Sea Fan inspiration and tips

Dr. Dendrostein

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no it's a non photo.
I have NPS gorgonians. Red polyp & white. Should feed same

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shred5

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acclimating sea fan[emoji28]. Got hope lol
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Hard to tell in the bag but to me it looks photosynthetic. Most of the photosynthetic gorgonia are not bad. Non Photosynthetic gorgonia can be challenging because some need lots of feeding depending on the type.

It actually looks like a Grube's gorgonia which are easy and fast growing.
Another pic with lights on and out of the bag and we should be able to let you know better.
 

shred5

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Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata is photosynthetic.

I think LA puts all gorgonia in the nps section I do not know why..

If it truly is a bipinnata they are a little more challenging than other photosynthetic gorgonia.
I think I have one growing in my tub in the basement. I have not checked on it lately. I have had it for a few years. I have about 10 species of gorgonia in there.
Every once in a while something get knocked over in my tub and I do not see it for a while. It is temporary till some of my tanks are done. It is hard to see through all the turbulence in the tub.
 
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Idaho Mojo

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They are finicky! I have 2 chunks of red gorgonian and a spiny sea rod that recently has started to take off. They seem to like when the water is "dirtier". Polyps are always extended around lights on/off.

Make sure you have them where the flow is not lateral or constant in one direction, as they will grow with a "lean" and can break off.
 
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Prestomagic17*

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They are finicky! I have 2 chunks of red gorgonian and a spiny sea rod that recently has started to take off. They seem to like when the water is "dirtier". Polyps are always extended around lights on/off.

Make sure you have them where the flow is not lateral or constant in one direction, as they will grow with a "lean" and can break off.
thanks for the tip on the tips haha[emoji6]
 

Dr. Dendrostein

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Thats exciting! sweet gorgonians! What do you feed them? How often?
Reef roids, fuana marine sea fan food. Any of these, theirs more foods out there too. I hardwired Ehiem feeder to programmable dosing pump. Removed one head, use the 12v for feeder. Comes on once per hour at night. 6pm-5am. Also liquid foods 40ml same schedule. Reef nutrition phyto-feast. Red ones had 1 1/2mon. The white not great shape when i bought now coming back to life. :)
 

shred5

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Whats your feeding method


Well mine are mostly photosynthetic so I do not feed as much but I feed Rods food mostly and that is for corals and fish..
I find that even photosynthetic gorgonia benefit and you get better polyp extension with food.. The gorgonia will be more fuzzy.

But I also keep lots of goniopora and they require food too so I supplement with reef roids, cyclopesee and TLF gonipower, I also have a few other fine foods I feed... I am sure my gorgonians eat all of this too and would still feed some of it even without goniopora. I love reef roids.. I used to feed golden pearls but I am not sure it is sold any more. I also like oyster eggs.


I also feed phyto for sponges and other micro fauna to spawn. I am not sure it directly feeds gorgonia.
I also feed bacteria weekly and add small amount of carbon to help keep up bacteria populations.
I have a couple of gorgonia with larger polyps and I see them even grab brine shrimp...

NPS usually require allot of feedings a day and some almost continuous feeding. I have kept some and probably will some day but I will probably use a dosing pump and refrigerator to feed.


I am going to start raising brine shrimp so I will be feeding allot of baby brine shrimp in the future.. I will also be doing Rotifers and copepods. I got to imagine live would be the best.
 
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VR28man

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Yeah, this looks like a "Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata", really Antillogorgia bipinnata (it was reclassified years ago but the hobby hasn't caught up. And it seems liveaquaria can't be bothered to eveb put it in the proper photosynthetic category!).

Anyway, this is a fore reef slope species of gorgonian, and I'd give it the same amount of flow and light you'd give an Acropora. This should live in roughly the same part of the reef that most acroporae grow best, from like 5-40m depth, on coral rock, in the Caribbean - lots of flow, random flow, and maybe medium to high light. (i.e. it's not a lagoon or intertidal species - those can take much more light and less flow).

I've heard that some photosynthetic gorgonians are good chemical warriors, so I might keep it away from any acros or other corals, at least at first. (I would be interested in hearing your experience on this) It should be fed a few times a week, I think, but it's not crucial. @Julian Sprung in his Advanced Aquarist article says they're from somewhat deeper parts of the reef slope (maybe less light??), and can be placed vertically or horizontally.

What's a fore reef slope?


A few more resources on the species:
Watch this video; A. bipinnata appears like 20 times in here, it can give you a good idea of how they live.


@Julian Sprung 's article:
https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/3/inverts

Best species overview I could find:
https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/images/Antillogorgia bipinnata - Bipinnate Sea Plume.pdf
 
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lion king

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Sadly those seafans rarely make it. I have a reef with photosynthetic and a reef with nps. In the nps tank I feed phyto feast, roti feast, and oyster feast twice a day; reef caviar and artic pods once or twice a day; and reef chili and fauna marin ricordea once a day.

008.jpg
 

VR28man

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Sadly those seafans rarely make it. I have a reef with photosynthetic and a reef with nps. In the nps tank I feed phyto feast, roti feast, and oyster feast twice a day; reef caviar and artic pods once or twice a day; and reef chili and fauna marin ricordea once a day.

008.jpg

That's quite the food mix. How do you handle nitrates/phosphate and nutrient export? ETA: nice NPS', by the way.

And honestly, I've found that the photosynthetic gorgonian I have (Pterogorgia anceps, a very shallow water species) is quite easy to keep. 200 PAR (can take much more), enough flow that it sways back and forth (though I wish I could have it more wave like, maybe 5s pulses), and occasional feeding and its fine. It's even good with algae because it can shed its skin, an adaptation to the micro-algae laden seagrass and macroalgae beds it supposedly frequently inhabits in the wild.
 
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