What to do with this gorgonian

[Reefer911]

Posting here because I’m not sure where else to post.

I recently ordered some live rock that came with a nice gorgonian. I had the rock in fresh salt water in a brute can for a few weeks in order to cycle any die off from shipping. I was also waiting on my Aquabiomics test kit to come in and sample my DT water PRIOR TO placing the live rock in the DT. During the wait, the gorgonian absolutely melted, except for a small piece. That small piece now in the DT has great PE and looks like it wants to survive.

My question: should I snip that branch off where there is life, glue it to the rock and remove the other branches? Or will the gorgonian “back fill” (so to speak) the rest of the tree?

I’ve never had one or even researched these so I’m almost completely clueless about gorgonians.

 

[mtraylor]

It's hard to tell from pic but it looks like the whole thing is dead. If there is a part that is alive, then your snipping idea is the way to go.

 

[Reefer911]

Yeah basically the whole thing is dead. You can see one white part up high in the branches. I was going to snip the whole thing until I saw PE and decided to leave it. Just making sure before I cut it

 

[Reefing102]

This is generally what I use - https://www.garf.org/GORG03/WINTERGORG.shtml

 

[carol3]

I like that GARF gorgonian article except for one thing, they show pictures of several gorgonians glued on one plug or rock but I have read more recent information that says gorgonians shouldn't ever touch each other, one such article: "They must however be given adequate room to sway in the current, and care must be taken to ensure that your gorgonians are not touching or rubbing against anything else in the tank, especially not other corals. Gorgonians of different species will usually sting each other if they touch, and even members of the same species will retract their polyps in places where they rub together. The sting of most gorgonians is quite weak, so they tend to lose coral wars with pretty much everything. Keep this in mind when positioning them in your tank." That was from an article written by Billygoat, in NanoReef, A Quick Guide to Keeping Photosynthetic Gorgonians in Home Aquaria.