Gorgonians...

[fishboy]

I want to attemp to keep these guys....
Which type is the easiest to keep? I know most are hard to keep, but i heard there are a few that do quiet well. I think its maybe the yellow sea fan ( spiny sea fan) or purple goronia ?

I will be feeding them phytoplanktion.
Its hard to find good info on them, personal experiences would be nice.

[Hookup]

Redbelly has many, has been successful maybe he'll add some info, I'd not want to miss-quote him... but mine are doing well... though it's been only about 6weeks.

[fishboy]

what type do you have ? and do u feed it?

[redbelly]

Thanks Hookup, we have definitely had some great success with keeping gorgonian.

Fishboy,
most hobbiests have experimented in keeping gorgonia alive at some point. And most hobbiests have also found that this can prove to be rather difficult in the long. Now when we say long run, we do not mean the slow demise of a gorgonia over the period of one year. We mean keeping healthy, thriving and growing gorgonia alive for a minimum of 2 years.

I trust the Fauna Marin line of gorgonia food. Since switching to this food, we have had nothing but postive response from all our gorgonian and we have heard the same from anyone we know who has started using this food line.

Here is a bit about each of the foods, which used in conjunction have helped us achieve great results:

Ultra Sea Fan
This food is comprised of the perfect sized particles, marine protiens, natural plankton, and special enzymes that are required for maintaining non-photosynthetic gorgonia, sea fan and filter feeding Corals alive in the aquarium.

Ultra MinF
An ultra fine food for Gorgonias, Sponges, non-photosynthetic Corals and all kinds of filter feeders.
The ideal food for small fishes and plankton feeders. Due to the special surface structure and the well balanced ingredients Ultramin /F will easily be taken up by Corals, sponges and gorgonias.

Ultra Clam
Special food for filter feeders, like Tridacna clams, Lima sp. and other species. Increases growth, coloration and disease resistance. Also ideal for other filter feeders in combination with UltraMin S and UltraMin F.
Dosing recommendation for very small polyped Gorgonias (Sea Fans), delicate sponges, Dendronephtyas, Ascidians (Sea Squirts) and other non-photosynthetic Animals.

[az]

most gorgs need no feeding and if they do a regular mixture of cyclopeze and reefroids should do, phytoplankton should also work.

[JD]

I like the idea of liquid form foods. Their particle size is smalled than cyclopeze and reefroids. I have found the smaller particles to remain in suspension better. Subsequently, easier to remove from the water column if not consumed by your animals. Also, anything liquid can be setup more easily with any dosing equipment.
Needless to say I am a big fan of automatic dosing, I tend to forget.

[Hookup]

Pretty sure that the non-photosynthetic type of gorg require feeding 100% of the time, but I'm not an expert. 

I just followed some simple steps, a bit blindly I admit, and so far so good.  But the real test is keeping them past the 1 or 2 year mark, and I've a way to go still.

My two are photosynthetic, so they do well in the lights of the tank, but, I only get proper extension when I feed them the food... and all the other corals throw their feeders out to join the party... so I view it as a good thing.

I do mix up the foods, and use the roti's and others in my system... so I cannot comment about what happens if you do not feed them...

[fishboy]

wow, thank you for all the great info!

There isnt any kind that is easier to take care of?

[Hookup]

I believe that the darker colored ones, as a rule, are the photosynthetic kind and are easier, because feeding is semi-optional....  I've not see anyone with a gorg over 2years old... so it's hard to baseline sucess here. 

If there are crazy OMG colors, like the frigg'n flame orange one at Ottawa Inverts, then you'll need to feed it, every day...   But you feed your fish every day so I really do not see the problem.. and your not target feeding, just mix some paste up, and feed a bit for 3 days or so, then mix more... takes about 2 min to prep the food-paste, which lasts for 3 days or so..  not bad IMO, given the OMG wow that they add to some tanks...

[percula99]

The really brightly coloured gorgonians, as mentioned before, need to be fed to thrive. The darker coloured ones usually are photosynthetic. I bought a Purple Bush Gorgonian at Aquarium Services in Montreal over three years ago when I was passing through and it is still doing very well to this day. I placed it in a medium to slightly high flow area very high under the lights. The front of the bush is facing the current to better catch what it feeds on. I rarely feed my corals. They get some cyclopeze once a week and are thriving. The link below shows a Purple Bush, although it is not extended in this pic. Mine has brown polyps and can get relatively fuzzy when open.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+601+606&pcatid=606

[fishboy]

Thats great. i think ill try the purple ones then

thanks alot.