Gorgonians in saltwater tanks

Gorgonians are oftentimes the favorite colors of aquarists. Many fall in love with the colorful and thinly branched corals. But beware - these gorgonians are often azooxanthellate. That means, they don't have any zooxanthellae and you have to feed them with fine plankton. Unlike them, brown gorgonians like the Eunicea, Pinnigorgia, Rumphella, Antillogorgia or Plexaura are robust corals. Thanks to their zooxanthellae, they only need enough light in order to be healthy. However, they do like the occasional feeding with fine powdered food or plankton.

What do gorgonians want?

The water flow is most important when it comes to taking care of your corals. Choose a place with strong and changing water flow inside your reef tank. If the coral doesn't open its polyps, it could be a sign that the water flow is too low. High nutrient values are not a problem, most of the time. The biggest enemy of the gorgonians is filamentous algae. Make sure your tank stays free of them.