Gorgonian ID

[ZzyzxRiver]

Got this beauty at Reefapalooza today! Knobby sea rod on the left, and the unidentified one on the right.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Here’s one with the orange filter on the lens

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Shoulda tried a google image search first! It’s a blueberry gorgonian. And the vendor told me it’s photosynthetic and requires no special care. But it looks like it’s NPS? Is there a setting money on fire emoji?

Will this take reef roids, or frozen phytoplankton?

 

[BristleWormHater]

Not sure on the Latin name but its a blueberry gorgonian. Non-photosynthetic

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Not sure on the Latin name but its a blueberry gorgonian. Non-photosynthetic

I have been bamboozled so many times by unscrupulous vendors! Sucks that you can’t trust anyone. I’m determined to keep this alive, it’s too gorgeous to lose.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Definitely not the authority on these as you can see from my build thread. Id stick it in a low light high flow area if possible. Not sure if phytoplankton is really significant for nps gorgs, not sure if anyone is, but if you're already feeding it then why not. I have had success feeding new life spectrum reef cell, I think its smaller than reef roids its 30-80 microns compared to reef roids 100-130 microns if I remember the numbers right. Don't know if that matters since those polyps are way bigger than my sea fans, I might even try feeding it brine shrimp.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

I do overfeed in general, so maybe I’ll be lucky with my frozen foods. I’ll spot feed as often as possible with reef roids for now. On Tuesday I’ll be near a petco that I might luck out with on frozen food! I’m going to keep this thing alive out of spite. And also because it’s stunning. LOL

 

[BonnieB]

I do overfeed in general, so maybe I’ll be lucky with my frozen foods. I’ll spot feed as often as possible with reef roids for now. On Tuesday I’ll be near a petco that I might luck out with on frozen food! I’m going to keep this thing alive out of spite. And also because it’s stunning. LOL

Stunning indeed! Let us know how you fare and if it grows and you frag, I’ll drive down to the O.C. and get one from you and you can teach me how to keep it alive! Good luck!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Ok, a bit more research and it’s pretty clear this is not a coral you get lucky with. Part of me wants to try to keep it alive. If I keep it for 40 days then I’ll have gotten to enjoy it for a dollar a day LOL. But the more responsible part of me thinks I should take it to an LFS shop where I know the owner keeps NPS.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Ok, a bit more research and it’s pretty clear this is not a coral you get lucky with. Part of me wants to try to keep it alive. If I keep it for 40 days then I’ll have gotten to enjoy it for a dollar a day LOL. But the more responsible part of me thinks I should take it to an LFS shop where I know the owner keeps NPS.

Ive had the same thought with mine but I have no clue where to take it. So sad that success rate for these beautiful corals is abysmal.

 

[BristleWormHater]

If you decide not to keep it, I think the yellow ribbon gorgonian is the closest lookalike that is photosynthetic. Here's a pic I found online

Pterogorgia citrina

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

If you decide not to keep it, I think the yellow ribbon gorgonian is the closest lookalike that is photosynthetic. Here's a pic I found online

Pterogorgia citrina

Gorgeous (gorgongeous?)! I’ll keep an eye out. there’s a great vendor who has a big selection of gorgonians and won’t bamboozle me like this last one did. I don’t think his website is super up to date but just putting it out there that this guy is great: Garrett’s Acropolis.