Gonipora extended but not as much

[SaltyCrew4u]

So I have had three gonis for about 8 months. They haven't fully extended to what they once were. They were all placed closely together so I moved them thinking they were stinging each other. It's been two days and they have all kinda stayed the same. The glitter is and has been doing the best. I use AFR amd AB+. I know gonipora can be tricky but they have made it this far. Plus there are so many new heads appearing. Any ideas?

Phos: .13 4/27/25
Alk: 8.1 4/27/25
Ammonia: .10 3/10/25
Mag: 1340 4/27/25
Calcium: 440 4/27/25
Nitrate: 17.4 PPM 4/27/25
PH: 8.6
Salinity: 1.025

 

[Science/G]

Parameters look legit, but .10 of ammonia though?!? seems a bit high for an established reef.

 

[Ryan - Serious Reefs]

Than recently released a video in which he shares how important it is to act quickly on these kind of things. It's a SR member video but here is a free month so you can see it. Hope it helps :)

 

[Science/G]

https://tidalgardens.com/articles/coral-care-articles/goniopora-coral-care.htmlManganese?

 

[bradreef]

Are you adding manganese?

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

Are you adding manganese?

I am not. I believe it is included in AFR. But maybe it's not a strong enough dose?

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

Parameters look legit, but .10 of ammonia though?!? seems a bit high for an established reef.

I could do a 10G water change in my 36 gallon and my ammonia stays the same. It's been this way for over a year. Tank is roughly 1.5 years old.

 

[Science/G]

I could do a 10G water change in my 36 gallon and my ammonia stays the same. It's been this way for over a year. Tank is roughly 1.5 years old.

The test kit is probably off a bit. To be honest, I haven't tested ammonia since the startup cycle.

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

The test kit is probably off a bit. To be honest, I haven't tested ammonia since the startup cycle.

Yea I have watched plenty of videos and they say once your tank is established their is basically no need to test for it unless something unexpected happens.

 

[Science/G]

An ICP test will give you a clear and relatively trustworthy analysis of all of your parameters, including trace elements. AFR should keep the big three: Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium, within acceptable ranges for the most part. Even with water changes, you may have a deficiency somewhere as elements are taken up differently in every individual setup

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

An ICP test will give you a clear and relatively trustworthy analysis of all of your parameters, including trace elements. AFR should keep the big three: Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium, within acceptable ranges for the most part. Even with water changes, you may have a deficiency somewhere as elements are taken up differently in every individual setup

Just ordered ATI ICP-OES Complete Saltwater Water Test Kit. First time testing my water. Says it arrives tomorrow. What instructions should I follow to save me time before it arrives?

 

[Gribbles]

Just ordered ATI ICP-OES Complete Saltwater Water Test Kit. First time testing my water. Says it arrives tomorrow. What instructions should I follow to save me time before it arrives?

It's incredibly fast and shouldn't take more than 15 minutes of your time. You'll need to create an account with ATI if you'd like to do that now.

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

It's incredibly fast and shouldn't take more than 15 minutes of your time. You'll need to create an account with ATI if you'd like to do that now.

I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning. What about adding supplements? Stop adding? Feeding? Trying to get accurate results.

 

[Gribbles]

That's tricky because you ideally would want a consistent routine before testing and then make adjustments based on your test results.

Personally I would want a baseline of what my tank looks like now prior to any adjustments. I would also begin adding manganese etc, with the understanding that the worst case scenario is nothing bad happens (so long as you dose according to label). I'd watch how the corals respond and consider testing again in 3 months. That is me, though.

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

So woke up today and my glitter bomb was closed up on the backslide. The pictures previously posted were how the entire goni looked like. But these pictures were from the goni removed from the tank, retracted but you can see the area that's super retracted. I did add some more pitho crabs a couple weeks ago to help with my bubble algae. I haven’t seen them wearing any of the goni or pieces floating around. I moved the goni to a magnetic insert on the wall. I didn't wanna dip in CoralRX or Lugols solution just yet. Any recommendations? Nothing else seems to be affected in the tank.

 

[VintageReefer]

You can try a hydrogen peroxide dip. There’s a ratio out there for Goni.

The Goni overall look good. Sometimes a few die off from lack of light or flow but as long as it’s not spreading you’ll be ok. Maybe move them an inch forward so more light can get to the rear of them

 

[Science/G]

Some Goniopora are just hard to manage

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

You can try a hydrogen peroxide dip. There’s a ratio out there for Goni.

The Goni overall look good. Sometimes a few die off from lack of light or flow but as long as it’s not spreading you’ll be ok. Maybe move them an inch forward so more light can get to the rear

Some Goniopora are just hard to manage

Very true. But it has to be something that's bothering just that part of the goni.

 

[VintageReefer]

Very true. But it has to be something that's bothering just that part of the goni.

Could be poor light or flow in that one spot. Hence I said move it forward an inch or so since it looked close to the rocks

 

[SaltyCrew4u]

Could be poor light or flow in that one spot. Hence I said move it forward an inch or so since it looked close to the rocks

It was the angle. It had a good amount of space behind it. Plus it's been in the same spot for months. I sent in an ICP test this evening. I also dipped it in peroxide. It's now sitting mid tank completely free of anything blocking flow or light. Might need to turn my lights down some.