help with dissolving gorg

[hadji11041]

I have what i believe to be a purple gorg (all i know about it) Ive had it for about a year and its been doing great the entire till till recently it is starting to dissolve there have been no changes in the tank. im wondering if anyone has any ideas? any help would be greatly appreciated
Roger

 

[hadji11041]

anyone?

 

[ohsweetmadness]

mine will occassionally slough off some skin down to the black skeleton and then regrow... it's done that when a RBTA decided it's new home should be wrapped around the base. just keep your eye on it. they can be really sensitive. good luck!

 

[Greg Hiller]

Is the tissue disappearing and only leaving behind a black stem? Or is it more a sloughing of the surface? Some species of gorgonians will do this surface sloughing on a regular basis to rid themselves of any algae or other critters that might be trying to grow on them.

Is this a photosynthetic gorgonian to your knowledge?

> leaving behind a black stem<

If this, then I suggest that you cut all branches that have any such disease on them off, about 1/2 inch below the first area of the tissue that looks to be having a problem.

 

[hadji11041]

Is the tissue disappearing and only leaving behind a black stem? Or is it more a sloughing of the surface? Some species of gorgonians will do this surface sloughing on a regular basis to rid themselves of any algae or other critters that might be trying to grow on them.
it appears to be doing a little of both but its a light brown color stem not black


Is this a photosynthetic gorgonian to your knowledge?
i have no idea

 

[reefkeeper2]

If I had to guess, I would say you are not dosing iodine. If that's the case, try it. Other than your specific gravity possibly being off, I can't think of anything else. I had the same experience with some of my gorgs and it stopped with iodine supplementation. It is always best to get a test kit whenever you dose anything. Salifert makes a good iodine test kit. Go slow and make sure not to overdose. It could take a week or more for you to see a change.

 

[alpha0r]

Many marine creatures can slowly starve to death over a long period then die suddenly. If this is a non-photosynthetic species and you have not been adding appropriate food this could be what happened.

Good luck.

 

[reefkeeper2]

The starving hypothesis is certainly possible, but I think if his specimen were nonphotosynthetic, it would not have lasted as long as a year. Also, specimens that are starving slowly waste away. The sudden "dissolving" sounds like something else and is a good description of what I have seen occur in my own tank.

 

[alpha0r]

The starving hypothesis is certainly possible, but I think if his specimen were nonphotosynthetic, it would not have lasted as long as a year. Also, specimens that are starving slowly waste away. The sudden "dissolving" sounds like something else and is a good description of what I have seen occur in my own tank.

I just mentioned starving because it is "common." Reefkeeper has much more experience with these things than I do.