to completely shed. The stuff that comes off resembles a waxy skin. They do this to prevent algae growing on them. Here's a great article on Gorgs that will give you some insight:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2004/invert.htm