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GORGONIANS WIN AWARD
ROCK CURING UPDATE #1
ISSUE # 14 page 2 FEBRUARY 1998
 | These Gorgonians were some of the first captive grown corals we purchased. They have been very hardy and they all grew into large show corals. I have been watching these Gorgonians for several months and I have wondered where they came from. I moved several small cuttings into my new reef aquariums and they have all grown much better than any of the wild gorgonians we have purchased. Last month I asked Sally Jo where they came from and she told me they were in one of the shipments.. These gorgonians are great for decorating a reef because they have a nice purple color and they are thin enough that they move with the currents. All of these gorgonians thrive in bright light without feeding. We have made many cuttings from these gorgonians. |
| These Gorgonians came in last week..Aquaculture has produced a winning group of stunning Gorgonians. They are available in two sizes. These are the show size and they add a different form and color that can not be duplicated. We have mixed these Gorgonians with all types of Soft and Stony corals. The plume shaped Gorgonian on the left is my favorite because the purple color shows up very well even when the polyps are fully extented. This Gorgonian has some of the largest polyps I have seen in this family.
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One of the nicest things about these corals is that the wild Gorgonians do not grow as well as these captive raised ones. These corals do not go through the shock that sets back so many of the collected Gorgonians.
We make our cuttings by drilling a small hole for the Gorgonian to fit into. Almost 100 percent of these cuttings grow when we place them in good water flow.
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| This photo shows the great extension that these Gorgonian polyps have. This makes for a very showy coral that sells very well. Small cuttings will grow rapidly if they are fed rotifers or baby brine shrimp. All of these corals do best if they are grown in aquariums with good water flow. These types of Gorgonian grow on one plane like a sea fan. This form is one that is missing in many reefs.The flow seems to cause them to expand their polyps more. You can grow these corals under standard fluorescent lights, but they do much better under VHO or halide lights. These Gorgonians often grow in shallow brightly illuminated areas that have strong wave action. |  |
 | This photo shows and extra Visi Jet 1200 that we added to the 55 gallon aquarium that we are using for the collection of show Gorgonians. We are going to add a third power head that will turn on and off each 1/2 hour. Good water flow is one of the most important things that we have found to increase the growth of these rare thin branched Gorgonians. We have been adding extra power heads to many of our grow out aquariums. We use a timer that has pins you can pull out so the pumps turn on and off at any time you want. We set most of them so they stay on for 30 minutes and then go off for the same amount of time. Notice the hand made base rock that these Gorgonians are growing on. The grower makes these natural shaped bases heavy enough to hold the Gorgonian up in a strong current. The base has a hole in it for the cutting. Many of these corals have come in with nice species of coralline algae growing on the base rocks. |
 | reef aquariums and they have thrived for over two years. When you order these corals be sure to purchase at least one of each type. It is very hard to pick one that is the very best.
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CAPTIVE GROWN GORGONIANS
