Blueberry Gorg/Fan

[somewherebeyondthesea]

Hey Canreefers!

I just bought a beautiful blueberry gorg! Thinking it was like any other gorg and my LFS told me it was photosynthetic it should be easy to keep...right?

Well foolish me should have done my homework first like I've done with allllll my other coral and fish. Turns out they are very difficult to keep!:help:

I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these beautiful creatures so that they may help me keep this one alive if not thriving!:clap2:


Cheers,




Steve

[somewherebeyondthesea]

Here is a picture!


http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/o700/somewherebeyondthesea/F267985C-759A-48C7-9470-85CCEA5FFFAD-6077-00001A3F9723BB8C_zpse9806159.jpg[/IPapp

[fishoholic]

From what I understand they need target feeding daily. Fauna Marin Ultra Min F coral food should work well for feedings. http://www.cherrycorals.com/product.php?productid=2520 mix with some tank water in a turkey baster and spray the gorg with it.

[subman]

Beautiful example of one though!

[RedCoralEdmonton]

Did you buy this one from us today? As we sold one that looks just like yours, but we make sure to say to customers that they arent photosynthetic, and need our Live Phyto that we grow in the store, maybe there was a misunderstanding? If that was the case feel free to bring it back no problem!

Steve

[somewherebeyondthesea]

Did you buy this one from us today? As we sold one that looks just like yours, but we make sure to say to customers that they arent photosynthetic, and need our Live Phyto that we grow in the store, maybe there was a misunderstanding? If that was the case feel free to bring it back no problem!

Steve

It was Steve, and I appreciate the offer! But I'm gonna try to grow this one to a fragable size! I have found some more info on it and did a quick crash course on the fan and I have all the necessary things to keep it growing!

Nice order by the way you have great taste in coral selection! My clams would also like to thank you for your tasty phyto batch!:biggrin:

[somewherebeyondthesea]

From what I understand they need target feeding daily. Fauna Marin Ultra Min F coral food should work well for feedings. http://www.cherrycorals.com/product.php?productid=2520 mix with some tank water in a turkey baster and spray the gorg with it.

Hmmm looks like good stuff...except for the yeast part

Thanks for the quick reply! I've read target feeding is the way to go!:biggrin:

[somewherebeyondthesea]

Beautiful example of one though!

Thanks!:mrgreen:

[daniella3d]

yep, it's the way to go, except that you must do that about 10 times per day and water quality must remain top notch.

It's nearly impossible to keep and even those with a dedicated NPS system are not able to keep it alive for very long. 3 to 6 months and that one is going to be deat pretty much, no matter what you do.

they need live zooplankton constantly in the water.

Hmmm looks like good stuff...except for the yeast part

Thanks for the quick reply! I've read target feeding is the way to go!:biggrin:

[reefwars]

yep, it's the way to go, except that you must do that about 10 times per day and water quality must remain top notch.

It's nearly impossible to keep and even those with a dedicated NPS system are not able to keep it alive for very long. 3 to 6 months and that one is going to be deat pretty much, no matter what you do.

they need live zooplankton constantly in the water.





funny how i was told the same thing by the same person ....here i am now with a blueberry thats twice the size it was when i bought it , fully encrusts and full polyps day and night.......i guess mines gonna die too though right??

daniella does have merit to her post these corals need live food in the microns and feed several times a day:) ( all day is better )


succeess with this coral is not as rare as alot of people think.

cheers:)

[somewherebeyondthesea]

funny how i was told the same thing by the same person ....here i am now with a blueberry thats twice the size it was when i bought it , fully encrusts and full polyps day and night.......i guess mines gonna die too though right??

daniella does have merit to her post these corals need live food in the microns and feed several times a day:) ( all day is better )


succeess with this coral is not as rare as alot of people think.

cheers:)


I'd love to pick your brain on how to sucessfully feed your NPS corals, I've been in awe at the dendros, suns, gorgs and fan pics that you've posted and wanted to know your secret:puppydog:.


Cheers



Steve

[reefwars]

I'd love to pick your brain on how to sucessfully feed your NPS corals, I've been in awe at the dendros, suns, gorgs and fan pics that you've posted and wanted to know your secret:puppydog:.


Cheers



Steve

hi steve

would be my pleasure

before going nuts on nps corals make sure your tank is stable , nutrient export is higher than nutrient import, and that you can offer a variety of foods including live and prepared.

pre plan your tank alot of these corals need food 24/7 and daily maintanace

one of the main things to understand is that most nps corals have daily needs so be prepared to work daily on them , on top of that a few slip ups in food feedings can mean weeks of acclimation to bring them back.

pm me for any more info that you need:)

cheers

denny

[daniella3d]

Really? that's cool! How long have you got it and what are you feeding it and how often? rotifers?

Success with this coral need a dedicated NPS tank, no less.

So far you would be the first that I know who not only had success maintaining it alive but actually making it grow! wow...

do you have pics that tank?

I was thinking eventually to put up a small NPS tank but darn it's expensive.

Also do you use a chiller? since most of those NP grow in deeper water...??

Another very important factor that I was told by a marine biologist is that the way the gorgone is transported and kept until it reach a proper tank is very determinant to its survival long term and a blueberry that would have been at high temp during shipping would have poor chance of survival.





funny how i was told the same thing by the same person ....here i am now with a blueberry thats twice the size it was when i bought it , fully encrusts and full polyps day and night.......i guess mines gonna die too though right??

daniella does have merit to her post these corals need live food in the microns and feed several times a day:) ( all day is better )


succeess with this coral is not as rare as alot of people think.

cheers:)

[reefwars]

Really? that's cool! How long have you got it and what are you feeding it and how often? rotifers?

Success with this coral need a dedicated NPS tank, no less.

So far you would be the first that I know who not only had success maintaining it alive but actually making it grow! wow...

do you have pics that tank?

I was thinking eventually to put up a small NPS tank but darn it's expensive.

Also do you use a chiller? since most of those NP grow in deeper water...??

Another very important factor that I was told by a marine biologist is that the way the gorgone is transported and kept until it reach a proper tank is very determinant to its survival long term and a blueberry that would have been at high temp during shipping would have poor chance of survival.


hi daniella

ive had it for about 6 mths , i know its not long term compared to most corals but for this species 6 mths is pretty successfull.

i run a 24 hr feed although its a mixed reef, i feed in particular for the blueberry ( live phyto morning and night, a full line of fauna marin, coral smoothie and several zeo products.

you mentioned a couple of key points one is the temp i keep my tank at 76 (lower at night) any higher and all my touchy nps corals kinda get ****ed.

one thing ive noticed about the blue is when i turn the flow up on my mp10 the gorg shuts down , so ime its low to moderate flow.

lights ive found are not an issue provided algae doesnt grow.

polyps are all day but its feeds at times throughout the day , how much it takes is anyones guess but i do know that large food or most prepared meaty foods are no good.

also i tried to rescue a blueberry from someone else and it was a lost cause , im assuming that when these go downhill there no coming back, my experience im sure like others for recobery is non existent.


theres a few people on rc who have had them for a couple of years , one guy even frags his reguarily.

ive tried 3 before success (if you can call it that) and all three died within a few mths.

mine now is about 7-8' was about 4" when i got it about 6 mths ago.

i feed via two dosers 1l of foods a day to a 25g tank....this obviously cause water nutrient issues but i do 50% water changes ( sometimes more and every now and then up to %100) plus i run very aggressive gfo in large amounts change very frequently.

nitrates are always there but phos remans low.

i keep similiar water parameters to other reeftanks as this is a mixed reef.


i use to feed by hand and feeding would have to take place several times a day, it was hit or miss on whether or not polyps stayed out all day, since adding the feeder its out all day.

i think its important to aquire a heathy eating specimen if anyone wants to try their best at keeping one.

if i dont fill the doser then the blueberry shuts down and its alot of work to bring it back out( hand feeding )


there are pics in my bonsai build of the gorg .

besides the blueberry gorg i keep carnations,gorgs,dendros,tubes,anemones and some others.

the system is full mixed reef including some high end sps , i find having other corals in the tank motivates me to keep water quality good consistently:)


keeping this and other hard to keep species is easier then it use to be as we are finding better foods to feed them:)

cheers

denny:)

[reefwars]

Here is a picture!


http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/o700/somewherebeyondthesea/F267985C-759A-48C7-9470-85CCEA5FFFAD-6077-00001A3F9723BB8C_zpse9806159.jpg[/IPapp


in this picture the blueberry is shut down and may take some work to get it to come out.

nps corals do not get energy from photosynthesis , so they need to get their energy from captured prey(not new info i know)

no food is no energy.....

if they use energy to bring out their polyps but dont get food then its energy wasted that needs to double up the next time they come out , if this happens too much they shut down.

some nps will eat them selves inside out as a last attempt to not starve.


this species is not an easy coral it requires daily attention and one little slip up could mean hand feeding for hours every day.

best left to dedicated feed systems





basically

[reefwars]

my latest pic:

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/reefwars/25g%20bonzai%20tree%20tank/IMG3931.jpg



another pic:


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/reefwars/25g%20bonzai%20tree%20tank/IMG_8698.jpg





the one i rescued but died one week later:(

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad85/reefwars/25g%20bonzai%20tree%20tank/IMG_9038.jpg

[reefwars]

Another very important factor that I was told by a marine biologist is that the way the gorgone is transported and kept until it reach a proper tank is very determinant to its survival long term and a blueberry that would have been at high temp during shipping would have poor chance of survival.


i missed this when i read it earlier but i think this is a huge factor probably the deciding factor on whether or not it survives long enough to acclimate to the foods we offer and tank conditions.

the first three i bought were small mounted frags(probably the sellers attempt to get some money back on a coral half melted while he can ) and i believe their faith was already written before i bought them , my healthy one looked great in the store,was grown on to the base, was a fresh arrival and had a blue base and blueish stalk( traits that people believe on rc nps forumns are signs of healthy piece)

when they are healthy their branches are thick and lots of polyps , as they starve their branches get very thin and polyps go from maybe 20 per 3" to 3-4 per 3"............its sad watching one starve:(

[daniella3d]

:biggrin:

that's some major growth...must be a very large tank :)

"mine now is about 7-8' was about 4" when i got it about 6 mths ago."


just wondering though, how large do they get in nature? do you know?