alindell
Active Member
So I just wanted to add my 2 cents for success with goniopora.
I consider it a success because alot of the times these corals for folks die after few months to 6 months.
So I have 3 currently. 2 red and 1 ultra pink. I see good polyp extension and health. Currently have had these except for one for probably about a year
So I've experimented a little with their happiness and how come to a few things.
Lighting: have done well under t5 and led. They are placed middle low in the tank, they can do fine under non intense light as I think they prefer lower light. I've kept a couple on a frag rack near the top of the tank and that ticks them off and they close up.
Flow: probably the most important thing along with lighting for polyp extension. They like a gentle upswell of current in the pics with this thread you can see 2 are placed along side zoanthids. Another at the bottom. The one at one gets variable current and a nice upswell from the tank bottom. It extends a few like 6 inches. It seems to be very happy. It gets just enough current to sway the polyps back and forth but not beat them up.
Chemistry: maintaining good chemistry with a good salt is very important. They do not tolerate change. Ive noticed if ph drops or alk drops they close up. Specifically alk when it gets below 8. They seem to like 8.5 range. At least that's when I see them to start opening up. Ph is kept at 8.2 to 8.4. I also noticed they like slightly "dirty" water meaning keep some detectable level of phos and nitrate. I do this by dosing neo nitro and neo phos good products from brightwell
Feeding: now it's hard to tell if they actually eat, but I have dosed reef roids, amino and oyster feast with the current off for about 30 minutes. I do this every now and then. They will sense the food and partially close up. You can see their mouth open up but it's hard to tell if food is actually being eaten. It's important to gently release the food and not squirt too hard on the coral. I think feeding is a key to king term success with them.
These corals can be finicky, but can be kept long term. Take this advice with a grain of salt as this is just my observations. Maintaining stable parameters within a good range with gentle flow and medium lighting aling with regular feedings should see success.
The last pic is oh the main colony but I used AI to cut it out and post it on a blanck background. Photos are not edited for color
I consider it a success because alot of the times these corals for folks die after few months to 6 months.
So I have 3 currently. 2 red and 1 ultra pink. I see good polyp extension and health. Currently have had these except for one for probably about a year
So I've experimented a little with their happiness and how come to a few things.
Lighting: have done well under t5 and led. They are placed middle low in the tank, they can do fine under non intense light as I think they prefer lower light. I've kept a couple on a frag rack near the top of the tank and that ticks them off and they close up.
Flow: probably the most important thing along with lighting for polyp extension. They like a gentle upswell of current in the pics with this thread you can see 2 are placed along side zoanthids. Another at the bottom. The one at one gets variable current and a nice upswell from the tank bottom. It extends a few like 6 inches. It seems to be very happy. It gets just enough current to sway the polyps back and forth but not beat them up.
Chemistry: maintaining good chemistry with a good salt is very important. They do not tolerate change. Ive noticed if ph drops or alk drops they close up. Specifically alk when it gets below 8. They seem to like 8.5 range. At least that's when I see them to start opening up. Ph is kept at 8.2 to 8.4. I also noticed they like slightly "dirty" water meaning keep some detectable level of phos and nitrate. I do this by dosing neo nitro and neo phos good products from brightwell
Feeding: now it's hard to tell if they actually eat, but I have dosed reef roids, amino and oyster feast with the current off for about 30 minutes. I do this every now and then. They will sense the food and partially close up. You can see their mouth open up but it's hard to tell if food is actually being eaten. It's important to gently release the food and not squirt too hard on the coral. I think feeding is a key to king term success with them.
These corals can be finicky, but can be kept long term. Take this advice with a grain of salt as this is just my observations. Maintaining stable parameters within a good range with gentle flow and medium lighting aling with regular feedings should see success.
The last pic is oh the main colony but I used AI to cut it out and post it on a blanck background. Photos are not edited for color
