Goniopora Troubles

[wheelspin12]

Hi all

Long time lurker, first time poster

I'm struggling with gonis of late
I recently went through a 3 month fallow period (ich) where the tank seemed to be doing pretty well. I have 6x goni frags (aquacultured) among a bunch of other corals (torches, sps, lobos etc) that looked amazing during this fallow period. I had 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates without the fish, but fed aminos and reef roids to the tank.

As soon as the fish went back in, the gonis took a turn for the worse. One by one they've been dying. Slowly reducing polyp extension until they don't open at all and the frag gets covered in algae. I'm struggling to understand what's gone wrong, I've kept the feeding regiment established during the fallow period consistent and I'm sitting at 0.07ish phosphate and 8 nitrate. I'm now 3 months since fish have gone back in.
Dkh anywhere from 8.2 to 8.7
Ca 420
Mg 1400
Ph 8.1

Fish: powder blue tang, blue tang, leopard wrasse, naso tang, clownfish, fire goby and Mandarin fish

I don't think it's anything bacterial, all the other corals are doing well with sps going great
I don't have much nuisance algae, rocks are coated in coraline

I've seen the powder blue take a chunk of polyp from the green Alveopora a couple of times, but I figured it was a green thing (thinking it's food) and I haven't seen it happen in a while

I use the reef factory ca, dkh and mg with the trace elements
Also did an icp and everything looked good
I dose manganese and iodine daily

Any ideas?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

no pictures? Its a very descriptive post, but pictures really help.

 

[wheelspin12]

See attached pics

Any help appreciated

 

[Tyguy]

See attached pics

Any help appreciated

I had my Goni do something very very similar. It was a combination of a few things that’s helped me, the biggest was daily testing with micro adjustments to keep my tank ultra stable I did this for a month and saw better results. Another help with dipping in coral RX and reef roids feeding weekly. The final thing that pushed it to open back up properly was dosing iron and manganese in on as both were low I got it from two little fishes. Also I would recommend running a ICP test, that’s what helped me identify all the small problems I had like low manganese and low iron

 

[vetteguy53081]

See attached pics

Any help appreciated

These are coral that can be beautiful yet challenge the most experienced hobbyists and can be great one day and wither the next. Goni are photosynthetic corals and gain their energy source from light for color and energy. Inadequate light will cause them to change color and even shrink. If there is a change in lighting you will have a basis for determining issues. Water flow has a similar effect - too much flow will kill some of its cells and can start a reaction with other gonis in the tank. Moderate to medium flow is a must to keep their tentacles swaying to keep debris off of them and deliver food in which they regularly. Adding aminos to the tank is a plus for their health.
Some good foods are chopped krill, mysis shrimp, phyto and zooplankton. Im not a fan of powdered plankton foods as they can raise phosphates quickly but they work well with goni and alveopora.
Assure no3 and po4 Not elevated. Also having some Manganese in the water helps them to reduce stress in general and its important to have Mag at 1300-1350 to help stabilize CA and ALK level consumption

 

[wheelspin12]

I did think the lighting was too intense for them as I've recently increased from 65% to 80% (though was a slow ramp). I moved the rock into the middle where there is a bit of shading

Flow I think they're in a good spot, not getting smashed, but still plenty going through

The larger one on the left (green) looked like it was opening up last week with a few polyps starting to extend 5-10mm, but that's since stopped in the last few days

I will try a dip to see if that helps

Maybe an icp in the coming month

They've got me going mad, I'm here thinking sps is hard and while they're doing great, these gonis are just dying..

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't think light is an issue for them, mine are directly under metal halides, they can acclimate to different lighting. I have noticed they like flow, and if not enough flow they will close up. They will close up sometimes if moved. I've had goni's thrive for years, and then close and slowly die. They are weird and difficult corals IMO

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Gonis I have found thrive on 'physical' stability. I say that to mean that once you find the 'right spot' for them, they seem to really do well. They also do not like being poked and walked on by snails/hermits/fish. Make sure your trace elements - especially manganese - are slightly elevated. RMS levels have kept my gonis alive for 2 years now.

I also have a huge goni colony in my 20g that is probably growing the best of all of them on just AFR. That's why I think they do best once they find a spot they love. Once you find that - DON'T MOVE!