Fragging Purple Gorgonia

[elm0]

I have a pretty large purple gorgonia, I'm interested in possible fragging it up to spread throughout my tank, can I just break off peices at the base or will this kill the coral?

[GaryP]

Use a pair of sharp scissors and cut it. It won't harm it except for where you made the cut. Gorgonians are colonial. Each polyp is an individual animal. If you ever want to trade or sell a frag, put me at the top of the list.

Gary

[elm0]

Thanks Gary, thanks for the info, I just got it a few days ago from Rivercity Aquatics here in Austin, I'm gonna let it get really happy for a little while and then frag it up a little...I could def make a frag specially for you, perhaps we can work out a trade.
Also, I picked up some of the DT's live plankton food and have been spot feeding it to the gorgonia and all my other corals...i was told this is the best food for them.....what's your opinion?

[GaryP]

Feeding fresh green water is probably the best thing but that's not always easy to do. DT's is probably the next best thing. I use Tahitian Blend which is a concentrated phyto sludge.

To be honest I'm not real knowledgeable on the care and feeding of gorgonians. I have fragged some though.

Gary

[CD]

We saw that one when it was still at the store, elmO...the gorgonian that you have is of the Swiftia genus. I have read that:

"...they are not common in the wild, but that they are sold in stores regularly. Very difficult to maintain over the long term, and even frequent feedings are not enought to keep them alive. It is possible that highly specialized tanks provided with intentionally high nutrients, cooler water (in the wild, they are found at depths of 50ft. in caves and under overhangs), and a constant feeding schedule might be able to sustain them...otherwise better left in their natural habitat. They seem to be capable of substantial iodine uptake...the degree to which this plays a role in their survival and health is not known."

That's the slightly condensed version in Eric Borneman's book on corals. Hope that helps somewhat. It sure was pretty:)
Good luck with it, and keep us posted.

Wendy

[Richard]

Swiftia need something larger than green water. I feed mine cyclop-eeze daily to twice daily. They are easily overgrown by nuisance algaes, particulary cyanobacteria so you gotta keep the water quality high. If they do get some growing on them just rub it off with your fingers or the tissue will die. Never seen a purple swiftia though...just the red/orange ones.

[donniekim]

Garf has an excellent fragging tutorial movie for gorgonias

Donnie

[GaryP]

See, what did I tell you? I knew someone that knows more about Gorgs than I do would jump in.

Gary

[donniekim]

I've also heard that a wire stripper works great on these! Haven't tried that yet!

Donnie

[elm0]

Donnie-
What is Garf and where can I find this info?

[GaryP]

www.garf.org Great Site!

GARF - Geothremal Aquaculture Research Foundation in Boise, ID.

Gary

[jtsam]

yeah, wire strippers work great with gorgs, you can cut them and then take off some of the fleshy part at the bottom so you can glue them in a hole (if you glue over the flesh it can die off and cause problems) or you can just shave off the flesh with a knife. i bet that purple one is nice, i have some of the yellow/red and i love it. got any pics?

[havrda]

If you ever want to trade for something let me know!

[elm0]

Here's a pic...sorry for the quality of my camera