Need advice about a dying goniopora (?)

[Ewait]

I've had my goniopora for about a year now and it's been great the whole way through up until about a month ago. I shifted a few things around in my rock scape and the goni started sulking. This wasn't a new thing for him to do so I let him do it. However he never fully opened back up, and over the course of about 3 days he lost a large amount of his polyps. Now he's stopped losing polyps and is slightly opening up again, but not nearly as much as before. I've no idea what I did wrong here and no idea if I can help him to grow out again. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Before

After

 

[SPR1968]

You could try raising it higher up in the tank and see how it gets on, although it doesn’t look good at the moment

Ive had 3 or 4 acclimatising on the bottom of the tank, and as soon as I raised them up they came alive and grew.

I prefer them to be on the bottom but….

This is of course assuming the water parameters are all ok

And welcome to Reef2Reef as well!

 

[MartinM]

Goni’s hate to be moved, unfortunately, and take months to acclimate when introduced or moved, IME. :\. I’d put it back to where it was and see if that helps.

 

[SyracuseMatt]

Still learning how to care for Gonis myself but, I think there may be some that need to be actively fed to survive/thrive. Unfortunately, I think that many gonis may arrive in the hobbyist's tank with a 'reserve' of energy which can sustain a goni for 6 months to a year but, once depleted, will result in the goni fading away. There are certainly exceptions (like ORA red in my experience which can thrive without target feeding) but, we often don't know the history of a specific goni we buy and what its requirements might be. Personally, for my gonis that aren't doing well or seem to be marginal, I'm trying regular feedings, including a few different kinds of small particulate food and amino acids. I'm also dosing a small amount of manganese. I've really just started both so, I can't tell you whether it is working but, it may be worth trying. Good luck.

Matt

 

[MartinM]

Yep they definitely need fed. Anything not growing is dying.

 

[kartrsu]

Just throwing out there that hydrogen peroxide dips have helped me stop goni tissue necrosis.

 

[MartinM]

Just throwing out there that hydrogen peroxide dips have helped me stop goni tissue necrosis.

Nice, what dosage/duration?

 

[nick0206]

I had problems with the Vibrio virus half a year ago. Until I figured it out, I lost all or part of a quarter of my corals, not only SPS, but also LPS. One of the partially affected was a red gGoniopora bought in 2019.
After the tank treatment, my Goniopora looks exactly like yours and it has been 4 months since the tissue necrosis has stopped. In terms of opening, I initially opened it to half an inch (perhaps this is such a variety), but the Goniopora is soon 3 years old, so it’s safe to say that everything is fine with her.
In addition to her, I have 3 more Goniopora and one Alveopora.

 

[MartinM]

I had problems with the Vibrio virus half a year ago. Until I figured it out, I lost all or part of a quarter of my corals, not only SPS, but also LPS. One of the partially affected was a red gGoniopora bought in 2019.
After the tank treatment, my Goniopora looks exactly like yours and it has been 4 months since the tissue necrosis has stopped. In terms of opening, I initially opened it to half an inch (perhaps this is such a variety), but the Goniopora is soon 3 years old, so it’s safe to say that everything is fine with her.
In addition to her, I have 3 more Goniopora and one Alveopora.

What did you use to combat the virus?

 

[nick0206]

This one

Reef Rx - Blue Life

bluelifeusa.com

 

[nick0206]

In addition to this remedy, I dosed daily
Korallen-Zucht FlatwormStop
Really a very useful product.
It stimulates the formation of a protective layer on corals (coral slime), which makes it difficult for flatworms to reach the coral itself.
This product does not cure the virus, but it strengthens the protective layer and corals are less susceptible to infection.
A friend of mine who doesn't believe in this product also had a Vibrio infection but lost a lot more corals (more than 50%).
By the way, Reef RX also helped him.

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

Your goni looks exactly like what used to happen to practically all gonis thirty or forty years ago. They would seemingly thrive for 6 months to a year and then recede and die.

Two other possible things to check; 1) are you feeding it? GoniPower and Reef Roids were both developed as goni foods. They don't seem to eat usually but they do 2) check your manganese levels as gonis need manganese to thrive (if you are dosing just be sure your additive includes manganese or if not dosing get a manganese supplement and add as directed).

I have not kept gonis in years but these two issues, once identified, seemed to have turned the corner on keeping gonis healthy. I will be adding gonis once my current tank matures but they need a stable environment.

 

[MartinM]

@nick0206 do you know the active ingredient in ReefRX?

@tharbin yep they definitely need fed! I feed the heck out of my tank with a variety of dry and liquid and solid foods, you can see the gonis eat. I feed enough to cloud the water with food. In my case, the infection was triggered by stress from an alk swing, thankfully a full recovery was made. Gonis are growing at about 50% increase in size every 6 months!

 

[Ewait]

I know it's been a while without an update, but after reading all the responses here and chatting with the staff at my lfs, it was suggested that I switch foods. I had already switched foods in my attempts to fix this goni with no improvement, but upon switching a second time he's beginning to come back slowly. Thank you everyone for your suggestions

 

[Waynerock]

I know it's been a while without an update, but after reading all the responses here and chatting with the staff at my lfs, it was suggested that I switch foods. I had already switched foods in my attempts to fix this goni with no improvement, but upon switching a second time he's beginning to come back slowly. Thank you everyone for your suggestions

Got clown fish by chance? They can be rough as you can see. If you can I would frag off the good parts and do a nice iodine dip and mount them low till they start growing over the cut. If there is nothing but skeleton it’s just an algae trap and always gets nasty. I have had pretty good success with exception of the bright pink one shown. The skin just kept peeling off even after fragging. Never took it out and dipped because I did not want to stress it but I should of. Good luck they are my fave I have 8 currently and they usually are happy but sometimes one will sulk for a couple days and not come out but you can still see skin over the skeleton. Hopefully it bounces back

 

[nick0206]

I know it's been a while without an update, but after reading all the responses here and chatting with the staff at my lfs, it was suggested that I switch foods. I had already switched foods in my attempts to fix this goni with no improvement, but upon switching a second time he's beginning to come back slowly. Thank you everyone for your suggestions

Hello.
And what kind of food do you give the second time?
I dose daily both phyto and zooplankton
Hello.
And what kind of food do you give the second time?
I dose daily both phyto and zooplankton

Easy Reefs EasySPS EVO Gel Coral Food

EasySPS EVO is a premium mixture of natural marine plankton in a mineral suspension that has been specifically designed to be used with a dosing pump to ensure an accurate and regular nutrition of the SPS corals. Available in 250ml and 1500ml sizes

www.coralvue.com

Easy Reefs EasyBooster PRO

1500 ml Bulk Pouch of Concentrated Photoplankton Gel A suspension in gel form comprised of marine microalgae and marine minerals that can be preserved at room temperature for over 18 months.

www.coralvue.com

There was no improvement in polyp lengthening.
I dose manganese daily.

 

[Leo.L]

Just throwing out there that hydrogen peroxide dips have helped me stop goni tissue necrosis.

How do you use it would like to do it on my goni. Thanks in advance

 

[PeterEde]

How big does the BTA get hiding under the rock? Any chance it's stinging it?

 

[kartrsu]

How do you use it would like to do it on my goni. Thanks in advance

You can reference this thread.

Peroxide dipping guidelines (for corals)

A while back Justin Credabel published this chart detailing the concentration of hydrogen peroxide appropriate for dipping various genera of corals. I've used these guidelines myself a few times to remove algae from coral frags and it's been quite effective. Justin Credabel's hydrogen...

humble.fish

You can also try antibiotic dips. 250mg of ciprofloxacin or amoxicillin in 1/4 gallon of tank water for 10 mins.