blueberry gorgonian advice

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

i can't find a lot of good care guys for this coral, i know it's not sps but dont know what other forum to ask in
what are feeding requirements for this coral? how often and what to feed? do i need to have baby brine shrimp?

Dburr1014 · Jan 24, 2022

Do you have a pic?

Generally speaking, if it is photosynthetic (the name implies blue /photosynthetic) you don't have to feed it but it will take food. Even crushed up flakes. Any small food will generally be excepted. A gentle squirt of food from a turkey baster will do for spot feeding.

Jekyl · Jan 24, 2022

Isn't that an nps coral?

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

Dburr1014 said:
Do you have a pic?

Generally speaking, if it is photosynthetic (the name implies blue /photosynthetic) you don't have to feed it but it will take food. Even crushed up flakes. Any small food will generally be excepted. A gentle squirt of food from a turkey baster will do for spot feeding.

I think it is non photosynthetic

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

Jekyl said:
Isn't that an nps coral?

Yes

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

Dburr1014 said:
Do you have a pic?

Generally speaking, if it is photosynthetic (the name implies blue /photosynthetic) you don't have to feed it but it will take food. Even crushed up flakes. Any small food will generally be excepted. A gentle squirt of food from a turkey baster will do for spot feeding.

Trouble1375 · Jan 24, 2022

Eagle_Steve · Jan 24, 2022

Blueberry gorgonians are not photosynthetic. They will need daily feedings to thrive. This can be accomplished by proving a steady supply of phyto in the tank or spot feeding daily. They do like baby brine and they also like reef candy. Reef candy can raise phosphates, but not as much as reef roids.

My BB gorg is now over a year old in my tank and has a ton of phyto available, as I dose it all day long. Whn it was in the coral QT tank, I used a small rectangular container with a hole drilled intothe top, placed it over the gorg and injected a little phyto/baby brine, and reef candy mix into the container. This keeps it localized and you can see when the gorg consumes the majority of it.

It is one my favorite corals, but they do require some demanding care if you cannot keep phyto and other food in the water column for them.

Here is mine.

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

Eagle_Steve said:
Blueberry gorgonians are not photosynthetic. They will need daily feedings to thrive. This can be accomplished by proving a steady supply of phyto in the tank or spot feeding daily. They do like baby brine and they also like reef candy. Reef candy can raise phosphates, but not as much as reef roids.

My BB gorg is now over a year old in my tank and has a ton of phyto available, as I dose it all day long. Whn it was in the coral QT tank, I used a small rectangular container with a hole drilled intothe top, placed it over the gorg and injected a little phyto/baby brine, and reef candy mix into the container. This keeps it localized and you can see when the gorg consumes the majority of it.

It is one my favorite corals, but they do require some demanding care if you cannot keep phyto and other food in the water column for them.

Here is mine.

Dang, I used to have a tank that was just complete green water. Probably should have kept it that way. Is phycopure a good phyto source? I also have the seachem phyto.

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

dang yours looks like a cherry tree but blue, cool

Eagle_Steve · Jan 24, 2022

airedwin said:
Dang, I used to have a tank that was just complete green water. Probably should have kept it that way. Is phycopure a good phyto source? I also have the seachem phyto.

Any phyto should work, but would suggest localized feeding if not using live phyto. They also do need some other meaty foods, from my experience or it just "maintains" them. Mine did not really start shooting out new growth, until baby brine and some freeze dried meaty foods were supplied regularly.

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

Eagle_Steve said:
Any phyto should work, but would suggest localized feeding if not using live phyto. They also do need some other meaty foods, from my experience or it just "maintains" them. Mine did not really start shooting out new growth, until baby brine and some freeze dried meaty foods were supplied regularly.

The polyps retracted today so I'm not sure if I can feed it? Ya I try to use a baster to feed it.

Eagle_Steve · Jan 24, 2022

airedwin said:
The polyps retracted today so I'm not sure if I can feed it? Ya I try to use a baster to feed it.

If in too much light, they will retract. Being as they are NPS, they do not need to be in high light.

Even with retracted polyps, they can still "taste" the water. I would suggest seeing if you have something to fit over the gorg, like a bottle or similar. If you do, cut the bottom off of it, place it over the gorg and iject a small bit of food intot he bottle. This will keep the food localized and the gorg may respond by extending its polyps to eat.

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

Eagle_Steve said:
If in too much light, they will retract. Being as they are NPS, they do not need to be in high light.

Even with retracted polyps, they can still "taste" the water. I would suggest seeing if you have something to fit over the gorg, like a bottle or similar. If you do, cut the bottom off of it, place it over the gorg and iject a small bit of food intot he bottle. This will keep the food localized and the gorg may respond by extending its polyps to eat.

I can try that, I have it on the very side of my tank where there isn't too much light I think. I have LED strip lights that don't extend edge to edge.

Dburr1014 · Jan 24, 2022

Eagle_Steve said:
Blueberry gorgonians are not photosynthetic. They will need daily feedings to thrive. This can be accomplished by proving a steady supply of phyto in the tank or spot feeding daily. They do like baby brine and they also like reef candy. Reef candy can raise phosphates, but not as much as reef roids.

My BB gorg is now over a year old in my tank and has a ton of phyto available, as I dose it all day long. Whn it was in the coral QT tank, I used a small rectangular container with a hole drilled intothe top, placed it over the gorg and injected a little phyto/baby brine, and reef candy mix into the container. This keeps it localized and you can see when the gorg consumes the majority of it.

It is one my favorite corals, but they do require some demanding care if you cannot keep phyto and other food in the water column for them.

Here is mine.

Thank you for the correction.

airedwin · Jan 24, 2022

Eagle_Steve said:
If in too much light, they will retract. Being as they are NPS, they do not need to be in high light.

Even with retracted polyps, they can still "taste" the water. I would suggest seeing if you have something to fit over the gorg, like a bottle or similar. If you do, cut the bottom off of it, place it over the gorg and iject a small bit of food intot he bottle. This will keep the food localized and the gorg may respond by extending its polyps to eat.

What bottle do you use? Do I have to worry about the glue on the bottle from the label?

airedwin · Jan 31, 2022

Eagle_Steve said:
Blueberry gorgonians are not photosynthetic. They will need daily feedings to thrive. This can be accomplished by proving a steady supply of phyto in the tank or spot feeding daily. They do like baby brine and they also like reef candy. Reef candy can raise phosphates, but not as much as reef roids.

My BB gorg is now over a year old in my tank and has a ton of phyto available, as I dose it all day long. Whn it was in the coral QT tank, I used a small rectangular container with a hole drilled intothe top, placed it over the gorg and injected a little phyto/baby brine, and reef candy mix into the container. This keeps it localized and you can see when the gorg consumes the majority of it.

It is one my favorite corals, but they do require some demanding care if you cannot keep phyto and other food in the water column for them.

Here is mine.

Is this the reef candy you are talking about? https://reefchasers.com/collections/reef-candy/products/reef-candy-dry-reef-food-40g

Eagle_Steve · Jan 31, 2022

airedwin said:
Is this the reef candy you are talking about? https://reefchasers.com/collections/reef-candy/products/reef-candy-dry-reef-food-40g

It is.

J1a · Jan 31, 2022

Eagle_Steve said:
If in too much light, they will retract. Being as they are NPS, they do not need to be in high light.

Even with retracted polyps, they can still "taste" the water. I would suggest seeing if you have something to fit over the gorg, like a bottle or similar. If you do, cut the bottom off of it, place it over the gorg and iject a small bit of food intot he bottle. This will keep the food localized and the gorg may respond by extending its polyps to eat.

In my experience, blurberry sea fans are not that light sensitive. The polyps stays out even under 300+ Par of light. The do enjoy good flow though.

If your blueberry seafan is healthy and well fed, you can see it encrusting within a week.

I broadcast feed mine tank with freeze dried planktons twice a day.

airedwin · Jan 31, 2022

J1a said:
In my experience, blurberry sea fans are not that light sensitive. The polyps stays out even under 300+ Par of light. The do enjoy good flow though.

If your blueberry seafan is healthy and well fed, you can see it encrusting within a week.

I broadcast feed mine tank with freeze dried planktons twice a day.

Do you have a recommendation for the plankton?