How hard can it be to keep GONIOPORA?

[beaker77]

I've kept Goni's for 4 years until a heater malfunction cooked my tank. I recently got my tank up again and I my first coral purchase was another Goni. I target feed mine Cyclopeeze and DT's phyto mostly with pretty good luck.

Here is a good interview with John Kelly, a Reef Central member, and the admin of the former Goniopora.org
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/resources.asp?show=353

[mscarpena]

Them surviving long term is few and far between. I really think it depends on the one you get and where it was collected from. I had one that survived for about 2 years to 2.5 years until my tiger cowrie eat it. I then tried a few more and they all died in a few months. I also did not have as good of a protein skimmer at that time. The skimmer could be the key or lack of one??

[thebanker]

There is a guy locally that keeps green goni's with a good success rate. Apparently he uses a lagoon approach. Low flow, low light, and lots of food.

Elegancecoral - i'm looking around the edges of your goni pic, and I see lots of algae. Do you agree that keeping them in a refugium-like lagoon habitat is the best way to make them happy?

[williah]

Originally Posted by sacremon

Color is irrelevant. The concern is the species, which may or may not be all that easy to determine.

As far as needing pristine water, I think that is an excuse devised by someone who found that they could not keep theirs alive. Goniopora are predominantly found in lagoon environments - very nutrient rich, often to the point of being turbid. Not exactly what I would call pristine. I have seen suggestions of having them in a tank that does not have a skimmer, so that plankton is not removed from the water. That is probably a very good idea.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2

Very interesting comment. I like, and instinctually agree with, this idea about nutrients and no skimmer.

I've affectively grown my own phytoplankton for 5 months now. I dose 2xday, about a cup + each time. I also removed my skimmer a year ago and added an algae turf scrubber as a replacement. I did this with the thought of creating a more nutrient rich yet low Nitrate environment. The result has been an explosion of growth with my corals.

I've been thinking about getting a goniopora again to see if this more nutrient rich environment will help keep it alive now. I've had 2 in the past, and both died after 6 months, but the tank was much younger and didn't have the current skimmerless/ATS setup.

[PaxRoma]

Originally Posted by williah

Very interesting comment. I like, and instinctually agree with, this idea about nutrients and no skimmer.

I've affectively grown my own phytoplankton for 5 months now. I dose 2xday, about a cup + each time. I also removed my skimmer a year ago and added an algae turf scrubber as a replacement. I did this with the thought of creating a more nutrient rich yet low Nitrate environment. The result has been an explosion of growth with my corals.

I've been thinking about getting a goniopora again to see if this more nutrient rich environment will help keep it alive now. I've had 2 in the past, and both died after 6 months, but the tank was much younger and didn't have the current skimmerless/ATS setup.

I think you should. I am going the "almost" skimmerless route and have been achieving great result with goni (check my posts for more info). The more ppl try the method out, the more solid evidence we can gather on these species

[thebanker]

Gotta love the ATS. williah - can you post a pic of your ATS? Since patent laws prevent them from being marketed here commercially, I love seeing how people DIY these things. The best I've seen so far is by sanababit and his skimmerless SPS tank.

[CookieJar]

I've had 3 types of Gonis for 3+ years and all have thrived, thrived to a point where I've made and distributed around 10 frags, and I've had very good reports of them continuing to do well. The 3 types are red, green & blue.
I used to target feed cyclops & cyclopeeze, but havent' done so for ~ 1 year and they still do well. I do add other coral foods (reef nutrition) to the tank, which I think helps. I'd consider my water medium nutrient level at the least.

[kayaking2]

I've had my red "goni" for for about 4 months which isn't very long. It seems to be thriving at the moment...lots of growth. I placed it in the moddle of the tank with lots of flow and light(LEDs).
I hope it survives and thrives for years to come.

[thebanker]

Does anyone keep a goni with biopellets for N/P reduction? My BP reactor is flowing into the DT to feed corals, I'm wondering if a goni would like that sort of environment.

[slk55r]

I don't know about the whole goni doing better without a skimmer bit.

Mine has been in the tank now since April of 09 and has increased in size at least 4fold. (red Goni) I do heavy skimming but with medium feeding.

I just got a rainbow goni and it will be arriving this thursday so I"ll see how that one does.

[prickles]

one thing I think really hurts them is being covered by sand. Dunno why, but any area on my goni that gets covered never recovers, and dies quickly. I have had this one for about a year, perhaps more and about 1/2 of it is dead because my bluespots try to bury it. If you have one, make sure it can't fall upside down into the sand, nor get covered. Outside of that, it seems to be surviving. It's a teal color wild caught.

[williah]

Ok, I did it. I saw a beauty at my lfs. It was wide open, with its polyps fully extended (3-4 inches), and the guy helping me said they'd had it for 2 wks and it was still looking good and opening up.
It wasn't wide open this morning, but the tips were protuding a bit. I'm hoping when the lights come up it'll open up. I'm going to work my a off to keep this one alive. I hope it works.
Pictures to follow.

[seapug]

This is an interesting discussion.
I tried a couple Gonis over the years and never had success with them until I started running zeolites and probiotics. About 1 year ago I decided I'd try one again so I picked up a nice purple one that is growing like mad in my tank where I run Zeolites, dose carbon and bacteria and have a protein skimmer rated for a tank twice the size of mine. This definitely runs counter to the "high nutrient/no skimmer" theory.

What may be the common thread is feeding. Since started Zeolites and probitics I'm able to do dense "plankton cloud" feedings using a rich mixture of PE Mysis, Rod's Food and Nutramar Ova, so that's probably playing a part in the Goni's health.

[j.p. harrington]

ive got a goni thats about 8-10 inches across when fully expanded got it on my sand bed in a corner of the tank so less flow there the more flow the less it expands.

i also feed heavily and a huge variety of stuff

cyclops
rotifiers
baby brine
mysis
pe mysis
daphnia
krill
then reef nutrition products include:
arcti pods
oyster feast
rotifeast
phytoplankton

lol i know that sounds crazy and alot but with a good skimmer you can feed like this with no problem

[thebanker]

The gonis couldnt possibly eat mysis. I can imagine them eating oyster feast or rotifers but nothing else from the above list.

[ati70cutlass]

ive heard the color issue before and tend to belive it has some truth. however in my experience ive not been lucky with red or green for more than a few months

[psychostieg]

I keep reading about some of you going wo skimmer and others over skimming..... The question that keeps nagging me every time I read a post is how big is your tank?.... I currently have around 600gal, and I feel that going wo skimmer on a larger system is not at all the same as pulling the skimmer off of a 75 or 100gal tank.
Is there any way those of you who have the most success with these beauties (2 yrs or more) could include the size if your tank & overall system?.... I would also be interested to hear anything related to other inhabitants of your systems too. I have wondered for years if Gonipora have some sort of symbiosis that is not purely visible, but with something or some other coral ... etc..... Only way to find out is by asking the extremely successful keepers about their co-inhabitants in hopes of possibly identifying a common species... Microbe..... ... Just my 2 cents:-)..... I absolutely love these creatures, and refuse to attempt keeping them until I study them more. Years ago when I was a beginner, I ambitiously and ignorantly brought these corals home only to watch a beautiful healthy coral fold up overnight after months of looking great. I just can't stand seeing them die..... That was 10+ years ago... And I have learned a lot. I might consider trying one again very very cautiously. Any ideas or thoughts on the symbiosis?..... Lagoon environments are extremely rich in life...... Could be any number of chemical interactions with other organisms.... Ideas?

[j.p. harrington]

i wasnt saying that the eat mysis i was just stating what i feed my tank and showing how heavily i feed my 75 gallon mixed reef where everything thrives like mad with me feeding all that 4 times a week with no water quality problems

[thebanker]

Ah gotcha. Sea pug said he fed mysis too. JP, how long have you had your goniopora?

[singold]

I have a red one with blue centers. Has been doing fine for about 4 months now. No specialized feedings.

[seapug]

Originally Posted by thebanker

Ah gotcha. Sea pug said he fed mysis too. JP, how long have you had your goniopora?

The mysis I feed is part of a mixture for the corals and fish. The Gonis don't eat the mysis. As a matter of fact, I've never see them capture anything, but I assume they feed on the smallest particles in the mixture like phytoplankton, rotifers, oyster eggs, prawn eggs, etc.

[williah]

Originally Posted by psychostieg

I keep reading about some of you going wo skimmer and others over skimming..... The question that keeps nagging me every time I read a post is how big is your tank?.... I currently have around 600gal, and I feel that going wo skimmer on a larger system is not at all the same as pulling the skimmer off of a 75 or 100gal tank.
Is there any way those of you who have the most success with these beauties (2 yrs or more) could include the size if your tank & overall system?.... I would also be interested to hear anything related to other inhabitants of your systems too. I have wondered for years if Gonipora have some sort of symbiosis that is not purely visible, but with something or some other coral ... etc..... Only way to find out is by asking the extremely successful keepers about their co-inhabitants in hopes of possibly identifying a common species... Microbe..... ... Just my 2 cents:-)..... I absolutely love these creatures, and refuse to attempt keeping them until I study them more. Years ago when I was a beginner, I ambitiously and ignorantly brought these corals home only to watch a beautiful healthy coral fold up overnight after months of looking great. I just can't stand seeing them die..... That was 10+ years ago... And I have learned a lot. I might consider trying one again very very cautiously. Any ideas or thoughts on the symbiosis?..... Lagoon environments are extremely rich in life...... Could be any number of chemical interactions with other organisms.... Ideas?

Very good points, psychostieg. I have a smaller, 72 gallon, tank and yet using an ATS for me was not simple. It took some work and fine tuning to get a proper balance. I've read in many forumns that many hobbyists with large tanks (600+) had to stop their ATS use because it was too labor-intense, too large, etc. The lagoon approach might only be practicable for smaller tanks. I do plan to get a larger tank relatively soon, so I've thought of this question many times.

Also, I too would like a detailed descriptions of tanks and location of inhabitants from those who've succeeded (knock on wood) with raising and propigating Goni's. I've begun tracking the details of my tank carefully for future reference.

[williah]

So to keep this thread alive, here's an update on my new tank member. I've had him in for over a week. It has not fully extended it's polyps yet, though in a few areas they've come out a bit (no more than 1 cm).

I've re-read the forumn and references, but am only now changing my feeding mixture. My fault in not acquiring the extras right away, but I wasn't expecting to get a goni on such short notice.

I'm currently feeding a mixture of home-grown phytoplankton, cyclopeeze, shrimp (mysis or brine) and algae flakes: unfortunately non of the recomended foods. And the shrimp is for the fish and other corals in the tank, but I mixed it all together in case the nutrient exchange ("shrimp juices") might be beneficial.

I've finally been able to buy oyster eggs and rotifers, which I'm going to start feeding today. I've also order frozen cubes by H2O Life Coral food that has phyto and zooplankton mixed in. I expect this to be useful.

[elegance coral]

Originally Posted by thebanker

There is a guy locally that keeps green goni's with a good success rate. Apparently he uses a lagoon approach. Low flow, low light, and lots of food.

Elegancecoral - i'm looking around the edges of your goni pic, and I see lots of algae. Do you agree that keeping them in a refugium-like lagoon habitat is the best way to make them happy?

Sorry for the delayed response.

I think environments that support lots of pods, are good for goni's. As far as food is concerned, that is. These are still stony corals though, and often "refugium-like lagoon habitats" are loaded with excessive phosphate. Phosphate is the stony coral kryptonite. So, me personally, I wouldn't allow detritus to accumulate to feed pods, so that I had a "natural" food supply for my goni. I'd rather keep the system clean and feed my goni every day, when I feed the fish. This way the goni gets the food it needs, but doesn't have to deal with excessive phosphates. That's just me though.

[idareefer]

I have a large red blue eyed goni I have kept for years, it sits about mid to upper half of tank, gets blasted by tons of current & halide lighting, have never spot fed, just gets all the nutrition from lighting & whatever is in the system, for what it's worth