Goniopora (flowerpot corals) impossible? | Care recipes

[living_tribunal]

I’ve found every goni I own to be very easy to care for. I think those who have difficulties may own stokeskis (or whatever they’re called) which are much more difficult to care for.

 

[shred5]

I’ve found every goni I own to be very easy to care for. I think those who have difficulties may own stokeskis (or whatever they’re called) which are much more difficult to care for.

How long have you had them? The thing with gonis is sometimes they live a 1 year to 2 years and then just die.
Like I said success with gonis is in years.
Some are not to hard to keep like the ORA reds also goniopora stutchburyi is not to hard.

 

[living_tribunal]

How long have you had them? The thing with gonis is sometimes they live a 1 year to 2 years and then just die.
Like I said success with gonis is in years.
Some are not to hard to keep like the ORA reds also goniopora stutchburyi is not to hard.

Over a year for some. My first has always just grown like a weed. He had a nickel sized skeleton when I first got him.

 

[living_tribunal]

Once again, I think this goes back to indo vs aussie gonis. Indo are much harder to care for as are stokeskis. I've heard many say to avoid purchasing gonis with cone shaped skeletons and look for skeletons that have a wall like appearance.

 

[Waynerock]

Got to say I have amazing luck with all of my Goni’s and Alve’s. My favorite corals for sure. Even the encrusters are covering there whole rock. Love em! I think these are gonna be the next hot coral in the next year I can see them ramping up especially with the glitter Goni’s.

 

[Raven09]

Everyone knows that Goniopora are impossible to keep. They always die after a year or so. That’s the word on the street – but it’s not the whole truth. Personally, I took this statement as a challenge, and set out to change the way we looked at the care of this “impossible” coral. Until recently, I dare not say I have cracked the code on many Goniopora species. I have kept both Alveopora and Goniopora, and most of them have seen substantial growth in the past 18 months. I can now tell that it is possible to keep Goniopora alive, as long as you provide the proper care and feeding for the species in question. I'm really excited to share my failure and success stories with all of you fellow reefers. Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated. And I'm happy to answer questions if any. Thanks!

I posted this yesterday - PLEASE HELP!!

I am new to reefing and currently have a mixed reef. I have been reading but having problems putting the pieces of the coral puzzle together.
I have 2 Gonioporas and both are sickly looking. When I bought them they were very active and would extend about ½” to 1”. The LFS NEVER TOLD ME that they are hard to keep. Fine help and advise for a beginner, huh. Silence for the MONEY!! I have tried many things like checking and adjusting chemicals but to avail. The last thing I’m trying is raising the salinity level to 1.026 from 1.022.
Can someone, anyone help me save them. I need some simple solutions if possible. I don’t mind starting again but can not wait forever. I appreciate any help but need it from a seasoned Goniopora raiser someone that knows these beautiful creatures. I have been feeding them every other day with a mixture of Reef Roids, Reef Chili, and Benepets. I also dos with Red Sea Reef Energy Plus coral nutrition.

 

[shred5]

I posted this yesterday - PLEASE HELP!!

I am new to reefing and currently have a mixed reef. I have been reading but having problems putting the pieces of the coral puzzle together.
I have 2 Gonioporas and both are sickly looking. When I bought them they were very active and would extend about ½” to 1”. The LFS NEVER TOLD ME that they are hard to keep. Fine help and advise for a beginner, huh. Silence for the MONEY!! I have tried many things like checking and adjusting chemicals but to avail. The last thing I’m trying is raising the salinity level to 1.026 from 1.022.
Can someone, anyone help me save them. I need some simple solutions if possible. I don’t mind starting again but can not wait forever. I appreciate any help but need it from a seasoned Goniopora raiser someone that knows these beautiful creatures. I have been feeding them every other day with a mixture of Reef Roids, Reef Chili, and Benepets. I also dos with Red Sea Reef Energy Plus coral nutrition.

Do you have pictures to see what we are dealing with? Any pictures when they were healthy too.
Gonis are touchy they also do not adapt well to conditions they are not sued to. The hardest part is finding the right light and flow and sometimes it takes allot of moving around. I just fragged one and moved it to a new tank. I had to move it at least 5 times till I found a spot that it finally opened. Problem is I did not want it there.

A big chunk are also like the more touchy anemones where they really like older tanks with real stability. They do not like any ups and downs.

Also some are just very hard or impossible to keep still. Some like the ORA red are not to bad.

The other thing is each variety of goni is different. You can have luck with one buy another set it right next to the other and you can struggle with it. so what works with one may not with another. I was one of a handful of people that were doing gonis way back in the day when most stayed away and a few had random luck but even to this day I struggle with a few. I am still working on a technique to keep a few.

 

[zzyz]

I posted this yesterday - PLEASE HELP!!

I am new to reefing and currently have a mixed reef. I have been reading but having problems putting the pieces of the coral puzzle together.
I have 2 Gonioporas and both are sickly looking. When I bought them they were very active and would extend about ½” to 1”. The LFS NEVER TOLD ME that they are hard to keep. Fine help and advise for a beginner, huh. Silence for the MONEY!! I have tried many things like checking and adjusting chemicals but to avail. The last thing I’m trying is raising the salinity level to 1.026 from 1.022.
Can someone, anyone help me save them. I need some simple solutions if possible. I don’t mind starting again but can not wait forever. I appreciate any help but need it from a seasoned Goniopora raiser someone that knows these beautiful creatures. I have been feeding them every other day with a mixture of Reef Roids, Reef Chili, and Benepets. I also dos with Red Sea Reef Energy Plus coral nutrition.

I'm sorry to hear that. You must have worried a lot, which I can relate. From my experience, reef roids are good enough for gonis to grow. So the next step, try target feeding them for a couple of weeks. See if things improve. And at the same time, make sure you keep NO3 and PO4 low and KH stable. Please let us know how things turn out and I wish you good luck!

 

[Raven09]

Do you have pictures to see what we are dealing with? Any pictures when they were healthy too.
Gonis are touchy they also do not adapt well to conditions they are not sued to. The hardest part is finding the right light and flow and sometimes it takes allot of moving around. I just fragged one and moved it to a new tank. I had to move it at least 5 times till I found a spot that it finally opened. Problem is I did not want it there.

A big chunk are also like the more touchy anemones where they really like older tanks with real stability. They do not like any ups and downs.

Also some are just very hard or impossible to keep still. Some like the ORA red are not to bad.

The other thing is each variety of goni is different. You can have luck with one buy another set it right next to the other and you can struggle with it. so what works with one may not with another. I was one of a handful of people that were doing gonis way back in the day when most stayed away and a few had random luck but even to this day I struggle with a few. I am still working on a technique to keep a few.

Don’t have any before pictures only current. Here you go. I have owned the green Goni for about 2-3 months and it’s reach was about 1-2 inches and the red Goni had a reach for about 1-2 inches and owned for about 1 month. The green Goni has been in the same spot for over a month. It was, I thought happy there because just within the last 2-3 weeks going down hill. Plus within the last 2 weeks I started target feeding all corals every other day. The red Goni started fine but maybe I need to move to different area. The water flow is moderate and I try and change the flow rate up to twice a day from day and night but not always.

 

[Raven09]

I'm sorry to hear that. You must have worried a lot, which I can relate. From my experience, reef roids are good enough for gonis to grow. So the next step, try target feeding them for a couple of weeks. See if things improve. And at the same time, make sure you keep NO3 and PO4 low and KH stable. Please let us know how things turn out and I wish you good luck!

Not sure what you mean NO3-PO4-KH. I’m really green here, but trying to learn. I have been target feeding for over a week now. Thanks for the info!!

 

[paintman]

Not sure what you mean NO3-PO4-KH. I’m really green here, but trying to learn. I have been target feeding for over a week now. Thanks for the info!!

If you do not know what No3/PO4/KH is, you should not have gonis.

 

[Raven09]

If you do not know what No3/PO4/KH is, you should not have gonis.

If you can’t help, then don’t!

 

[DDenny]

Awesome video and great information. Thank you for sharing this valuable information with us all.
Your tank is awesome as well.

 

[zzyz]

Not sure what you mean NO3-PO4-KH. I’m really green here, but trying to learn. I have been target feeding for over a week now. Thanks for the info!!

Good to know that! NO3 is nitrate, usually maintained around 5 or below. PO4 is phosphate, usually maintained at an undetectable level. KH is alkalinity, usually maintained in a range between 8-11, but at a stable level within +/- 0.1.

 

[zzyz]

Awesome video and great information. Thank you for sharing this valuable information with us all.
Your tank is awesome as well.

Thank you so much! My pleasure.

 

[Raven09]

Good to know that! NO3 is nitrate, usually maintained around 5 or below. PO4 is phosphate, usually maintained at an undetectable level. KH is alkalinity, usually maintained in a range between 8-11, but at a stable level within +/- 0.1.

I know the terms Nitrate,Nitrite, Phosphate and Alkalinity but did not know the other terms. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for teaching me the different terms and how they get used.
If I can help someone else like you helped me my life goes by better. Again, THANK YOU!!

 

[Pistondog]

Everyone knows that Goniopora are impossible to keep. They always die after a year or so. That’s the word on the street – but it’s not the whole truth. Personally, I took this statement as a challenge, and set out to change the way we looked at the care of this “impossible” coral. Until recently, I dare not say I have cracked the code on many Goniopora species. I have kept both Alveopora and Goniopora, and most of them have seen substantial growth in the past 18 months. I can now tell that it is possible to keep Goniopora alive, as long as you provide the proper care and feeding for the species in question. I'm really excited to share my failure and success stories with all of you fellow reefers. Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated. And I'm happy to answer questions if any. Thanks!

Inspirational tank. Thanks for your husbandry efforts and sharing the knowledge.

 

[zzyz]

I know the terms Nitrate,Nitrite, Phosphate and Alkalinity but did not know the other terms. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for teaching me the different terms and how they get used.
If I can help someone else like you helped me my life goes by better. Again, THANK YOU!!

Thank you for your kind words! I really appreciate you taking the time to express that. I just made another video on water parameters specifically. Feel free to check it out in case you are interested.

 

[zzyz]

Inspirational tank. Thanks for your husbandry efforts and sharing the knowledge.

Thank you! Glad you liked it.

 

[noonelikesadrytang]

Don’t have any before pictures only current. Here you go. I have owned the green Goni for about 2-3 months and it’s reach was about 1-2 inches and the red Goni had a reach for about 1-2 inches and owned for about 1 month. The green Goni has been in the same spot for over a month. It was, I thought happy there because just within the last 2-3 weeks going down hill. Plus within the last 2 weeks I started target feeding all corals every other day. The red Goni started fine but maybe I need to move to different area. The water flow is moderate and I try and change the flow rate up to twice a day from day and night but not always.

I'm not expert on Goni's, but we have 10-12 of them that are happy - and I did bring one back from the brink of death, but it took months. It's skeleton recession was worst than yours is showing from the photos. I put it in a low flow area, and kept my tank parameters really stable. I didn't target feed it - I just fed the tank. After a couple of months the polyps started coming out again, a couple months after that, they started extending. I think you're just going to need patience and time, and really stable tank.