Gasp! Z. desjardini in a 18" tank! ;)

[Delphinus]

Thanks guys!

Hi Marc, lighting on this tank is 2x250W (10k) on for 10 hours flanked by 2x110W VHO actinics on for 12 hours.

I don't go out of my way to feed the gorgs but I do put in cyclops-eeze every day or two and the gorgs will catch some (as well as just about everyone in the tank, cyclops is like candy or something). Every now and again I might shoot a turkey baster blast of cyclops at the gorgs just for the novelty of seeing them catch a whole bunch.

I have, um .. I think 4 types of gorgs right now (might be 5, but 2 of them might be the same, I'm not 100% sure), and they're all photsynthetic so I think they don't really "need" to be fed, per se. The non-photosynthetic ones, although they sure look nice, are slightly beyond my means to care for at this time so I try to steer away from them (I'll just crater my tank if I try feeding filter feeders, surely I've overfeed or something). I think the photosynthetic ones are just as nice and are sure easier to please.

We'll have to one day arrange some trades or something. I'd be happy to send a few pieces out your way.

I'll try to get some close up shots of the gorgs posted soon, that's sort of my next photo project.

[Beverly]

I've seen those gorgs at the lfs and always wondered what they were. Great looking gorgs and fish

[Buddyboy]

Beautiful tank Delphinus!

Does the Copperband or Angel ever nip at the gorgs??? You would think the polyps would be pretty tempting!

Also, can anyone suggest some gorgs that are easier to keep? That don't require ALOT of light?

[Delphinus]

Hi,

So far the angel and the CBB have been very well behaved. Both have mostly reasonable reputations though so I haven't been too worried about it.

The two big gorgs that you can see in this picture are "corky sea finger gorgonian" (kinda in the centre) Plexaura flexuosa, and "purple plume" (to the right), Muriceopsis flavida. I'm not 100% on the species ID's, those are just my guesses.

Photosynthetic gorgonians are typically easier corals. Non-photosynthetic gorgonians are definitely more advanced. The trick to telling them apart, or so I've read, is polyp colour. If brown, it's photosynthetic. If white, yellow, or otherwise brightly coloured (even very colourful such as blue or purple), then odds are it's of the filter-feeding variety.

Some further reading can be found here: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...004/invert.htm

[Chaloupa]

I need to find a frag of that Muriceopsis flavida (purple plume) as that is so cool...both of mine are Corky....and wow does it start to encrust and shoot up little fingers quickly!!!