Purple Whip Gorgonian (Pseudopterogorgia sp.)

Ever wonder how to train a sea horse? With a sea whip!

These purple branching corals are quite amazing in many ways. They are probably the easiest of the gorgonians with the exception of encrusting gorgonian. If you have ever had to snip a speaker wire on your new home entertainment system than this is going to be an easy coral to frag as well!

The coral has an internal skeleton that is black in color. It is brittle, but with the combination of its thick flesh it makes quite a sturdy coral. It can actually twist towards corals it may be threatened by. The structure if the body is dictated by relative distance to surrounding corals In a tank by itself it will grow straight up and look like a fan. Surrounded by other corals it can become a twisted web of branches that poke other corals to death rather than sting them.

To frag the coral you will need a sharp razor and a plug with a hole in it large enough to stand a toothpick up. Super glue gel to Bond the coral.

Take the coral out of the water.
Cut off any desired piece of the coral. You can snip one single branch or even cut the whole piece in half.

Return the original coral to the water and grab the fragged piece.

Take your razor and gently cut a line 1/4 inch from where you cut it. Do not cut the internal skeleton. Make sure the line goes all the way around the branch like you are stripping wire.

Then you should be able to use your fingernail and pull off the 1/4 inch of flesh. It will grow into a new coral if you set it in rubble for a couple weeks.

Now you have a purple stick with a black skeleton sticking out the bottom. Full the hole in the frag plug with super glue gel and insert the gorgonian frag.

Put a few drops if water in the glued spot and wait 10 seconds. Then put the frag in a lie flow area and allow the glue to cure.

When you frag the coral it's polyps will stay closed for up to 3 weeks. Do not be scared. It is using its energy to regroup its flesh. You will wake up one day and see it fully open.

The frag will do the same thing until it has encrusted a foothold on the frag. You should make sure to keep it algae free.

It's an awesome photosynthetic particle eating coral that grows fairly fast in the right environments!

 

Great information. Thank you for taking the time to put this out!

 

Your welcome. I am going to try to do this with all my specimens I have successfully fragged.

 

yes, thanks for the info....

 

Thanks for the info Semour,I have always wanted to try a gorgonian but am leary of their special needs.How much flow is needed to keep this photosynthatic variety happy in comparison to other corals in a mixed reef and how much supplemental feeding do they require.

 

I have found them happiest under a power head in moderate light. Basically you want it to have kind of a swirl effect. Not too fast but enough to keep it algae free. Planktonic foods are best for their tiny polyps. I think mine like coral frenzy. Lol. The non photosynthetics are much tougher and require daily plankton.

 

Nice post!

This is one of my slowest growing coral, slower even than the lps and sps that I have. so I haven't had much opportunity to frag it. I don't feed it, but in a year and a half it has only grown maybe 1/2 inch, but it does look healthy. I have another gorgoninan (not as pretty, light brown) that actually grows like a weed comparatively.

 

Thanks, I have slow growth as far as height goes, but its branches have grown fairly rapidly. I have noticed that the frags I sell or trade off grow faster than in my systems for the most part. I guess the gorg is faster on the other side of the...tank lol

 

I have been thinking of adding a little movement to my sps.

Thank you for sharing.

 

They will add a nice sway for sure. Just don't let it poke other corals!

I was thinking if situating some excess mushrooms I have around it to try to manipulate its shape. If I do I will also add to the thread.