Help - Gonipora and brown slime identification

mnreefster

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Looking for some advice as I couldn’t seem to find a whole lot on this. I purchased a Gonipora in late November and it was doing lovely until about a month ago when I accidentally blasted with a powerhead for a few hours. Within two days it had pretty much completely receded and I figured it was gone. Kept it in the tank and it was just sort of there but then one day my algae scraper clapped together, fell into the tank and fell onto the Goni and broke it clean off the rock. So I glued it back but this time I put it in the back corner where it has the lowest par. Well, lo and behold, the thing is actually starting to extend again. However, I noticed the brown slime where the goni had been on the rock and in my ignorance I thought it was part of the goni since it had been on it since the day I bought it. I don’t think it’s bjd or it would have been dead months ago but I’m also pretty sure it’s not a good thing. My question is 1) what is it? 2) How bad is it that it is in my tank? 3) I’ve read that hydrogen peroxide could be used to treat gonis for things like this and wondering if that would be viable in this case? 4) I can remove the other corals from the rock, so would it be good to take the rock out (and goni as well) to treat them both (and how)?

Basically- what can I do to save my goni and not make this situation worse. As for the rest of the tank - there doesn’t seem to be any other coral affected. LPS - SPSs all are thriving. The
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pictures are of the goni in December and the other two are of the rock and goni in its current state (taken at night)
 

Lavey29

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Does it suck up with a turkey baster or can you siphon it out during water change. Goni are finicky corals sometimes and can close for extended periods. Sounds like you found a better spot for yours. If you keep good parameters it should recover fine. It's not BJD as you also concluded. I have 3 in my tank. 2 of them are right next to each other by a 4 or 5 inches. One opens up completely and the other maybe half or 3/4. They get exact same light and flow but one likes it more then the other.
 
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mnreefster

mnreefster

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So I tried picking at it. Doesn’t really suck up or blast off but it is very much of a rubbery consistency, almost like a sponge. It also resembles one the way it has the open pore-like protrusions coming off it. I applied 12% hydrogen peroxide (not the store bought concentration) and it started to quickly dissolve, though not sure that helps with identification.

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mnreefster

mnreefster

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I used an air tube on a syringe with about 15 ml to spot treat it just to test it. Seems to need more though so removing it and treating is probably the next step. I could probably scrub it with a brush at this point but don’t really want it spreading around the tank!
 

Lavey29

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I used an air tube on a syringe with about 15 ml to spot treat it just to test it. Seems to need more though so removing it and treating is probably the next step. I could probably scrub it with a brush at this point but don’t really want it spreading around the tank!
You don't have much coral on it just remove it and scrub with a brush like you thought. You don't even need to remove corals they are fine for a minute or two. Rinse it off with some tank water from a water change. I have something similar on my elegance coral base but it's a large tunicate. Same color though so maybe your is just a sponge.
 
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mnreefster

mnreefster

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Took them both out, rock and goni. Dipped the goni in h2o2 and picked it off with a tweezer and scrubbed the rest. Treated the rock with a brush and h2o2. Hopefully it worked. . Thanks for the help!!
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Lavey29

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It looks like you have a new tank with clean rock and sand. Getting corals to thrive in a new tank can be challenging. Really focus on parameters and weekly water changes till you build microfauna and biodiversity. Good luck
 
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mnreefster

mnreefster

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It looks like you have a new tank with clean rock and sand. Getting corals to thrive in a new tank can be challenging. Really focus on parameters and weekly water changes till you build microfauna and biodiversity. Good luck
Thanks! Tanks about 2 years old (I’ve had it just over a year) and sand was just deep cleaned last week. Taking my time with the coral purchasing and that rock is the final frontier.
 

vetteguy53081

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Do not take the rock out. These corals are very sensitive to touch. Try GENTLE bursts with a turkey baster. These corals be it known are sometimes easy to rare and also can be challenging to the most experienced hobbyist. Location can be important and for flow, best is at center of tank as corners often receive little flow.
Goniopora are a photosynthetic coral so they derive some of their nutritional requirements from light. This is done through a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae that live in the flesh of the coral. The dinoflagellates are actually the photosynthetic organism and the Goniopora colony derives nutrients off of the byproducts of the dinoflagellates’ photosynthetic process. Zooxanthellae is usually brown in color and the coral tightly regulates the population living in its flesh. Too little light will cause the coral to turn brown in color.
I would not recommend blasting Goniopora with a lot of light. I don’t think there are a lot of advantages to doing so. If you start to see the coral starting to turn lighter and bleach out, it is likely the result of high lighting intensity. When in doubt, favor lower lighting intensities until it is clear that the coral is demanding more.
One mistake I think some reef keepers make is providing them too much flow. If you have a powerhead blowing right at Goniopora from short range, it may kill off some of the tissue at that point of contact and cause a chain reaction to the rest of the colony.
Goniopora appreciate low to medium flow, but preferably with some randomness to it. That way you will get that gentle waving motion which helps keep the coral clean and brings food past the colony. If you see the tentacles violently thrashing about, that is probably too much flow and it would benefit from being relocated to a more calm section of the tank.
Lack of food is a big issue with these coral and there are two types of food to provide Goniopora. The first is liquid amino acids. In short, they are simple organic compounds that play a major role in building proteins as well as other biological functions at the cellular level. Corals regularly take in available amino acids from the water column so it is easy to provide them with adequate quantities by broadcast feeding an amino acid solution.
The second type of food I like are dry powdered plankton. There are several different types on the market.
The general consensus with these is to keep Phosphate levels around .05 ppm and Nitrate levels between 10-20 ppm. This is a safe zone that not too many people will dispute.
 

Lavey29

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Thanks! Tanks about 2 years old (I’ve had it just over a year) and sand was just deep cleaned last week. Taking my time with the coral purchasing and that rock is the final frontier.
Never would have guessed that because the rock and sand appear so clean and looked like you were just getting your first frags going.
 
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mnreefster

mnreefster

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Thought I would follow up on this since I hate threads that get left open without a resolution. Goni came back from the dead. 99% sure it is a sponge-like growth. Been scrubbing with a toothbrush on the skeleton about once a week and applied h2o2 on the live rock a few times and scrubbed. Hasn’t eradicated either spot but has kept it in check. Will probably be a bit more aggressive with the rock soon but I’ll wait to treat the goni until the color comes back, though I may be ok just continuously scrubbing it as part of an additional maintenance. Anyways, hope this helps someone else with this issue down the road.
 

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Shirak

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Thought I would follow up on this since I hate threads that get left open without a resolution. Goni came back from the dead. 99% sure it is a sponge-like growth. Been scrubbing with a toothbrush on the skeleton about once a week and applied h2o2 on the live rock a few times and scrubbed. Hasn’t eradicated either spot but has kept it in check. Will probably be a bit more aggressive with the rock soon but I’ll wait to treat the goni until the color comes back, though I may be ok just continuously scrubbing it as part of an additional maintenance. Anyways, hope this helps someone else with this issue down the road.
After you scrub the sponge apply a big blob of gel superglue and spread it over the area. That should smother the sponge.. You could also try applying some kalk paste after scrubbing.
 
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mnreefster

mnreefster

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Same goni, 12 months later. Some polyps are almost 12” long at full extension. Just wanted to follow up if anyone runs into a similar problem they can definitely pull through.
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