Gorgonians

[cravinmohead22]

well for awhile now i have been looking at these at a lfs and really think that one will be a nice pice in my tank. any info on them will be great like care, feeding, pace of growth, ect.... i have a 55gal with 260wts. power compact

[UnderwaterWorld]

if you mean like sea fans and such I have had one, they are hard to keep, they need phyto plankton I believe and their holes can easily be clogged which causes them to die.

[cravinmohead22]

im not sure if we are talking about the same thing

[Bifferwine]

Gorgonians are very hard to keep alive and don't usually do well in our tanks, but some are much easier than others.

They need moderate to strong flow and strong lights. Some don't require any supplemental feeding, but some do. It depends on what kind you want. But I don't know if your lighting is strong enough, wait and see what others say. I'd think 5 wpg of PCs wouldn't constitute high light.

[yote]

I was thinking that most gorgonians were non-photosynthetic.

[UnderwaterWorld]

so did I, but I agree with the very hard to keep

[cravinmohead22]

thanks ill stay away then

[Bifferwine]

According to garf.org, most are photosynthetic and have intermediate to high lighting needs. centralpets.com also says they have high lighting needs, and marinedepotlive.com and liveaquaria.com says they have intermediate lighting requirements.

[kmckienz]

Well, I can let you all know pretty soon. I just ordered a yellow gorgonian from online (first coral I have bought online).

I too had stayed away from them because everyone said how difficult they are. They also said that about the Seahorses, but so far (1 week into it) my horses are doing fantastic and alot of the "issues" people have stated with them do not seem to be there. Not to say nothing will ever happen, but on a day to day basis they are easy and happy.

I have T-5 lighting and a place for the gorg right in the path of a powerhead so I believe it's requirements will get met. We will see and I will let you know. I am always willing to try difficult things once before I pass judgement. If they die...than I know they are a pain.