Gorgonian exposed to air?

[Jmunk]

I have my gorgonian on top of my rockwork, and when I do my upcoming water change, the water level for a period of time is going to dip below the gorgonian.

Is this going to be a problem? How else can I do it?

[MondoBongo]

what kind of gorgonia is it? photosynthetic?

i had a pterogorgia and another different species, both photosynthetic.

they were both on the top of my rocks and would experience low tide with large water changes. i never had any issues with that. i lost the pterogorgia and most of the other one during a prolonged nitrate spike, cut the other one down to the plug it was on because i couldn't get it ou of the rock i had glued it in. set this rock in my new tank in a spot that is above the low tide mark, and to my surprise, it came back. polyps sprouted all over the base.

so i would say you will be just fine.

[chilli_reef]

Your good.
There are really no corals that can't be out of water for any length of time.

[Ron Reefman]

Every coral I know of can tolerate being out of the water for minutes at a time, some for many minutes. I just did a Duncan that was out of the water for over 30 minutes (I forgot it was out). After an hour in the tank it looked normal and survived. I have Gorgonians out regularly.

It's sponges that don't tolerate air very well if at all. Most will intake air, and they can't clear it when they go back in the water and that starts a long slow death spiral that can take weeks. However, some sponges can tolerate short amounts of time out of the water, but only a few.

[Dkuhlmann]

Yes all corals and marine plants can be out of the water, some for extended periods of time. The only marine thing you can't keep out of the water at all, not even for a nano second is most species of sponge.

So yes, I agree with Ron