The Purple Frilly Gorgonian is a very unique animal. These interesting organisms are both peaceful and beautiful, and can add a good deal of color and grace to many reef aquariums.

Purple Frilly Gorgonians normally do best when kept under strong lighting and moderate to strong water movement. Placing your gorgonian directly in the path of water motion can assist it in its monthly cleaning process. Several times a month, a Purple Frilly Gorgonian will shed an outer layer that has been secreted. Water motion will help this filmy layer to be removed; if it were to remain intact, the gorgonian could become susceptible to algal infection. Purple Frilly Gorgonians do not sting most other animals. However, many types of hard corals or anemones will sting them. Even soft corals might shed secretions that might harm a gorgonian, and colonizing corals might choke out a gorgonian. It is best to keep your gorgonian away from any corals to ensure that it does not become injured. Purple Frilly Gorgonians do not need to be fed, provided there is plenty of light for them to photosynthesize nutrients from. They have small polyps that will extend tentacles which catch material suspended in the water. Purple Frilly Gorgonians are reef safe, and, when provided with sufficient light, water motion, and good water quality, may be easily kept in many aquariums.

The Purple Frilly Gorgonian has delicate, thin branches. Polyps with feathery tentacles can extend to cover these branches. Purple Frilly Gorgonians grow about 2 inches (5 centimeters) per year.

Most captive Purple Frilly Gorgonians are collected from the Caribbean.

Purple Frilly Gorgonians are best kept under high output fluorescent lighting. Some may do well under metal halides; however, they must be acclimated to this lighting or it might prove too strong for them. Temperatures should remain between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit (23 to 26 degrees Celsius) with a pH of 8.3 or 8.4. The Specific gravity should fall between 1.023 and 1.025. They do require moderate to strong water currents, and may be placed directly in the path of a power head. Stinging hard corals like Hammer Corals, Bubble Corals, and Elegant Corals could sting a gorgonian, and should not be placed where they can come in contact with one. Colonizing corals like Xenia may overrun a gorgonian. To prevent this, you may wish to place rocks between a Xenia and a gorgonian, so these may be removed or replaced if the Xenia begins to expand over them. If a soft coral sheds its outermost layer on a regular basis, you should place it somewhere where the material will not fall on your gorgonian, as this could injure it. If this should happen, remove the material from the gorgonian using a pipette or some similar instrument. Purple Frilly Gorgonians normally do not require feeding. However, an occasional supplement can be given by stirring of the aquarium substrate. Some gorgonians are susceptible to attack by certain white parasitic nudibranches, which should be removed from your Purple Frilly Gorgonian immediately, lest they prove fatal to it. Generally, it is best to purchase a gorgonian that is already attached to some stable base. Some gorgonians may lose tissue in small areas at the very tips of their branches; and if large areas are dead, specimens should not be purchased. If the tips of the Purple Frilly Gorgonian have lost tissue during the stress of shipping, you should cut the dead areas away. Cut at least 0.25 inches (0.5 centimeters) into the living tissue beyond the dead area, to prevent any infection to the gorgonian. However, ideally, you would wish to purchase a specimen that does not show any receded or dead areas.

A variety of methods for propagating Purple Frilly Gorgonians have had varying success rates. Usually, these methods are similar to those used to propagate most corals; cuttings are made from a parent gorgonian, and then attached to a rock or other base using a rubber band or super glue. A very good method involves taking a 2.5 inch (7 centimeter) cutting from a healthy gorgonian. This cutting may be branched, or it may be a straight stem. Using a sharp cutting implement like a razor, you should strip the live tissue from the bottom half inch (1 centimeter) of the cutting. This may be done out of water. You will be left with a stick of skeleton protruding from the bottom of the cutting. Take care not to cut into the skeleton while you strip the tissue. Using a tiny amount of thick or gel-type super glue, you should glue this skeleton end into a rock base. Try not to get any super glue on the Purple Frilly Gorgonian's living tissue (the purple part), and try to attach the cutting so that live tissue is very near to the base, or touching the base. The attached cutting should be placed in saltwater long enough for the glue to cure. Then, the attached cutting may be replaced in your aquarium. Within a few weeks, the Purple Frilly Gorgonian should begin to recover and grow, producing new tissue over the base it has been attached to.