Gorgonian i.d.

[IbnOzn1]

I picked this out of the cheap frag tank at my lfs. Didn't think to ask genus + species but figured I could easily id it on the internet... ...WRONG!!!
So I could use some help. It has black polyps and the branches are light grey. I can't find it listed anywhere. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
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[brandonberry]

Not sure of the species, but it looks like one of the non-photosynthetic gorgonians. These are really hard to keep alive long-term. You will probably need to target feed it a lot if you want any chance of getting it to live. Cyclopeeze, Artemia nauplii, and other small particulate foods would likely be good.

 

[IbnOzn1]

Thanks, even a guess at a genus would be helpful at this point. I have been target feeding it with phytoplankton and rotifers twice a day. It looks better than when I bought it. More of the polyps have opened up.

 

[WRASSER]

They are filter feeders and will take protien from the water column. from the food you feed to even cleaning the glass off :wink:

 

[IbnOzn1]

Thanks for the help guys. I actually did find a pic of it in Sprung/Delbeek, I think it was vol 3 pg 13. It's actually a Parazoanthid.

 

[brandonberry]

Is it doing good. Looking at the picture, it appeared that a lot of tissue had started to flake off. Usually once they start to do this, they continue to degrade. I'd be interested to know if you were able to turn it around. If not, you may want to consider fragging it to remove the dead tissue and re-gluing the pieces to a rock.