problem with my gorgonians

hello all, ive been dealing with a problem with my tank over the past 2 weeks. My hydrometer was giving me false readings. when i tested the water it was 1.030, i brought it down and immediately ordered a refractometer. when i checked it, it was at 1.020. everything is stable now at 1.025. all salinity changes were done at one point /day. anyways, my Gorgonians have not opened up for 4 days now and im getting a litlte worried.

All my other corals and fish are doing fine (Hammer, toadstool, Pineapple, GSP, and zoas)...
my readings are
Nitrate 0, Phosphate 0, 79 deg., 8 dhk, Ca 300ppm (yes i know its low).
75gal, with live rock and ATS.

please give me some advice. Are they dead or shall i wait a couple of weeks to see if they open back up agian.

Regards

 

i know next to nothing about gorgonians..but i would say leave them for a while..maybe they're still just adjusting..just keep everything stable for a while and they should pull through

 

if your polyps arent coming out, you might have a slight algae buildup on the pores, you can take a clean toothbrush to them. I seen this done last week at my LFS, before I bought it. the store guy told me he does it every once in a while.. also have you put some filter feeder food into the water to see if that helps the polyps come out? try both it may work, it did at the fish store.

 

hmmmmm....i feed filter food every other day,...the problem is that the polyps are 100% retracted, i cant even see them.... how long until i have to take them out the tank?

 

Sometimes my gorg will get really mad and not have it's polyps out for a week. Just wait, try to keep things stable and dose phyto. That's all about you can do. What you should do doesn't really change if it is doing well or badly; just try to make things to their liking. If there is some disease though, chop that part off.

What type of gorgonian is it (are they), by the way?

 

What kind of gorgonians are they? What exactly have you been feeding? And how long have you had them?

 

ive had them for 6months, i have 2 red sea fans (they are fine), 1 blue berry gorgonian (he is fine), 2 encrusting gorgonains (all polyps retracted) and a rusty gorgonian (all polyps retracted. thanks for the advice, ill keep things stable and see....nice to see someone who also keeps these corals

 

I'm not understanding this statement??

 

If you have already made tank conditions perfect for this specific gorg, and it has been doing well for a while, and it starts going down hill, there is not much else you can do other than do what you have been doing. This is unless there is some disease that needs treating/cutting off. The conditions under which it grows and prospers are probably the conditions it would heal best in. This very well may be wrong; someone please correct me if it is.

 

Whats interesting to me is that the only ones having trouble are the photosynthetic gorgs.
How old and what type are the bulbs? How is the flow they are in? Any new additions that could be harassing them as of late?