Why aren't gorgonians more popular?

[Fishfreak2009]

So why aren't gorgonians more popular? I've been doing a lot of snorkeling here in St Kitts, and have to say the blend of various SPS, LPS, and gorgonians is really nice to look at. Most of the gorgs here are photosynthetic, and it just looks nice! I do have a little purple ribbon gorg in my nano, but will definitely have more once we upgrade!

 

[ninjamyst]

Cuz the photosynthetic ones are purple or brown and look ugly under blues. The orange, red, and yellow ones are not photosynthetic and prone to die.

 

[sp1187]

love mine.

 

[elorablue]

Hard to say. I have three different varieties and they add great movement and height, especially to an sps Acro tank.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Cuz the photosynthetic ones are purple or brown and look ugly under blues. The orange, red, and yellow ones are not photosynthetic and prone to die.

The purple ones actually look pretty good, especially when people keep their lighting more white (Saxby settings). And some of the orange or yellows aren't too hard to keep, especially with today's reef foods like live phyto, copepod nauplii, and reef chili.

 

[Dkmoo]

With whites, unfortunately the coral flouresence doesn't "pop" so people usually make choice as they are mutually exclusive. Most people side with the fluorescent corals unfortunately, so gorgs gets the short end of the stick. This is esp true with acros bc all those high end crazy color acros only show up under blue light.

 

[MONTANTK]

I love gorgonians. I’m looking to add a few to my tank

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I have two gorgonians. One was described as a Gold Plume Sea Fan. I've had it nearly a year and it hasn't grown. It's honestly a bit of an ugly thing and I don't know what to do with it. The other is a Tracy Morgan and I'm crazy about it. It's big and puffy and growing enthusiastically. Maybe people don't have gorgonians because they haven't found the one that speaks to them.

 

[BeckyW]

I love mine! I think they are beautiful!!

 

[ppatches24]

Cuz the photosynthetic ones are purple or brown and look ugly under blues. The orange, red, and yellow ones are not photosynthetic and prone to die.

I think they look INCREDIBLE in any lighting. My daylights and my night blues.

 

[Uzidaisies]

Idk but I kinda want a purple candelabra.

 

[Proteus Meep]

They can become an allelopathic nightmare..is one reason the fell out of favour historically

 

[elorablue]

They can become an allopathic nightmare..is one reason the fell out of favour historically

allopathic?

 

[Proteus Meep]

allopathic?

Allelopathy is where corals plants etc produce chemicals/compounds to stunt or kill nearby competition...some gorgonian are known to be particularly nasty producers

Sometimes referred to now as coral chemical warfare

 

[elorablue]

Allelopathy is where corals plants etc produce chemicals/compounds to stunt or kill nearby competition...some gorgonian are known to be particularly nasty producers

Sometimes referred to now as coral chemical warfare

Ah yes. That’s quite different from allopathy and allopathic which is the ‘standard’ form of medical practice.
I’ve heard this before about gorgonians but have yet to see any evidence of it with mine.

 

[Fishinabarrel]

My tank has 40+ corals in it.
1 gorgonian (pink/purple).
In terms of rankings by my wife, it places dead last. She thinks it is ugly.
Openly hopes that it will die.
So of course it is THRIVING.

 

[JGT]

Love mine. Easy to care for, various colors and adds movement to the tank.

 

[Paul B]

I love them.

 

[JGT]

I love them.

Is this an old or new shot? Your tank doesn't look as packed as it usually does. Looks good.

 

[GHOSTLY]

id say it because of how hard the nps ones are to keep. I Had a Really REALLY Ugly one and its inconsistent