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View Full Version : Goniopora health?


bswedenburg
06/02/2004, 09:43 PM
tank: ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-0, ph=8.3, Sp. grav- 1.026 with a refractometer, calcium 440, alk: DKH- 9.6/meq- 3.3. tank is 6 mo. old. lighting 110 PC (1) 55w Actinic/daylight, (1) 55w actinic.
250w DE MH 14K hamilton bulb off of ARO electronic ballast. tank is 26 gallon with a 30 gallon refugium/sump. AquaC Remora pro skimmer with a mag 3. lights are 2 inches off the water thru a tempered glass plate in my self built custom oak hood, which has push pull 2 fan configuration. autotopoff set to top off after 1 quart evap water loss.

when i first got the goni, i did a long drip acclimation, almost two hours worth. it was fully extended, and looking good, but was not anywhere near this green. it practically glows in the dark.
but....it seems to be withdrawn lately a lot. should i move to my refugium where the light is less intense, (lot less)? is it just getting used to the light? i have two oscillating power heads in the tank and ~15+ tank turnover. all my other critters are doing fine, clams are good, featherduster good, zoo's good, candy coral doing good. fish are great, xenia are doing fine, GSP are growing like a weed and have self fragged twice.

is this critter going to be ok? is it too much light? i don't target feed, but i do feed the system with a mixture of DT's (or reed mariculture coral and clam diet) and golden pearls both the 5-50 micron and 50-100 micron sizes, and i usually mix in some cyclo-peez, and some finely, dry bleneded freeze dried krill. i usually mix a fresh "batch" every 3-4 days. so they get fed well...

TIA!

PUGroyale
06/02/2004, 10:11 PM
I have had one for several months in my new tank. [also about 5 months old] Mine extends and retracts throughout the day for no apparent reason other than disturbances. Left undisturbed it will still extend/retract/ even close totally as it sees fit. [now my clown hosts in it so it gets annoyed a little more often] Since I got mine, I have heard that they are difficult specimens to keep... evidently not in my case. Mine's a dang monster. It literally takes up 1/8 of my tank when fully open. I do use DT"S and it really opens the following day after dosing. If you LOOK IN MY GALLERY you can see the giant with its clown friend. I do use appx 230 w of PC on my 46 bowfront so my lighting is significantly lower than yours. Interestingly, a friend of mine had the exact same color variety and hers died after a month or so. She kept hers on the floor of the tank under 4 110w VHO's [80 gal? tank... 4 ft anyway] Good luck.. hope yours is a success story too...

EricHugo
06/03/2004, 08:23 AM
I would keep this one in low light and low water flow. But, I'm not optimisitic, no matter what your tank is like for free living Goniopora. Fortunately, yours just seems contracted and not receding.

bswedenburg
06/04/2004, 07:59 AM
done. moved it to a spot where it is protected from ~ 75% of the light, it's under a rock overhang.

but i do have another question. i noticed yesterday when i was doing some maintenance, that the SS heater was corroding! it had a big, ~ 2 sq. in. of corrosion, some of it pretty deep. would this cause a problem with the goni due to elevated levels of metals in the water due to the corrosion? just wondering.

TIA!

EricHugo
06/08/2004, 06:45 AM
Dunno...what's it made of? Probably isn't good, no matter what ;-)