NPS Gorgonian tank

[las]

They are looking pretty good at the moment. I knock on wood everyday. I’ve read so many threads about people seeing good health on theses NPS sea fans for 6 months. Then, it all goes south. They have both grown new polyps and a little bit of new branching. Hopefully, this thread doesn’t end in 6 months with the usual RIP post. Wanted to share some pics along the way.

 

[OldRed1]

Gorgeous!! These NPS are so striking. Will keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[dennis romano]

I had a few NPS gorgs in a 25 year old tank. Every morning, I would stir up the substrate to get the microfauna into the water column. They did well for a while but when they got to the one year mark, they started to fade. Good luck.

 

[las]

Yup- I stir the sand daily. They really respond to it. Problem is that it raises the PO4 a lot. So, it really makes them happy but it makes me have to do more work with water quality.

 

[las]

Did you have the same sand bed that whole time in that 25 yr old tank?

 

[World Citizen]

Avoid any form af algea on them. Make sure there is not a spot anywhere. And if so, blow it of and change the tank so the algea stops growing on the corals. Consider lowering light or not putting them directly underneath them.

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Dang that Menella is stunning! I'm actually going to get one myself soon, how has it been for you so far? (also on sidenote, did you get both the Menella and the Blueberry from Seahorse Savvy?)

 

[las]

Avoid any form af algea on them. Make sure there is not a spot anywhere. And if so, blow it of and change the tank so the algea stops growing on the corals. Consider lowering light or not putting them directly underneath them.

If the light levels were any lower, they would be off….. lol

 

[dennis romano]

Did you have the same sand bed that whole time in that 25 yr old tank?

yes

 

[Sean Clark]

Dibs on frags

 

[las]

Dang that Menella is stunning! I'm actually going to get one myself soon, how has it been for you so far? (also on sidenote, did you get both the Menella and the Blueberry from Seahorse Savvy?)

I thought it could be a Menella when I first saw it too. Apparently it’s a Dichotella sp..…

Yes, I purchased it on Alyssa’s website In mid September. The blueberry I got on divers den about a week later.

 

[dennis romano]

Yup- I stir the sand daily. They really respond to it. Problem is that it raises the PO4 a lot. So, it really makes them happy but it makes me have to do more work with water quality.

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

I thought it could be a Menella when I first saw it too. Apparently it’s a Dichotella sp..…

Yes, I purchased it on Alyssa’s website In mid September. The blueberry I got on divers den about a week later.

Awesome! I'm about to get one from Alyssa as well, glad to see that they're pretty big and the polyps are amazing

 

[las]

Dibs on frags

That’s funny…… I’m praying it doesn’t die tomorrow. And you want a frag……

 

[Sean Clark]

That’s funny…… I’m praying it doesn’t die tomorrow. And you want a frag……

Coral bank.

 

[dstockwell]

Very nice

 

[las]

Awesome! I'm about to get one from Alyssa as well, glad to see that they're pretty big and the polyps are amazing

I was super happy with the quality I got from her. I totally recommend her.

 

[DaJMasta]

What's your feeding regimen? I had one that had a similar 6 month or so lifetime when the tank was fed heavily with live phyto, regularly dosed with copepods, and fed daily with a few kinds of dry particulate filter feeder foods.

You will likely have to find the sweet spot of food particle sizes they can catch, and from what I've heard from presentations on keeping NPS, that can mean a wide variety of things, but often hatching large batches of artemia or other easy to catch live foods.

Good luck!

 

[las]

Avoid any form af algea on them. Make sure there is not a spot anywhere. And if so, blow it of and change the tank so the algea stops growing on the corals. Consider lowering light or not putting them directly underneath them.

I just realized what you meant by this post. The pic you see is not the light they get everyday. I had to jack up the light to get pics. If i didnt you wouldnt be able to see alot. Thanks for the thought on this. I agree that as soon as algae takes a hold its bad

 

[las]

What's your feeding regimen? I had one that had a similar 6 month or so lifetime when the tank was fed heavily with live phyto, regularly dosed with copepods, and fed daily with a few kinds of dry particulate filter feeder foods.

You will likely have to find the sweet spot of food particle sizes they can catch, and from what I've heard from presentations on keeping NPS, that can mean a wide variety of things, but often hatching large batches of artemia or other easy to catch live foods.

Good luck!

Im doing the basics at the moment. The tank gets fed live phyto daily. I seeded with pods from algae barn. Im trying to get the pod population to explode. Im feeding baby brine in the morning and rotifers at night