Sea Fans

Posted in Invertebrates, Reef Inhabitants, Sea Fans

Sea fans Make a great addition to any reef aquarium. Sea fans in the wild are most commonly known for thriving in shallow areas of the ocean, but have also been seen thriving at depths of several thousand feet.

A sea fans color and shape is highly dependent on the area of the ocean that it lives. They come in many different shape, sizes, and colors and can add diversity to your reef aquarium. Sea fans are made of hundreds of tiny polyps that look very interesting when fully open and up close.

Sea fans are a relatively easy coral to take care of. Because these animals cannot move, they are mostly filter feeders that wait for the food to come to them, but some have also been known to create food through photosynthesis as well. Because they are filter feeders, sea fans require a strong current to receive the nutrition necessary for them to live. Placing your new sea fan near your pump or a powerhead will more than meet the needs of the coral. While it is not needed very often in large reef aquariums, supplemental feedings for this coral can also be beneficial to its health. If you plan on keeping a sea fan in a nano reef, supplemental feedings may be a requirement.

Lighting is another issue for these corals. It is important that you do your research on each type of coral and its lighting requirements. In the case of sea fans, it really depends on the type. Some will need heavy lighting for the photosynthetic algae that it holds, but others are strictly filter feeders and can thrive in low light settings. As stated above, some sea fans may require supplemental feedings depending on species and tank size.

One of the issues with keeping a sea fan are algae. In my experience reefing, algae has been a real problem, and it seemed to grow quite well on the fingers of my gorgonian. If you have algae growing in your aquarium, you will want to monitor your gorgonian to make sure that no hair algae is growing on it, and if there is, manual removal is necessary.

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