Purple Seafan from Caribean

[Allmost]

Hello all,
just got a rare Purple Sea fan from the caribeans.

can you tell me anything about them ?

I have it in my SPS tank now. Zeovit, ULNS tank. high flow.

I have a couple of main questions first,
how high should I place it ? lighting is 10x80W ATI PM.

how do you glue these things down :P lol putty didnt work, Im gonna try wedgingit between 2 rocks.

should I feed it ?

any other info, is much apprecaited. I was hoping to glue it to the back glass, in front of a MP40, and a MP60 on the other side of it, would it like that flow ? or too much ?


any other feed back is highly appreciated.

I also have a 30G NPS tank, but would love to make it workin the SPS tank to add some diversity.

thanks

[Allmost]

I guess noone since they are illegal in USA ?

[username in use]

A pic would help with ID. There are a fair amount of sea fans from the Caribbean that are photosynthetic so it may do well in your main reef. I have seen a purple sea fan (Caribbean) at my local public aquarium. He played with a few placements, but perpendicular to the flow at mid level seems to have been the best setup in that tank.

[teemee]

They are illegal to collect in the US, but Live Aquaria occasionally sells small frags for astronomical prices.
I picked up my Gorgonia ventallina yesterday from my LFS - collected from Haiti, I believe. Very healthy, but despite having (at least currently) pristine water conditions, and having it receive tons of flow, still have not managed to get its polyps to open. They are photosynthetic, but I have mine in a tank with non-photo gorgs.

[coltrref]

Hello all,
just got a rare Purple Sea fan from the caribeans.


thanks

http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy131/coltreef/gorganias/SDC12153.jpg

http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy131/coltreef/gorganias/SDC12197.jpg

http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy131/coltreef/gorganias/SDC11270.jpg

or

http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy131/coltreef/gorganias/SDC10966.jpg

[Allmost]

thanks guys.

Colt, mine looks more like the last pic.

I will try to get a nicer pic of it.

I have it in front of a MP40, and its polyps opened last night, will see how it does in a week or so.

good news that they are photo synthetic ... thanks.

still havent figured a way to glue it though ... :S think Im gonna drill its base tonight and insert a plastic screw to hold it.

[coltrref]

thanks guys.

Colt, mine looks more like the last pic.

I will try to get a nicer pic of it.

I have it in front of a MP40, and its polyps opened last night, will see how it does in a week or so.

good news that they are photo synthetic ... thanks.

still havent figured a way to glue it though ... :S think Im gonna drill its base tonight and insert a plastic screw to hold it.

the last pics is a Ventalina and it is NP's

http://coralpedia.bio.warwick.ac.uk/sp/octocorals/gorgonia_ventalina.html

they like much the flow, but not too much.
withdraw it a little and of preference in the part average - fall of the aquarium.

to give them is easy, but it is necessary to see the base of the gorgonia, gives a pico and I can give you an idea.

the feeding is fundamental, that is to say every day of preference.

[Allmost]

yap, that is it, thanks, will read more on it.

[Harald Waltrop]

yap, that is it, thanks, will read more on it.
Hello, you can German?

then read here. http://www.gorgonien-lexikon.com/gorgonia-ventalina-neu.html

[coltrref]

Hello frind Harald, hoped that the translation on line:

Admission from the sea





Living space: If moved clear water prefers. Mostly in the outsides of shallow reef slopes and on single Fleckenriffe at 1-to 30-meter deep. The size (height) can reach in the nature up to 1.80 meters.



Food: Zooxanthellen (light) additional admission of plankton and relaxed organic materials

The colonies of the Gorgonia flabellum form big fields in a level grow. The fields exist of fine-meshed linked up branches which are flattened outside around or easily. The color of the Gorgonia is always purple in Florida, purple usually variably, yellow or gray. In the aquarium this Gorgonie needs a very strong laminar current, but Häutungsprobleme appear not seldom. By no means should be put out of the fields of a tumultuous or full-flat current. Otherwise, the Gorgonie loses the two-dimensional growth form and forms three-dimensional qualified increase. Can be increased by fragmenting.

After experiences, grows of the fields in the aquarium with other corals held, rather slowly.

[Allmost]

thanks guys.

great help.

any Idea on how to frag these guys ?

to increase survival chances, I would like to frag it and put a piece in my NPS tank, and leave the rest in my SPS to be sure. would cuttingone of the major branches be wise ?

from the translation, does it prefer phyto ? plus light, I will add the coral food where he is now on, so he gets some feeding too.

[CuttleKid]

gorgonians as a whole do not really consume pyhtoplankton like the azoox soft corals do. They base their diet mainly on zooplankton.

Hope this helps

[CuttleKid]

By the way, the ventalina gorgonian is definitely photosynthetic. It requires very strong lighting, but it will catch zooplankton like all gorgonians.

[Allmost]

cool thank you.

I have great lighting, 10 T5s, and system is bacterioplankton, so it should have some bacteria to eat. I guess that is why it extended its polyps the day after I put it in.

gonna try hard tonight to take pics :)