I have a piece of LR that came with a small (2 inch) stalk which I believe to be a gorgonian. It is purple and has small polyps that extent out of it. I've got very low light right now (2.5 watts/gallon) and will eventually upgrade to around 5 watts/gallon. Is there something I can do for this to keep it alive or will it die? Wasn't sure with my lighting if it could survive. If so, what should I feed it?
Gorgonian
- Thread starter cybball
- Start date
For the moment, put it as close to the lights as possible. What color are the polyps? A lot of the photosynthetic gorgonians have brown ones.
Feeding, like newly hatched brine shrimp and bits of frozen food directed gently at the polyps will help a lot of corals with low light.
Feeding, like newly hatched brine shrimp and bits of frozen food directed gently at the polyps will help a lot of corals with low light.
The polyps are purple too. Very small. I'll move it close to the lights by my yellow and green star polyps. I'll try some frozen food directly at it.
Try shutting off the current, and using a turkey baster to gently direct some small particles in its direction.
I'll try that. Does that type of gorgonian, if that's what it sounds like, like current, light, ect?? It's pretty cool looking and I'd like to keep it alive until I get better lighting. Thanks.
It's really hard to know what you have from the description. Gorgonians tend to like strong current and intense light (if they're photosynthetic). Eric Borneman's Aquarium Corals book has a good section on gorgonians, and it would be worth a read.
I'll have to check out that book. I keep seeing references to it. Seems like it's been very informative to a lot of the reefers on this site. I'm not new to salt, but new to reefing. My interest is learning new things about the hobby. This site has been great for avoiding lots of problems. I'll research the gorgonian. I may try to get a pic of it posted on here.
Ok, did some google research on the purple gorgonian. That is definately what I have in my tank. Says it likes bright light without feeding. Said it enjoyes a lot of water flow. I have water flow directly on it, but my lighting requirements aren't what they need to be. I'm looking for some PC lights (with hood) for a 48 inch 55 gallon tank. I'd like 5 watts per gallon or more. Not sure if this gorgonian will do well under that lighting, or if they need halides. Anyone know?
I don't know if it's enough, personally, but if you are looking for lighting, this link has a 48" 4x96 CF for $474. That will get you 384 watts or about 7 watts per gallon.
If you think it will be enough, this link has a 48" 4x65 CF for $199. That will get you 260 watts or about 4.7 watts per gallon.
I just thought that the first link might help if you specifically want to avoid halides, etc. That site has a good guide to lighting options once you determine how many watts per gallon you need. You can get 500 watts of metal halide under $450, it looks like, but I suspect that there is more construction involved.
If you think it will be enough, this link has a 48" 4x65 CF for $199. That will get you 260 watts or about 4.7 watts per gallon.
I just thought that the first link might help if you specifically want to avoid halides, etc. That site has a good guide to lighting options once you determine how many watts per gallon you need. You can get 500 watts of metal halide under $450, it looks like, but I suspect that there is more construction involved.
Thanks Benjen. Really appreciate the links. It's a cash thing for me at this point. I've got lots of projects and expenses right now. I will most likely go with the lower wattage lights. I'm hoping that will be enough to do some cool corals and polyps.