Yellow Gorgonia?

[69-ls1]

Hey, i have a yellow gorgonia and it has red smile algae growing on it. I will brush it off and a week or so later it is back. The red algae does not grow anywhere else it the tank. There is plenty of flow in the tank and also on the gorgonia. Any help or suggestions? Water parameters are great.

 

Thanks,

 

Jody.

[emissary]

Whew, yellow gorginians are tough. These are the ones with the white polyps right? They need a lot of food since they dont have any zooxanthellae.

 

That said, if you're able to provide regular feedings and/or have otherwise high nutrient conditions (which you may given the cyano) ... there's some kind of water problem. If cyano is proliferating then you've got water parameters that are off. What are you readings for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and especially phospates? how often do you do water changes? sounds like you've already identified flow as a potential contributor but rule it out because you feel there's enough -- how much is there?

[Jenny]

Jody,

 

Are you getting good polyp extension on this gorgonian? Do you get polyp extension at night, during the day, both, sometimes?

What kind of lighting is it under? Since it is likely nonphotosynthetic it may be getting too much light. It may also be getting too much flow. Something could be causing tissue degradation which may be why the cyano is only on this coral.

[69-ls1]

I only get polyp extenstion when the metal halides are off. Is it possible too much light? I have 800w of metal halide on a 120g. As far as water parameters. Nitrate 0, amonia 0, nitrite 0, phospate is very low. How much is too much flow?

 

Jody.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

Hey, i have a yellow gorgonia and it has red smile algae growing on it.

 

 

You're lucky.

 

My algae never smiles at me.

 

tim

[Jenny]

Jody,

 

Your parameters are right on. And since you are only getting cyano on the gorgonian that fits.

 

You definately have a nonphotosynthetic gorgonian though. And it sounds like its getting way too much light. Put it in a shady spot with the same amount of flow first and see how it does. Don't want to change more than one variable at a time.

 

What are you feeding? How often? Tank feedings or are you spot feeding? How long have you had it? Have you ever moved it? When did the cyano first appear? Any changes to the tank around that time?

 

Maybe Bemmer can chime in here. She has one of these.

 

Tim,

 

You crack me up.

[69-ls1]

I feed DT's photoplankton about every 3 days. I tank feed, not target. I have had it for about 2 months and have never moved it. Nothing else had changed. I believe the cyano appeared about 2 weeks after i got it. I will try moving it to a shady place in the tank.

 

By the way Tim, nice catch on the smile

 

 

Jody.

[Jenny]

Jody,

 

If you want it to survive you'll have to start spot feeding. Try using oyster eggs, cylopeze, rots - anything smaller than your normal frozen/flake food. I would start spot feeding it everyday - make sure you turn off the powerheads. Once the cyano goes away you can wean it off and maybe only feed it twice a week.

 

Let us know how it goes.

[69-ls1]

Hey Jenny,

 

Thanks for the info. I will give it a try.

 

Thanks,

 

Jody.

[davelin315]

Put it completely out of the light. It's non-photosynthetic so it doesn't need any light at all, put it into medium flow in the shade so it doesn't get any light. The cyano is a sign of nutrients in the water so you might want to do a phosphate check. The cyano won't grow if you have more flow. One thing to do as well is check to see how it feels. If it feels firm then it is doing OK, if it feels kind of spongy or crumbly then it's on its way out. Any tissue deterioration anywhere? Check the tips and the base.

 

Oh, and by the way, glad you decided to stick around!