Gorgonian troubles - Frag Outpost Forums - Coral Propagation and Reef Aquarium Forums

FragOutpost · 03-17-2006, 08:09 PM

Sorry to hear that your gorgonain is not doing as well. My tank is always my biggest worry when I go out of town. Try doing a 20% change asap, followed up by a couple of 5-10% a day or two later. 8.5 does seem high for the ph considering that is usually tends to decrease over periods of time when not dosing supplements. If you checked it at the end of the photoperiod then it will be slightly elevated as opposed to if you checked it in the morning. Did your wife add any additives while you were gone or just make up water?

EvilTwin · 03-17-2006, 08:56 PM

She was just adding makeup water. Everything else in the tank appears to be doing well. The small SPS frag even appears to have more polyp extension. It's just the gorg is looking like it has problems.

FragOutpost · 03-17-2006, 09:01 PM

Hopefully the water change will help. Good luck with it and let us know how it does.

EvilTwin · 03-17-2006, 09:50 PM

Surprisingly, I found an ebay auction with pictures of a sea whip gorgonian that looks very similar to the way mine does now

http://cgi.ebay.com/PURPLE-SEA-WHIP-...cmdZVie wItem

When I first got it, the polyps were very white in color as seen in some of my first pictures. The polyps now look darker, like those in the picture from the auction. I don't know if this is good, bad or otherwise.

EvilTwin · 03-21-2006, 07:32 AM

Well, the gorg has appeared to take a turn for the worse. The purple "flshy" parts have started to deteriorate and I can even see the round skeleton base in some areas. I'm going to consider this a lost cause, but I did get some poly reaction when touching it, so something is still hanging on. I'm at a loss for what to do at this point. Suggestions?

EvilTwin · 03-21-2006, 11:23 AM

Latest pic:

EvilTwin · 03-21-2006, 11:41 AM

Allright. Something I discovered while poking around. On Liveaquaria, they advertise these for sale. I went to look at the list of parameters and one thing I noticed is that they say these gorgs like temps 72-78 degrees. When I set up this new tank I moved the heater over and left it set the same. The temp of the tank hovered around 78, 2 degrees lower than the old hex tank. I figured the size and additional volume probably made the tank cool faster. Sometime about two weeks ago, or so, I began raising the tanks temp to 80, which is where is sits now, very constantly. Could the temp be too warm for the gorg? If I bring it back down, how will that affect my other inhabitants?