How to keep Blue Sea Fan?

[jervismun]

Hi guys

As usual, I was at the LFS and I saw this beautiful Blue Sea Fan. It's not very costly so I bought a rather large specimen.

I later (last night) found out that the Blue Sea Fan is a very tricky species to keep in a reef tank. Here are some of the problems I am facing right now.

1) Low Light

Due to its (large) size, I have no choice but to position it towards the upper tier, where is gets quite a lot of light (150W MH, 14000ºK).

2) Strong Water Flow

Again, due to space restrictions, I can't position near my water outlet & wave maker.

3) Feeding

I still have no idea what to feeds it... currently all my corals survive on photosynthesis

Kindly share with me your experience with this species. I am thinking of spliting the specimen so that it's more manageable, easier to locate to a more suitable area. Whaat you guys think? It consists of two separate trunks (attached to a single piece of rock), so I guess spliting is possible. What is your view on this?

If I am to let it rot in my tank, will it poison my other LS?

[jervismun]

Here's how it looks like in my tank setup.

[KTLK]

Feed them with phytoplankton & provide good water flow your other corals will also benefit from the plankton

[Maxstar81]

I also have. Some seem to be melting.

Any reefers got experience in keeping please help. Thanks in advance.

[jervismun]

Can I split the trunks? Refer to my original post.

[Maxstar81]

I think its ok since the harvesters use this method for collection.

[jervismun]

I think its ok since the harvesters use this method for collection.

Thanks I will do it tonight

[FuEl]

Stirring up your substrate from time to time will benefit these guys as well. Yes, you can frag the seafan if you find it too big but only do it when it is healthy.

[Qxnviolet]

Heyhey, so fast got so many corals already.... Nice tank.....if u succeed with the blur seafan, give me some tips....tried once and failed....really love the colours though...

[hammy]

fans gernarally need good flow with lotsa phyto. try DT

[jervismun]

fans gernarally need good flow with lotsa phyto. try DT

I will, thanks! Do I also need to get one of those feeding device? Or just dose direct into the tank? I think it needs to be refrigerated right?

[jervismun]

I also have. Some seem to be melting.

Any reefers got experience in keeping please help. Thanks in advance.

Sorry

But I really like your shrooms... by any chance you are selling/trading/giving away some shrooms? I like the colour of it, unlike mine.

[iantoh]

dear bro jervismun,

just my two cents ya, but hope it helps you.

non-photosynthetic gorgonians (seafans) generally feed on zooplankton, that is, invertebrate larvae, copepods, copepod nauplii, etc, so i think even though some phyto might be useful, it probably wont meet the coral's nutritional needs. what id suggest is feeding some DT's oyster eggs, but theyre expensive and add to your tank's bioload. alternatively, a good food would be freshly hatched baby brine shrimp.

i seldom visit jireh, but of the times ive been by, ive noticed that theyve managed to keep their blue seafans for quite a long time now, and theyre feeding newly hatched baby brine shrimp.

harlequin used to sell frozen copepods in the cube tray form previously, though i dont know if they still carry them, but theyre certainly worth a shot too, and will be a great treat for your fish.

if you have the time, try looking through this article by rob toonen, as its pretty good:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2002/toonen.htm

cheers,

ian

[jervismun]

dear bro jervismun,

just my two cents ya, but hope it helps you.

non-photosynthetic gorgonians (seafans) generally feed on zooplankton, that is, invertebrate larvae, copepods, copepod nauplii, etc, so i think even though some phyto might be useful, it probably wont meet the coral's nutritional needs. what id suggest is feeding some DT's oyster eggs, but theyre expensive and add to your tank's bioload. alternatively, a good food would be freshly hatched baby brine shrimp.

i seldom visit jireh, but of the times ive been by, ive noticed that theyve managed to keep their blue seafans for quite a long time now, and theyre feeding newly hatched baby brine shrimp.

harlequin used to sell frozen copepods in the cube tray form previously, though i dont know if they still carry them, but theyre certainly worth a shot too, and will be a great treat for your fish.

if you have the time, try looking through this article by rob toonen, as its pretty good:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2002/toonen.htm

cheers,

ian

I am trying to cultivate artemia too, will it help? The guy at AM call it Sea Monkey.

[jacobus]

hi ... im curious .. did u get it from aquamarin ? i just got one from there too ... mines placed at the sandbed where theres moderate flow ... but i dose a little coral food every other day for all my stuff ... but small amounts though.. my fan seems alright .. almost all the polyps are open ... hope this helps ..

[jervismun]

hi ... im curious .. did u get it from aquamarin ? i just got one from there too ... mines placed at the sandbed where theres moderate flow ... but i dose a little coral food every other day for all my stuff ... but small amounts though.. my fan seems alright .. almost all the polyps are open ... hope this helps ..

Yes I bouht it from AM yesterday. Can you share a pix of your tank showing the placement? I think the sea fan prefers strong current, but low light... very tricky placement. I did dose in Kent Marine complete regime for corals growth (check my signature) this morning. The polyps are almost all open too, quite pretty. But it looks white on my setup coz I do not have an atinic light. I will get some phytoplankton tomorrow or Monday.

[Qxnviolet]

I got one from AM just now too, just couldnt resist....realised i made a mistake with my 1st and placed it in a low flow area, thats what prob caused it to die. Hope this one will do well cause i really love the colours..

[jervismun]

I've split the 2 main branches and place the small frag to the bottom right corner. The wavemaker is on the top right (behind) corner, so let's see if the one with strong current do better than the other one. Will feed them (and other corals) phytoplanktons as soon as I get hold of one. Best of luck to all of us Blue Sea Fan lovers

[jervismun]

Tested and proven!!! These guys love water current!!! The polyps on the left (esp the lower bunch) are happily opened coz water is flowing there. The right portion (notice the diff grey background?) doesn't open at all! Hehe, it's amazing how much we can learn in one day

[FionaFiona]

wait till u see bro Elune's seafan... they're 101% opened and swaying in the current... so nice~~ =)

[jervismun]

Ok I will visit his thread... I guess the Sea Fan must be of a certain size to be able to sway nicely... mine still sway a bit, but not smoothly coz small frag. I've been feeding them Aquaz Phytoplankton and will start cultivating Artemia very soon.

Here's a pix, showing some improvements after feeding... been like this for the past 3 days.

[jervismun]

Anyway just to be on the safe side, I will be selling the larger fan to bro Terryz, collection tomorrow. This way, I can focus on just 1 instead of 2. I really hope I can keep it healthily

[FuEl]

Blue seafan polyps can open to this size. Fed mine phyto and otifers, as well as detritus.

[Maxstar81]

Bro Fuel,

Thats an old photo right ? (respect !!! )

Remember U posted damn long ago right !?

My sea fan not doing too well....

jervismun,

yours seems to be looking gd !!!

[colinsoon]

Blue seafan polyps can open to this size. Fed mine phyto and otifers, as well as detritus.

fierce.... now i am inspired to get a sea fan...