Feeding a Flowerpot

[acmeguy]

I am relatively new to keeping a mixed reef tank and my LFS sold me a LPS which I later discovered was a Goniopora. I have read mixed messages as to hardiness and longevity.

Can anyone offer advice as to how to care for this coral such that it will prosper in my tank.

It has great polyp extension. I watch it come to life in the mornings in my office when the lights come on.

At times the fingers on the polyps look 'distended' but it varies from day to day.

I keep my dkh around 9.5, calcium around 425 - 450, salinity around 1.023, temp around 78 and I currently run Custom Sealife Smartlite with 2 96 watt 50/50 bulbs.

[DgenR8]

I haven't seen any mixed messages about this coral, I have only seen that they aren't just difficult, but nearly impossible to keep long term. I don't know a whole lot about them, but I've read that they actually prefer a "dirty" system. People that strive for perfect water conditions seem to lose them faster than people that don't skim, do few water changes, and allow their tanks to slip into conditions that I would never allow my tank to be. In the wild, they are found in lagoonal settings. Low flow, and murky water.
What else are you keeping?

[luvmyreef]

I don't know about the dirty tank part, I have had 1 for about a year now along with a galaxia and I don't think my system is dirty. My Gonipora even shot off a baby which really shocked me. I do know they require high light and good water flow. My calcium, salinity ect. is same as yours. I feed phytoplanton daily along with a variety fo other stuff for fish and corals. I know a year is not a long time but so far so good.
I just hope it continues to do well for me. Good luck!

[acmeguy]

Right now we are just in the process of filling the tank up with more LR. We have populated one corner of the tank currently and this is the hub of activity. The only other coral currently is mushrooms, red with purple spots and green with blue stripes (sorry about the crude description). The other inhabitants include a variety of crabs and snails, a cleaner shrimp, a long spine urchin and fish including a juenile mimic tang, coral beauty, flame angel, sailfin blenny and 3 yellow tail blue devil damsels (the break-in fish that survived!)

I have had the flowerpot for about 4 months so I am hoping for the best.

[reiple]

good news. what kind of flowerpot are you keeping? Is it the green thing or the red thing? brownish?

i failed with the greenish kind. i'd say 3x already. I'd try again when i see a brown or red flowerpot.

good luck to those keeping them!

[DgenR8]

Originally posted by reiple

i failed with the greenish kind. i'd say 3x already. I'd try again when i see a brown or red flowerpot.



Don't take this the wrong way,......
but don't try another Goni unless you have changed something that makes it's survival more likely. These corals are notorious for dying in hobbyists' tanks, and if you haven't got any clue why the first three died, why would you want to try another?

[carribeanlovers]

I don't know if this helps or even makes a difference but we have the green flower pot. We've had it now for about 5 months. It was doing great and for about a month wouldn't extend any more. I figured it was dead/dying but I left it go. Then one day my husband put kalkwasser directly into the tank completly saturating the tank(big mistake). After this happened the flower pot came back to it's normal state and has been good ever since. I'm guessing it was the kalkwasser but I'm not sure. Maybe if they're not doing well a calcium saturation is needed for them? Just a guess:confused:

[BonsaiNut]

Originally posted by carribeanlovers
It was doing great and for about a month wouldn't extend any more. I figured it was dead/dying but I left it go. Then one day my husband put kalkwasser directly into the tank completly saturating the tank(big mistake). After this happened the flower pot came back to it's normal state and has been good ever since.

I have had no trouble with goniporas. However, they ARE sensitive to low calcium levels - very definitely. Low calcium and they will not extend their polyps and will begin to show tissue recession.

Here is another thread on the subject. I got tired of posting gonipora growth pics, but it is probably time for me to do so again. All my goniporas are doing fine. Moderate flow, moderate light (not too bright) and high stable calcium and they grow like weeds. No supplemental feeding required (that I am aware of).

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=206030&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

[reiple]

Larry...

why do i insist? hard headed! ;)

nope seriously
1) try ideas above...maybe more calcium.
2) i really want to try these guys. you know the more you cannot the more you'd want to thing. Ego? maybe.
3) they would die anyway in the LFS. with me maybe they have a bit more chance.
4) well, they are (this will sound bad) cheap. gonio sell here from one dollar to two dollars (that's a big specimen). sadly this allows me to make mistakes and not feel the loss. in fact if i add my expenses, my 2+ year elegance would cost around 20-30x a new elegance coral. new ones are sold for 1 to 1.5 dollars here.

Or I just might not try anymore I guess.

[DgenR8]

Please, consider more than just price, it's an animals life that's at stake here. I agree, leaving it at the LFS means almost certain death, but by buying it, you show there's demand, and the LFS will replace it with another to sell, that will almost certainly wind up dead, this perpetuates the problem. If every Goni brought into a LFS doesn't sell, and the store loses on it, eventually they won't bring them in any more.
Sooner or later, someone with the facilities to do proper research will find out what this animal needs to stay alive, and like other corals that were once deemed "hard to keep" we will be keeping them with success. Until then, I think the message should be made clear to the trade, we don't want animals that we can't keep alive.

[Mako]

Originally posted by DgenR8
Until then, I think the message should be made clear to the trade, we don't want animals that we can't keep alive. Have to play devils advocate a little here to spice it up Larry. ;)

There are some who have been having success with keeping gonipora/alevopora. It's limited and scattered, but I have seen and read of it.

It's not a coral for the majority of us reefers as it's feeding requirements are not quite fully understood. I can remember trying gonipora a few times many years ago and having no success. But, I also remember the same thing happening with a lot of other corals back then. Some of those same corals that were so hard to sustain back then are considered "weeds" by some these days. :eek1:

My point being that if we were to stop collecting goni'/alveo' and they were no longer available in the trade how would we be able to continue advancing our understanding of what this coral needs are.

I am not an advocate for these corals in the hands of those who don't understand what they are undertaking when they bring home the bag. Most LFS's don't do enough in this regard as it never helps the bottom line. I do encourage those who have been doing this awhile, and have the time and patience, to continue to expierment with trying to further our understanding.

[reiple]

Good points Larry and Chuck.

As for me --- no more green gonio. I've never tried white tipped or red. Not really into trying it but I doubt I can resist it when I see one.

Larry:my ego is working bad into the idea that someday I find the way to keep them and tell all so they would be able to avoid killing them. But yes I will not buy it from a LFS anymore. I can do two things. Get it myself (a summer project next year). Or ask someone to get it for me (from the wild). Hopefully just a small bud or frag.

[springer275]

I had a flowerpot for about 2 years, but lost it do to other reasons (left my tank go and bubble algea killed it , I am now trying to rebuild the tank)


I kept mine alive by stirring the live sand at the bottom. Since it was "live" sand that I purchased from florida, it was full of all kinds of dirt and plant and coral material. I would take my glass scrapper and drag it threw the live sand at the bottom. Not real hard, but enough to send up a nice cloud of material. The tank would be real dirty for about two to three hours, but then settle down and would be crystal clear. I did this once a week. The flowerpot thrived and as I understand, leather corals like this as well.

[reiple]

thanks! thats a new idea for me. might be helpful springer275.

[Entropy]

I have had a flowerpot for about four months now and two things I can tell you it likes is reef plus and reef complete (Seachem). One is a calcium additive (like the others mentioned) and the other is a vitamin supplement so I don't know what part exactly, but something in there. I dose these once a week (Sunday for one, and Wednesday for the other) and afterwards the goni really perks up for a day or two (it always looks good when the halides are on anyway but a little extra when dosed).

I have the green kind if it makes a difference?

[shadofax69]

Hi, I heard of a product today called cyclop-eeze or something like that. From what the guy was telling me its great stuff. He went around the store and showed me some amazing things. First of all he fed a goniopora and it ate it up. His goniopora has also recently spit out two babys and they are both growing as well. He was also feeding it to his manderins and they were eating the stuff up. He also had several hard to feed fish and they were eating the stuff up. I dont know but this product might be worth a try.

[DgenR8]

I have/do use CyclopEeze. It is good stuff. My Manderin wants nothing to do with it, but everything else in my tank seems to go for it.
I don't keep Goniopora, so I don't know they go for it or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

[shadofax69]

O I forgot to add that the person I saw feeding the goniopora was spot feeding it.

[posjr]

I had one about 4 or 5 months ago and posted it here next thing you know i had like 60 or more replays about good bad ect. It was crazy.

But from what i got from that thread was take it back and i did and the last i saw it it was dying.. Glad i did.

Good Luck :D