Gorgonians..Yes or No?

[tnyga]

Ive been doing some research on these corals. I always thought they were kinda bland, sorta like a stick in the sand.

After much reading and having one as a hitching post for my ponies, they are a wonderful addition to a reef tank. Feeding is a no brainer, brine shrimp (small) works great and when theyre happy (which is 100% of the time in my pony tank) their polyps extend wonderfully. A decent water flow helps so they catch food as an FYI.

I have seen growth in mine already...Ive been using this recipe from a website that has worked well with the brine.


INGREDIENTS:
Flake fish food - 1 tablespoon
SeaChem Reef Plus - 4 tablespoons
Fresh water - 1/4 cup
Soak the flake food in the Reef Plus for one hour and then add the fresh water. Puree the mixture in a blender for several minutes.
After you allow the mixture to set for several minutes you can pour the smallest particles off with the water. The larger particles will settle to the bottom of the glass and they can be used to feed the Gorgonians.

I just thought for those who never tried them or thought they were to hard to maintain, they are not.

After having a sun coral they are MUCH easier and pretty gratifying to see grow....Just my 2 cents, these are my first so I thought Id pass it on is all...

 

[gwhiz]

tnyga;138806 wrote: Ive been doing some research on these corals. I always thought they were kinda bland, sorta like a stick in the sand.

After much reading and having one as a hitching post for my ponies, they are a wonderful addition to a reef tank. Feeding is a no brainer, brine shrimp (small) works great and when theyre happy (which is 100% of the time in my pony tank) their polyps extend wonderfully. A decent water flow helps so they catch food as an FYI.

I have seen growth in mine already...Ive been using this recipe from a website that has worked well with the brine.


INGREDIENTS:
Flake fish food - 1 tablespoon
SeaChem Reef Plus - 4 tablespoons
Fresh water - 1/4 cup
Soak the flake food in the Reef Plus for one hour and then add the fresh water. Puree the mixture in a blender for several minutes.
After you allow the mixture to set for several minutes you can pour the smallest particles off with the water. The larger particles will settle to the bottom of the glass and they can be used to feed the Gorgonians.

I just thought for those who never tried them or thought they were to hard to maintain, they are not.

After having a sun coral they are MUCH easier and pretty gratifying to see grow....Just my 2 cents, these are my first so I thought Id pass it on is all...

And you've got the non-photosynthetic gorgonians. Mine are photosynthetic and really need no special care. Yea, they're brown, but they add great movement to the tank.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I going to have to disagree a bit here- gorgonians as a whole are NOT easy to keep, in my opinion. Russ, yours may be doing great, but I dont think thats a reason to sweep a statemnet like that. And, NO OFFENSE INTENDED, I dont think the relatively short period I believe you've had them is appropriate to claim a success.

Photosynthetic gorganians are easier to care for than non-photosynthetic for sure, and some photosynthetic ones are bulletproof for sure, but many gorgonians requires certain sized foods traveling in a certain pattern, in a certain flow regime to be successful. I have seen so many gorgonians sie from improper care to outright neglect over time.

This is, of course, just my biased opinion. Everyone take it with a bucket of salt.

 

[tnyga]

jmaneyapanda;138827 wrote: I going to have to disagree a bit here- gorgonians as a whole are NOT easy to keep, in my opinion. Russ, yours may be doing great, but I dont think thats a reason to sweep a statemnet like that. And, NO OFFENSE INTENDED, I dont think the relatively short period I believe you've had them is appropriate to claim a success.

Photosynthetic gorganians are easier to care for than non-photosynthetic for sure, and some photosynthetic ones are bulletproof for sure, but many gorgonians requires certain sized foods traveling in a certain pattern, in a certain flow regime to be successful. I have seen so many gorgonians sie from improper care to outright neglect over time.

This is, of course, just my biased opinion. Everyone take it with a bucket of salt.

I agree...Its an opinion...and no offense taken...I DO believe that we, as a whole make this hobby a LOT harder than it has to be..

Again...my opinion

 

[fishwhisperer]

I have to agree with jmaneyapanda and say NO to the non photosynthetic gorgonians. I got some photosythetic gorgonians (brown and purple) from Scientific Corals years ago and they are doing well. You may check them out.

 

[tnyga]

I target feed the ponies twice a day so whats a coral or two

 

[harleyguy]

The only think I target feed is me...

 

[tnyga]

Harleyguy;138996 wrote: The only think I target feed is me...

Your smarter than all of us