NPS: Red Finger Gorgonians (are they expert level only?)

[dennis romano]

Oh wow, that is beautiful!! Thanks for posting! It kind of looks like an alien planet (not a typical type of tank). It's amazing to think they grow right here on our planet!

Thanks. The only gorg that failed is the yellow gorg in the left corner.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Thanks for this! That one was mentioned in another one of my threads when I asked about corals for my 5g. I had not even seen gorgs before. Thanks for reminding me about this one! It's on my list now. I think my tank is going to be a gorg themed tank now that I have seen the different types!

Not sure on their shipping prices but this is one here in Canada. Pretty good price for a frag up here imo...especially if fast growing. I'd also inquire with Fragbox or Candy Corals and see if they have. Or can get ...
https://ndaquaculture.ca/products/grubes-gorgonian

 

[CanuckReefer]

Thanks. The only gorg that failed is the yellow gorg in the left corner.

That was same here... it was a tough one to acclimate long term.... heard it called yellow and orange but looks exact same to the one I lost.....pic just as things started to go south.

 

[Karen00]

Not sure on their shipping prices but this is one here in Canada. Pretty good price for a frag up here imo...especially if fast growing. I'd also inquire with Fragbox or Candy Corals and see if they have. Or can get ...
https://ndaquaculture.ca/products/grubes-gorgonian

Thanks for this! I saw them yesterday but couldn't remember which site I was on. I hopped onto the Candy Corals site today thinking it was their site but I didn't see them however that's where I found the Red/Yellow Fingers (Candy Corals calls them Red/Yellow Sea Rods). I'm going to see if they can bring in the Grube. I think this one will satisfy my need for something "flowy" https://candycorals.ca/collections/corals/products/corky-sea-finger-photosynthetic-gorgonian. Haha. I'm trying to go slow with this but I'm excited to get some of these added. I'll probably go from no corals to my tank stuffed with these guys. Haha.

 

[Karen00]

Thanks. The only gorg that failed is the yellow gorg in the left corner.

Oh wow! Your success is amazing! Too bad about the yellow one... It's gorgeous!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Although very pretty- very delicate and must be handled very carefully. Not so much an expert specimen but requires low flow, low light, and cooler water temp 69-74 which is not practical for typical reef tank. Water quality has to be near optimum for them which is hard to provide when they feed on planktonic foods which generally elevate water parameters.

 

[jmichaelh7]

No wonder they come out when I feed Phytopheast but then Phosphates sky rocket so I wait 4 days later .

 

[Karen00]

Although very pretty- very delicate and must be handled very carefully. Not so much an expert specimen but requires low flow, low light, and cooler water temp 69-74 which is not practical for typical reef tank. Water quality has to be near optimum for them which is hard to provide when they feed on planktonic foods which generally elevate water parameters.

Thanks for this! Is the low temperature for the NPS type? I knew there had to be a gotcha! Geez, I might be setting up a cooler water tank with a Catalina goby.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for this! Is the low temperature for the NPS type? I knew there had to be a gotcha! Geez, I might be setting up a cooler water tank with a Catalina goby.

typically finger gorgian and sponge overall

 

[Karen00]

No wonder they come out when I feed Phytopheast but then Phosphates sky rocket so I wait 4 days later .

I figured phosphates (maybe nitrates) make them impractical for some mixed reef tanks only because spikes in those upset other coral types.

 

[Karen00]

typically finger gorgian and sponge overall

Thanks!! I see a second tank in the near future. Haha!

 

[lion king]

These do require alot of specialized knowledge and regular(more than once a day) feeding of special foods like phyto, rotifers, and such. A 5g would not support them. Check out the photo gorgonians, like this one https://www.live-plants.com/purplefrilly.htm, there are others that are very nice. I can't find the pics of my pics of the photo gorg collection I had, but here is a nps that I had, just for your curiosity. It was an awesome build, but finding enough nps to support it was too frustrating, so I shut it down.

Build Thread - Lion King's NPS Predator's Reef

Well primarily I'm a predator guy, but I have always had a fascination for nps corals. Most of the equipment is recycled from previous tanks, and it is in my fish room. An outline of the build; it's a 40B with a 20L sump, will have a refrigerated food dosing system and an automated water...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Karen00]

These do require alot of specialized knowledge and regular(more than once a day) feeding of special foods like phyto, rotifers, and such. A 5g would not support them. Check out the photo gorgonians, like this one https://www.live-plants.com/purplefrilly.htm, there are others that are very nice. I can't find the pics of my pics of the photo gorg collection I had, but here is a nps that I had, just for your curiosity. It was an awesome build, but finding enough nps to support it was too frustrating, so I shut it down.

Build Thread - Lion King's NPS Predator's Reef

Well primarily I'm a predator guy, but I have always had a fascination for nps corals. Most of the equipment is recycled from previous tanks, and it is in my fish room. An outline of the build; it's a 40B with a 20L sump, will have a refrigerated food dosing system and an automated water...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks! I didn't get through the whole thing yet but WOW! Just what I saw of your "saplings" (a great term by the way) is awesome in the first pages I read. Even your fuge is spectacular! Did you shut that down as well? I started making notes about feeding that I saw referenced. I have decided I will be starting out with the easier photosynthetic types because there are some beauties in that group as well. I'm trying to rein in my eagerness to jump into the NPS types right away. I'm going to make a dedicated goni tank so I can plan for the harder ones. I know a person (aka me) who has only been doing salt for four months should not be getting into the more complicated corals. Haha. Heck, I didn't even know NPS stood for non-photosynthetic before today! I have to keep reciting my mantra of "slow and easy wins the race". LOL It's so hard though! I will be reading your build thread in detail.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Not sure on their shipping prices but this is one here in Canada. Pretty good price for a frag up here imo...especially if fast growing. I'd also inquire with Fragbox or Candy Corals and see if they have. Or can get ...
https://ndaquaculture.ca/products/grubes-gorgonian

I can very much recommend New Dawn Aquaculture. Mitchell is the only regular source for Grube's gorgonian that I've found in Canada.

I wouldn't even look at another gorgonian species for a beginner tank. That coral is virtually indestructible, and doesn't seem to mind being placed close to other corals. Mine (in an Evo), which has grown very well, is touching both another gorg and a fuzzy pink devil's hand leather. Polyps remain open all the time, which is something that you can't say for other species. It also survived a cyano outbreak, which wiped out a chalice frag and an acan.

 

[Reef and Dive]

Hello fellow saltines,

I couldn't find an NPS section so I'm posting in the newbie section. So after four months of my tank (5g) running smoothly I'm starting to develop my coral list. I was given great advice in a previous post of mine and one of the corals mentioned are gorgonians (photosynthetic). While browsing different types of gonis I came across some beautiful Red Finger/Yellow Finger gonis (also listed as Red/Yellow Sea Rods) which of course are non-photosynthetic. Now I know what NPS stands for. Haha. I can't find much info on NPS corals in general let alone anything related to a specific species here on R2R and not much on the web other than they're for experts although one of the places I saw them listed said they're easy to care for.

So for you folks that have these what makes them difficult? Is there something about them specifically such as being picky eaters or is it because in a mixed reef their food needs can cause nitrates/phosphates to spike which isn't good for other corals? If I kept just these in my 5g would they be fine or should I forget these for now? They are beautiful.

Yes expert only. Had before as a challenge. They require several feedings a day. That means the aquarium suffers a lot from all that dirt. I kept for months untill I gave it up concerned about the rest of the tank.

Another problem often I faced (I don’t know if was for excess feeding or for other reasons) is that cyano easily grow over them and bothers a lot the animal.

To me: better in the ocean.
Just found a picture of it:

 

[Reef and Dive]

The reality is most NPS are not known on what they actually feed on, it’s though that they feed on bacteria that is almost if not impossible to replicate in home aquaria

About what they catch: mine loved live phyto and reefroids.

 

[Karen00]

I can very much recommend New Dawn Aquaculture. Mitchell is the only regular source for Grube's gorgonian that I've found in Canada.

I wouldn't even look at another gorgonian species for a beginner tank. That coral is virtually indestructible, and doesn't seem to mind being placed close to other corals. Mine (in an Evo), which has grown very well, is touching both another gorg and a fuzzy pink devil's hand leather. Polyps remain open all the time, which is something that you can't say for other species. It also survived a cyano outbreak, which wiped out a chalice frag and an acan.

Thanks for this! I'm trying to temper my eagerness to jump right into NPS gorgs (or at all based on reading comments here). I know I'm going to dedicate my tank to gorgs but will start off with the beginner types first. I'm happy to read the Grube's are fine in close proximity to other corals.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Yes expert only. Had before as a challenge. They require several feedings a day. That means the aquarium suffers a lot from all that dirt. I kept for months untill I gave it up concerned about the rest of the tank.

Another problem often I faced (I don’t know if was for excess feeding or for other reasons) is that cyano easily grow over them and bothers a lot the animal.

To me: better in the ocean.

I agree. I had some type of blueberry sea fan fifteen years ago, but lost the entire tank when the seams burst in the middle of the night. It was an exquisite coral, and really did look like some sort of fantastical tree in bloom when the polyps were extended. If I had the time and patience, I might try it again by placing it in a semi-protected enclosure with a modded baby brine shrimp feeder through which I could dose phyto directly to the base of the coral. Too much work for me at the moment, though.

 

[Karen00]

Yes expert only. Had before as a challenge. They require several feedings a day. That means the aquarium suffers a lot from all that dirt. I kept for months untill I gave it up concerned about the rest of the tank.

Another problem often I faced (I don’t know if was for excess feeding or for other reasons) is that cyano easily grow over them and bothers a lot the animal.

To me: better in the ocean.
Just found a picture of it:

Thanks for this! Interesting you mention cyano growing on them. I read something similar on another site while I was researching them so to read that from you does make me rethink the NPS types (even in future).

 

[davidcalgary29]

Thanks for this! Interesting you mention cyano growing on them. I read something similar on another site while I was researching them so to read that from you does make me rethink the NPS types (even in future).

Cyano can be a killer for gorgonians, NSP or photosynthetic alike. It tends to smother the delicate polyps, and tissue necrosis can quickly develop if you don't blow it off at least once a day. I did exactly that when I had cyano blooms in my builds around the four-month mark, and my branching candelabra-type gorgonian still didn't extend its polyps for a couple of weeks. The Grube's gorg just shrugged it off, even though cyano covered over half of the small frag (which has now grown much larger).