Are Seafans easy to keep?

Reef.ductionist · May 2, 2014

Happy Friday,
Are Seafans hardy?

skinz78 · May 2, 2014

Which types are you considering?

longbeachstateofmind · May 2, 2014

Depends on which one, that blueberry grog (the one pictured), yes it is. When I was I the hobby, there was only a hand full of people who were able to keep them alive for a year plus. I made it to a year and 2 months. On average, most folks last 3-6 months with nps sea fans.

sandocan · May 2, 2014

I have 1 for About a year and it's dying now... Very very difficult to hold.. Every 3 to 4 days I put extra food to the water.. But unfortunately I'm gonna loose the battle..

dss190 · May 2, 2014

Photosynthetic sea fans are pretty hardy. I have two and honestly they're some of my favorite corals, and you don't have to feed them, even though every now and then I do. Just make sure they aren't exposed to air. I don't have any scientific evidence to back this up, that's just what I've been told.

cpayne015 · May 2, 2014

I have had orange and purple and the orange were a lot easier to keep imo

-Logzor · May 2, 2014

Make sure what you buy is photosynthetic, only a specialized system can maintain them long-term. I've had my photosynthetic one for over 6 years, it's grown from a tiny frag to a large colony. The one I have is deep purple skinned with white polyps, it's not fan shaped, it's more of a bush.

J77 · May 2, 2014

Yes the photosynthetic ones are the way to go though mine grows like crazy and I frag often as far as taking them out of water I do all the time to get them on plug after fragging and they always do good.

J77 · May 2, 2014

Like this one it's been with me for a few years and I've maybe fed it twice

davocean · May 2, 2014

The blueberry gorgs are not what I would call easy to keep, but the purple frilly's are pretty easy.
The one drawback to keeping my copperband is I can no longer keep gorgs or feathers of any kind, but I guess I'd rather have that than the aptasia I had before adding him a couple years ago.

davocean · May 2, 2014

This is the last one I had, don't recall name, but it was pretty easy.

MrDJeep123 · May 2, 2014

I've always had success with both types. Here are the two I currently have with plans to add more.

The polyps on this one have since opened, this was after I added it to the tank.

This one is full and bushy.

J77 · May 2, 2014

Oh nice I like the thin ribbon looking ones have to get one they are also photosynthetic.

sandocan · May 2, 2014

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1399065714.387312.jpg

davocean · May 2, 2014

^^ Yeah, that stuff is tough to keep, too bad it's really pretty.

sandocan · May 2, 2014

It is.. But I'm losing it unfortunately :-(

stunreefer · May 2, 2014

sandocan said:
It is.. But I'm losing it unfortunately :-(

Don't feel to bad, everyone does, eventually. It's one of those "shouldn't be imported" specimens that if ever imported should be offered to only those with specific non photosynthetic systems.

Most photosynthetic gorgonians are pretty easy to keep.

Completely avoid nonphotosynthetic specimens unless you are fully prepared... they require very specific sized food particles offered into very specific flow rates... they only feed at "X gph" passing over their polyps, it's what they've evolved to do and there's no way around it. There is some info out there on them if you search around.

Reef.ductionist · May 2, 2014

Wow.
OK I just read all your posts and thanks for all your replies. Actually what got me considering them in the first place was I dropped in to an lfa yesterday while I was waiting for someone. It waskind of an unexpected visit on my part since I wasn't really even thinking about it but then realized there was a store that sold corals nearby.

The one I saw was the same as sandocans. And after reading all your posts I am not going to buy it. But it IS beautiful that's for sure.
Anyways maybe later on Ill look into the others some of you recommended, thanks again.

shred5 · May 2, 2014

Well most photosynthetic gorgonians are not to bad. They require tanks without any algae issues because they can easily be engulfed in algae. They do benifit from feedings... They like pretty strong current...

Non photosynthetic gorgonians are not hard they just don't belong in a regular reef tank and belong in a nps tank.. They will starve to death eventually in most cases.. The amount of food they require would cause to many nutrients in a regular reef and some need to be fed almost constantly.

Yea the blueberry above are very hard to keep and require lots of food... They also are not a fan of light and will easily become covered in algae..