Yellow Finger Gorgonian (cyano)

[Wilsoni]

Hello all!

I decided to pick up a Yellow Finger Gorgonian a few days ago after seeing a WYSIWYG photo of it with it's brilliant white polyps out. Anyways I'm keeping several different NPS species currently but this is my first go at attempting to keep an NPS Gorg.

I've read up on it's specific requirements and have a basic understanding of how to care for it. One thing I've noticed was that the branches seem to acquire a stringy form of cyano. Although the rest of my tank appears 100% cyano free, not a spot in sight. I've made sure to place it in a high flow area and suck/baste the cyano anytime I see it trailing off of the branches but it returns almost immediately.

My question is, are gorgs cyano magnets? Will a FW dip be beneficial and or cure the cyano issue?

Any advanced care tips are much appreciated.

 

[Tahoe61]

Is the piece in an area of moderate to higher flow (but not directly)?

Unfortunately what you're describing sounds like Dino, especially if it's occurring within hours after being removed.

Some Gorgonians do shed is that what you're seeing? An image would help to nail it down.

 

[Wilsoni]

Is the piece in an area of moderate to higher flow (but not directly)?

Unfortunately what you're describing sounds like Dino, especially if it's occurring within hours after being removed.

Some Gorgonians do shed is that what you're seeing? An image would help to nail it down.

Yeah I'd say it's moderate to high flow, off to the side of my tank. It's also getting a decent amount of light as well. I will snag some pics this evening once I get home. The algae is definitely red in color, if it does happen to be dinos what would the recommended course of action be? I can pull the piece and QT it if needed.

 

[Wilsoni]

When my Vortechs are running at their peak on Reef Crest (90%) the branches definitely experience a ton of movement. Also on a side note, the algae doesn't seem to prevent the PE. It's pretty formal throughout the branches all day/night.

 

[Tahoe61]

If you are not seeing the appearance of the growth on any other corals or rocks then I would QT the piece. Cyano should not be growing on just one piece with adequate flow. Perhaps an area of lower lighting might be of assist.
What are you feeding? Have you tested N/P lately. Keeping NPS alive and maintaining water quality can be a significant challenge.

 

[Wilsoni]

If you are not seeing the appearance of the growth on any other corals or rocks then I would QT the piece. Cyano should not be growing on just one piece with adequate flow. Perhaps an area of lower lighting might be of assist.
What are you feeding? Have you tested N/P lately. Keeping NPS alive and maintaining water quality can be a significant challenge.

Yeah it's bizarre. My N/P's are well within an acceptable range. My N03 sits at 0-.02 and P04 0.03. I haven't changed anything in my feeding regime other than introducing live Phyto recently which I've added sparsely. I typically feed my Dendros, Hidden Cup Coral and Black Sun Polyps LRS Reef Frenzy + fish eggs and Fauna Marin LPS Pellets. The tank also gets fed Oyster Feast and Reef Roids on occasion.

I dose NoPox and target feed which helps control my nutrients and eliminate a lot of uneaten free-floating food in the water column. But yeah in my process of elimination, lighting definitely was one thing that initially came to mind. I don't personally believe too much light is necessarily detrimental to the gorg itself as it's non photosynthetic but I can see it contributing to algae growth. All of my other NPS coral in the tank remain open throughout the entire photoperiod despite the amount of light they're receiving. Balano's on the other hand are a different story...

The challenge I face with lighting/flow is that this gorg is rather large with several branches reaching nearly 7" from the top of the base so in order to relocate it, it will compromise the flow and my tank is pretty well lit.

My plan of action is to either move it, perform a FW dip, QT or a combination of two.

 

[Wilsoni]

Upon research, I'm finding that most articles with care instructions for this species happens to be fairly dated. The information is wildly conflicting as well and I haven't found many long term success stories which is rather disconcerting. However it also doesn't appear to have as much negative information supporting it's demise in a home aquaria setting as the infamous/novelty "Blueberry Gorgonian" which is a good thing.

 

[Tahoe61]

My suggestion to move it to an area of less intense lighting was in reference to the unknown possibly be photosynthetic. NPS Gorgonians are hard to keep no doubt but worth it if you can devote the tank and time. I am not a fan of FW dips for corals or gorgonians, I prefer a dilution of iodine such as lugols, so I do not dip using FW for corals any longer.
I am very curious to see how the piece does and what the unknown turns out to be. Gorgonians are I am sure you know are famous for growing algae but just not as fast as you describe.

 

[Wilsoni]

My suggestion to move it to an area of less intense lighting was in reference to the unknown possibly be photosynthetic. NPS Gorgonians are hard to keep no doubt but worth it if you can devote the tank and time. I am not a fan of FW dips for corals or gorgonians, I prefer a dilution of iodine such as lugols, so I do not dip using FW for corals any longer.
I am very curious to see how the piece does and what the unknown turns out to be. Gorgonians are I am sure you know are famous for growing algae but just not as fast as you describe.

I couldn't agree more. I happen to find pieces that are considered "expert only" to be enticing as they pose a challenge, yet they help you evolve as a reefer while expanding your knowledge by adapting to new concepts. I find NPS coral in general to be extremely fascinating and venturing into Gorgonians has me pretty excited.

I didn't think of performing an iodine dip on it but I could see it being less stressful on the coral so I may start with that then relocate the piece. If I still observe the rapid algae growth I'll have to come up with another solution. Needless to say it's a beautiful piece and I'm confident that I'll find a way to resolve the issue.

For all I know it could be shedding as you noted earlier, the base does have a waxy appearance.