Help attaching gorgonian

[coralreefer123]

Just received a whole tan rod/rusty gorgonian. The base of it is large and I am unsure if I should glue the entire base, as is, to a small piece of live rock or do I need to cut the large base off and glue it to the live rock? The pictures attached are obviously not the one I got, nor the same species, (one is even dead) but they are good images of what the base of mine looks like.

 

[tripdad]

Glue the entire base down. Every time I've glued to tissue the tissue dies and then the gorg becomes loose and falls off it's mount. Every time I just glue at the rubble base it stays put. Ugly but it works.

 

[coralreefer123]

Glue the entire base down. Every time I've glued to tissue the tissue dies and then the gorg becomes loose and falls off it's mount. Every time I just glue at the rubble base it stays put. Ugly but it works.

Thank you so much! Also, do you have an estimated guess of how long it will take to see the polyps? Will they come out before it actually settles on the new rock?

 

[tripdad]

They are all different. Most will polyp out if healthy almost immediately. If they are struggling then you may have to lure them out. Make sure it's in high flow with good back and forth action and they will usually open. If polyps are tan or brown in color then it's most likely photosynthetic and will need good light. If polyps are bright white or brightly colored then most likely it is not photosynthetic and you will have to feed it quite a bit to maintain health. Start with oyster feast and phyto feast type foods.