Difficult corals....

[DJ88]

I really want to get a discussion on these going.. So I will giver a shot and start. Feel free to add in species you feel aren't a good idea to be imported and for what reasons. [img]smile.gif[/img]

This is a coral that tops my list for one that I feel should never be sold. Diodogorgia nodulifera(pg 159-160 of Eric Borneman's Aquarium Corals) is the colorful non-photosynthetic gorgonian you can see in pretty much any LFS. The polyps of these form a bright white halo around a bright yellow/orange or red body. These require an almost constant source of food. They are completely non-photosynthetic and have no zooxanthellae.

They are a beautiful coral. No doubt about it. Heck I have even wanted one so much it was hard to walk away. But I know it will require a tank where they can remain free of algae growths on them and are well fed. A deep water biotope may be a way to keep one of these with enough current to keep them moving. With a high feeding schedule. Problem is to me I don't know what will keep these alive. DT's might, Golden pearls might. I can't say for sure. In my readings not many can keep these alive. yet they are brought in and sold as they are pretty.. I haven't heard of one lasting more than a year. And it is a slow decline up to then as they receed from the skeleton.

If a gorgonian is what you want. Look for one with dark brownish grey polyps. They are usually the sea whips or blades. Much easier to look after and still have that long wavy shape that is so nice to see. I know I have one. And it is thriving and fraggable. [img]smile.gif[/img]



[ 02 July 2002, 20:40: Message edited by: DJ88 ]

[Aquattro]

Darren, not meaning to change topics, but does that red fish head have a fish attached to it and if so what kind? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[christyf5]

Oh man I was lusting over one of those a couple of weekends ago at a store in Vancouver. I didn't buy it at the time because I wasn't interested in having another algae covered coral but I was sure it said on the sign that they were photosynthetic. Of course they did have a gorgonian like yours in the same tank. Sneaky buggers.
Dendronepthya is another coral that I think is a difficult one. Man do they ever need a constant feed supply. I accidentally (well ok, I was young and stupid) bought one of these at Big Als once, nobody seemed to know what it was and it sure was pretty. It was a tiny shrunken thing and I thought that was what it was supposed to look like. After getting it home I discovered that it had grown to 3 times its normal size and definitely was a dendronepthya. I couldn't believe how much it took to feed it so it would stay upright. In the wild dendronepthya are found upside down in nutrient rich currents and they feed constantly. That would be pretty hard to replicate in any tank I would think.

Christy [img]smile.gif[/img]

[DJ88]

Brad,

Pseudanthias marcia Marcia's Anthias.

lol. Yes it did have a body. Pretty one. I screwed up sending it to Christy tho. :(

[Aquattro]

nice fish

[DJ88]

Very, very ,very nice fish.

[EmilyB]

But I know it will require a tank where they can remain free of algae growths on them and are well fed.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Never seen anything like that here, however that statement pretty well describes my tank. Algae cannot grow without excess nutrients.

Just got to zero nitrates with a new badass skimmer and water changes increased to 15% every two weeks, sheesh, (a pretty bold thing for a tank as highly stocked as mine). May try putting in some other more sensitive things now. (High feeding, High Skimming) [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 02 July 2002, 20:57: Message edited by: EmilyB ]

[DJ88]

Emily,

When I was fighting Bryopsis the weakest fighter I had was my gorg. Eric mentions it in his book that they often become overgrown with algae. If they can't shed the outer shell regularly they don't do well. I have seen it with the one I have now and another I brought into my tank from a friends hoping to save it. When it is clear of any form of algea it does fabulous. Once a bit gets on there it is not happy and the polyps don't come out. But that is my expereince with Gorgonians.