Goniopora

[mussel20]

I am thinking about purchasing a goniopora at the LFS. It is about 6 inches tall and 6 inches long. It has been in there for about a week and a half and is 40$. How hard are they to keep? I have heard they are pretty hard, and I don't want to get into something that is just going to die soon. Any replies would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff

[David Grigor]

There are have a few advances with keeping. However, for the most part it is still best to resist the temptation. Most will do fine for about 6 months or so then go steadily downhill, unless you know what your doing.

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

www.reefcraze.com

[JENnKerry]

I smell a goni thread :D
Thanks Chaoticreefer4U :thumbsup:
What he ^ said

[John Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6491753#post6491753 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mussel20
How hard are they to keep?
They aren't easy........it takes quite a bit of knowledge and dedication.

[zoomfish1]

Read the reefcraze.com thread and I guess I have had blind luck with my goni. I target feed with cyclopease or brine shrimp and have not seen the liquid life product he refers to on the site.

Anyone know where it can be purchased. Is this an online deal or do most LFS have it in stock?

I didn't know until I read the thread that they were hard to care for. Like I said, blind luck!

[Klay]

I used to use cyclopeeze but 95% of the the stuff i squirted on it just ended up in the skimmer. I think cyclopeeze pieces are too big. Mysis are definitely too big

I've been using the reefroids stuff from www.polyplab.com. When i feed them, all my goniopora do some kind of pulsing action. and the tentacle extension is MUCH better than it used to be. used to be about 1 inch. after a few weeks of feeding it, they are closer to 3 inches


I'm not sure if they ship to the states though.

[John Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6504980#post6504980 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Klay
I used to use cyclopeeze but 95% of the the stuff i squirted on it just ended up in the skimmer. I think cyclopeeze pieces are too big. Mysis are definitely too big

I've been using the reefroids stuff from www.polyplab.com. When i feed them, all my goniopora do some kind of pulsing action. and the tentacle extension is MUCH better than it used to be. used to be about 1 inch. after a few weeks of feeding it, they are closer to 3 inches

I'm not sure if they ship to the states though.

David at Polyplab sent me a sample (in USA), but I haven't tried it yet.

Cyclopeeze pieces are not too big for any of the Goniopora species; although, some species (ones with longer tentacles and larger mouths) can consume it quicker and easier than others.

[Klay]

hey john

when you use cyclopeeze, do you use the frozen stuff? or freeze dried?

i used the freeze dried stuff and it after soaking it, i tried feeding it with the pumps off. only a couple of the heads ever caught pieces. is there some other trick to it?

[John Kelly]

I tried the reefroids food. The feeding response was positive. It seems to be a better food to use for the smaller tentacled smaller mouthed Goni species than for the larger. Much of it blew away except in areas where my water flow is lower. In lower flow, it worked good. It is recommended to turn off the pumps in the instructions.
When I opened it, I recognized the smell and got out the jewelers loupe :D.

[John Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6509597#post6509597 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Klay
hey john

when you use cyclopeeze, do you use the frozen stuff? or freeze dried?

i used the freeze dried stuff and it after soaking it, i tried feeding it with the pumps off. only a couple of the heads ever caught pieces. is there some other trick to it?
I use the frozen. The freeze dried floats and hardly has any moistue left in it. You have to first rehydrate the freeze dried with a tiny bit of tank water, then really mash it in the bowl (with back of spoon) to work any juices out of it. It's not the greatest to use.

The main problem with trying to feed Goniopora solid foods (small pellet food, powdered flake food, mysis/brine shrimp, cyclopeeze, brine shrimp eggs, freeze dried copepods, freeze dried rotifers, etc) is that their feeding response seems to be stimulated by sampling the water before they make an attempt to consume the food. Solid foods do not give off as much of a "scent" as liquid or semi-liquid foods. Frozen cyclopeeze works great when its juices/oils are mashed out of it before feeding. Mashing also makes the particles smaller. You will have less food blow away if you have a Goniopora species with longer tentacles surrounding the mouths, but there will always be some food that blows away if you leave your pumps on.

[JENnKerry]

If your LFS doesn't carry the Liquid Life I know you can get it from Marine Depot.

[Anemone]

ReefCentral is against any vendor or employee hiding their identity to promote their products on our, or any other bulletin board. This is unethical behavior.

Kevin

[Emster]

I know mine loves mysis the most of all the foods I feed it. It is the only food that I have seen it eating and it has very small mouths. It is the one in my avatar.

[John Kelly]

Goni's will eat just about anything; especially if it has a "fishy" smell.

In regards to the brand name products discussed in this thread, as far as I know, zooplankton doesn't smell like fish.