Red Finger Gorgonian

 Quick Care Facts

• Care Level: Difficult   • Temperament: Peaceful   • Waterflow: Strong
• Placement: Bottom   • Lighting: Low   • Color Form: Red, Orange
 • Supplements: Calcium, Strontium, Trace Elements   • Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025
• Origin: Caribbean   • Family: Anthothelidae   • Species: Sea Fans

Help Support AquariumDomain!      

• Your support keeps AquariumDomain advertisement free, lightning fast and fully optimized for both mobile and desktop browsing.

• Visit our Patreon page to learn about the exclusive benefits our Patrons receive!

The Red Finger Gorgonian is also commonly referred to as Red Tree Gorgonian, or Colored Sea Rod. This species is definitely for expert reef aquarists with established reef systems. The Red Finger Gorgonian requires not only excellent water conditions and proper handling, but it also requires daily feedings of plankton and other foods designed especially for filter feeders.

This species is a very attractive branching tree-like coral, that is basically available in two color variations being bright orange-yellow with red and white polyps, or deep red to purple with white polyps. This sea fan will usually grow in small and sparsely branched colonies and is extremely brittle and breaks easily, making it easy to propagate in this manner.

The Red Finger Gorgonian is peaceful, but it should be given adequate space away from neighboring corals or anemones so that it is not harmed by more aggressive species and so that it has room to grow. Underwater epoxy is commonly used to anchor its base to a piece of live rock or other suitable location at the bottom of the reef aquarium. It is difficult to maintain even in the well-established reef system, so it should only be attempted by an expert reef keeper.

The Red Finger Gorgonian is not photosynthetic and requires a low level of lighting to ward off a build-up of micro algae, but also requires a stronger water flow and the addition of iodine, calcium, strontium, and other trace elements to the water. All the combined requirements make this species overall difficult to keep and only suitable for certain reef aquarium setups.

Since the Red Finger Gorgonian is not photosynthetic, it depends on regular feedings of micro-plankton, live baby brine shrimp or other foods designed for filter feeding corals and invertebrates for its survival. Multiple feedings each day will be required to replicate the food intake this species would have in the wild and to make sure it will survive and thrive in an established reef aquarium.