Goniopora and Manganese

[Danyole]

I'm about to send out my first ICP test to get to the bottom of this but I was just wondering if anyone had any input

So when I had my Fluval Flex 15 I kept 3-4 Goni's with no issues, they were thriving and I wasn't dosing anything. It was mostly a LPS tank with some zoas and 1-2 monti. I also ran a macroalgae refugium which i've read depletes is very quickly. I upgraded to a 65G system at the start of the year and have gotten no polyp extension from my Goni's. I've tried moving them all around the tank with no luck. The main changes from the 15 to the 65G are I started dosing AFR, switched from Red Sea Blue to AquaForest Reef salt and have mostly added more SPS coral more than anything. Do SPS coral use up more Mn than LPS and softies or could it be the salt?

My parameters are stable and I test weekly. Everything else in the tank is thriving so i've been hesitant to make any major changes but I would really like to keep a few goni's

Alk: 8.8
Ca: 470
Mg: 1490

 

[Formulator]

I think you are on the right track getting an ICP test. It could be related to manganese, but without the results we are really just speculating.

What about lighting and flow? I imagine they would be a bit different considering you are keeping SPS now vs LPS dominant in your last tank…

 

[Danyole]

Lighting and flow definitely got stronger but I tried moving them everywhere. They're currently in low light/med flow and they're just surviving but not thriving. Very little extension but they're hanging on. What got me thinking was this video from InappropriateReefer where he talks about having very similar issues to mine. He also has them in a mixed reef and he says his were barely hanging on and once he started dosing Manganese they really took off and now he has giant colonies.

 

[Danyole]

Looks like im lacking in trace elements. Also 0 Manganese like I thought. Picked up a bottle of ReefFactory Manganese and gonna start dosing accordingly. According to the instructions 2.5ml for the first 2 days and then .5 ml daily after that

https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/icp-oes/198222

 

[Formulator]

Looks like im lacking in trace elements. Also 0 Manganese like I thought. Picked up a bottle of ReefFactory Manganese and gonna start dosing accordingly. According to the instructions 2.5ml for the first 2 days and then .5 ml daily after that

https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/icp-oes/198222

Glad to hear it should be an easy fix! I also dose manganese daily. It is depleted pretty quickly.

 

[VintageReefer]

I noticed some improvement but I can’t say it was from starting manganese vs just more time and stability

Some Goni extend nice for me and most are much shorter

I buy ones with vendor photos of long extension and it’s never the same for me

I did send out for icp, waiting on results. Maybe I’m not adding enough manganese ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I noticed some improvement but I can’t say it was from starting manganese vs just more time and stability

Some Goni extend nice for me and most are much shorter

I buy ones with vendor photos of long extension and it’s never the same for me

I did send out for icp, waiting on results. Maybe I’m not adding enough manganese ?

Manganese and aminos are what keep my gonis happy

 

[VintageReefer]

Manganese and aminos are what keep my gonis happy

Do you find an impact with par?

I feel mine are happy but they don’t extend as far as some vendors.

example this is my newest. The vendor pic was taken hours before I bought it. So it’s a current and fresh pic vendor pic

Then I bought it and it arrived 2-3 days later. I would say it’s happy, it’s extending but not as much

This vendor told me they kept it in low par and flow, 60-80 par And gentle flow. I don’t even think I have anywhere in my tank 60 par. And that’s with my photons on 35%. I’m not willing to reduce my lighting at this time…things are working out really well for the delicate balance of sps and lps. I’ll see what my icp results say. I may have a deficiency somewhere. I haven’t done a water change in years

What aminos do you use? I have two kinds I alternate between but it’s random. I dont really have a set schedule or routine for them

Meanwhile other Goni look nice and long

But most are in the 3/4-1” range

 

[vetteguy53081]

Do you find an impact with par?

I feel mine are happy but they don’t extend as far as some vendors.

example this is my newest. The vendor pic was taken hours before I bought it. So it’s a current and fresh pic vendor pic

Then I bought it and it arrived 2-3 days later. I would say it’s happy, it’s extending but not as much

This vendor told me they kept it in low par and flow, 60-80 par And gentle flow. I don’t even think I have anywhere in my tank 60 par. And that’s with my photons on 35%. I’m not willing to reduce my lighting at this time…things are working out really well for the delicate balance of sps and lps. I’ll see what my icp results say. I may have a deficiency somewhere. I haven’t done a water change in years

What aminos do you use? I have two kinds I alternate between but it’s random. I dont really have a set schedule or routine for them

Meanwhile other Goni look nice and long

But most are in the 3/4-1” range

I run moderate schedule with orpheks and they are always out and extended

 

[Miami Reef]

Do you find an impact with par?

I feel mine are happy but they don’t extend as far as some vendors.

example this is my newest. The vendor pic was taken hours before I bought it. So it’s a current and fresh pic vendor pic

Then I bought it and it arrived 2-3 days later. I would say it’s happy, it’s extending but not as much

This vendor told me they kept it in low par and flow, 60-80 par And gentle flow. I don’t even think I have anywhere in my tank 60 par. And that’s with my photons on 35%. I’m not willing to reduce my lighting at this time…things are working out really well for the delicate balance of sps and lps. I’ll see what my icp results say. I may have a deficiency somewhere. I haven’t done a water change in years

What aminos do you use? I have two kinds I alternate between but it’s random. I dont really have a set schedule or routine for them

Meanwhile other Goni look nice and long

But most are in the 3/4-1” range

I’d kill to have gonis like yours. I’ve always seen you as the no water change, goni guy that has a floating turf scrubber lol.

 

[VintageReefer]

I’d kill to have gonis like yours. I’ve always seen you as the no water change, goni guy that has a floating turf scrubber lol.

That’s me!
My other niche is torch and the various donut corals. Cynarina, scoly, acantho, moseleya. And I’m just starting to get into shrooms to see what all the fuss is about

 

[Formulator]

Do you find an impact with par?

I feel mine are happy but they don’t extend as far as some vendors.

example this is my newest. The vendor pic was taken hours before I bought it. So it’s a current and fresh pic vendor pic

Then I bought it and it arrived 2-3 days later. I would say it’s happy, it’s extending but not as much

This vendor told me they kept it in low par and flow, 60-80 par And gentle flow. I don’t even think I have anywhere in my tank 60 par. And that’s with my photons on 35%. I’m not willing to reduce my lighting at this time…things are working out really well for the delicate balance of sps and lps. I’ll see what my icp results say. I may have a deficiency somewhere. I haven’t done a water change in years

What aminos do you use? I have two kinds I alternate between but it’s random. I dont really have a set schedule or routine for them

Meanwhile other Goni look nice and long

But most are in the 3/4-1” range

I noticed a big improvement in my goni’s extension with manganese dosing, though I am doing the full reef moonshiners program which includes daily doses of cobalt, chromium, selenium, iron, iodine, vanadium, and manganese. So I can’t necessarily say with 100% certainty that the manganese is responsible, but it is the most quickly depleted, along with iron and iodine.

I had to increase my dose of manganese to 1.5 mL/day based on several ICP tests done over the course of a few months while stepping the dose up gradually until it stabilized. I can’t remember if you were using reef moonshiners brand of manganese, but I do remember you mentioned somewhere else that your dose volume was quite a bit smaller, so maybe it would be worth considering an increase.

 

[VintageReefer]

I noticed a big improvement in my goni’s extension with manganese dosing, though I am doing the full reef moonshiners program which includes daily doses of cobalt, chromium, selenium, iron, iodine, vanadium, and manganese. So I can’t necessarily say with 100% certainty that the manganese is responsible, but it is the most quickly depleted, along with iron and iodine.

I had to increase my dose of manganese to 1.5 mL/day based on several ICP tests done over the course of a few months while stepping the dose up gradually until it stabilized. I can’t remember if you were using reef moonshiners brand of manganese, but I do remember you mentioned somewhere else that your dose volume was quite a bit smaller, so maybe it would be worth considering an increase.

I’m using moonshiners manganese and dosing .4ml a day. I just sent out for icp on Friday, so I will see if my results show detectable amounts. I do have 20 Goni plus the turf scrubber so I may not be dosing enough

 

[Formulator]

I’m using moonshiners manganese and dosing .4ml a day. I just sent out for icp on Friday, so I will see if my results show detectable amounts. I do have 20 Goni plus the turf scrubber so I may not be dosing enough

I just have one goni and a 20g fuge full of chaeto. 130g system water volume. If I was a betting man, I’d wager your ICP will direct you to increase ;)

 

[VintageReefer]

I just have one goni and a 20g fuge full of chaeto. 130g system water volume. If I was a betting man, I’d wager your ICP will direct you to increase ;)

I never did icp before, started manganese a few months ago, assumed I was at zero as a baseline. I think the Calc gave a correction initial dose then said .2ml a day

I know it has no factor for amount of “consumers” of manganese and I know I’m high so I doubled the dose and then wanted to go a full 2 months before testing to see what/if it shows up

I have approx 80 Gal of water factoring for my sump and rock.

 

[Miami Reef]

@VintageReefer

What foods do you feed your reef? Asking because I’m trying my hand at gonis and I really like your success.

 

[Formulator]

I know it has no factor for amount of “consumers” of manganese and I know I’m high so I doubled the dose and then wanted to go a full 2 months before testing to see what/if it shows up

So, if you use the assessment tool in the moonshiners excel tools, it does have sort of a factor for consumers. It suggests to add another 1x the daily dose (0.2 ml in your case) if you have macroalgae, another 1x if you have a lot of coral, and another 1x if you run carbon.

 

[VintageReefer]

@VintageReefer

What foods do you feed your reef? Asking because I’m trying my hand at gonis and I really like your success.

I’m feeding right now

This is todays blend

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m feeding right now

This is todays blend

Do you know the ingredients inside? What else do you feed to your reef?

I know they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes I need actual words. ;)

 

[VintageReefer]

So, if you use the assessment tool in the moonshiners excel tools, it does have sort of a factor for consumers. It suggests to add another 1x the daily dose (0.2 ml in your case) if you have macroalgae, another 1x if you have a lot of coral, and another 1x if you run carbon.

Darn. Guess what they say is true. Always read the fine print