Will this Goni ever recover?

[Ocean’s Piece]

This Goni has been in my tank for the past 7 months. At month 3, its tentacles started retracting. I started feeding it and it recovered a little bit but never to the point where it was when I got it. Will it ever recover? Should I move it to a lower flow and lower light area?

(pardon the algae on this last one, dealing with a recent algae outbreak and not a part of the problem I don’t think).

 

[Fish Think Pink]

This Goni has been in my tank for the past 7 months. At month 3, its tentacles started retracting. I started feeding it and it recovered a little bit but never to the point where it was when I got it. Will it ever recover? Should I move it to a lower flow and lower light area?

(pardon the algae on this last one, dealing with a recent algae outbreak and not a part of the problem I don’t think).

So, I almost think it doesn't have enough flow...

I'd be tempted to change the hammer above it (NICE!) with the goni because I suspect there is more flow up there. I got IceCap 4K gyres that roll from back to front flow and my goni that is directly in front LOVES it. those that are in less flow also are smaller (and comparably more retracted). I do have those IceCaps on low, because even though 2 in my tank (180 gallons) going lengthwise might seem normal, mine instead are going front to back, much shorter distance. (and I have other pumps for side to side)

Reef Roids was created to feed gonis, and while I sometimes use that, I alternate foods I give mine.

Try moving it for a month or try getting a pump to blow more on it for a month and see if that makes a difference.

As long as there is life, yes it can recover. Keep at it! Fingers crossed! Happy New Year!

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

So, I almost think it doesn't have enough flow...

I'd be tempted to change the hammer above it (NICE!) with the goni because I suspect there is more flow up there. I got IceCap 4K gyres that roll from back to front flow and my goni that is directly in front LOVES it. those that are in less flow also are smaller (and comparably more retracted). I do have those IceCaps on low, because even though 2 in my tank (180 gallons) going lengthwise might seem normal, mine instead are going front to back, much shorter distance. (and I have other pumps for side to side)

Reef Roids was created to feed gonis, and while I sometimes use that, I alternate foods I give mine.

Try moving it for a month or try getting a pump to blow more on it for a month and see if that makes a difference.

As long as there is life, yes it can recover. Keep at it! Fingers crossed! Happy New Year!

Thanks, I may try that. I don't know how much different the flow is, but I would have thought that the goni was getting much more flow than the hammer because he is in the direct path of the wavemaker, so I am unsure. I'll definitely keep feeding it and try some spots around the tank. I just didn't know if it was possible to recover a goni when it was that shrunken and hadn't shown signs of improvement except for very little initially.

 

[Katherine Corals]

Hi Friend! I would consider some amino acid baths for 45 min each day until you notice better polyp extension and its health retained.
The algae issue in your tank may be consuming nutrients faster than the coral itself. Do you test your NO3 and PO4 numbers?

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Hi Friend! I would consider some amino acid baths for 45 min each day until you notice better polyp extension and its health retained.
The algae issue in your tank may be consuming nutrients faster than the coral itself. Do you test your NO3 and PO4 numbers?

Yes, algae only exploded because my nitrates zeroed, but we have the numbers back up and algae should hopefully go away. Algae doesn't seem to have affected it, and it's only been a temporary thing.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Should I move to higher flow higher light like mentioned previously or does anyone else have input

 

[Katherine Corals]

Should I move to higher flow higher light like mentioned previously or does anyone else have input

I keep my hammers and frogspawn at the same placement on the rack as my goniopora. Im not sure if this answers your question, but I see a Frogspawn behind it..

 

[joefishtank]

Goniopora grow pretty slow. Do you see little goni polyps forming?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Should I move to higher flow higher light like mentioned previously or does anyone else have input

Agree it could use more flow, good flow and good light for this coral.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Here is a picture of my favorite goni grown from just a bitty thing. To the left of it is my candycane that I nutured back from death's door. With both growing so well, they continue to close the gap between them... that will be my next fun but I've still got time

And here they are night now - bit of 'crazy hair medusa' to my goni all the time - above photo looks tamer only because lights going down for the night.

Instead here is my first (and second) video attempts on R2R... think fish thought early lunch because they kept jumping in... lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately goni is rarely forgiving. Goni is a coral that will challenge the most experienced hobbyist and can be great one day and wither the next. Goni are photosynthetic corals and gain of their nutritional needs from light for color and energy. Inadequate light will cause them to change color and even shrink. Also water flow has a similar effect as too much flow will kill some of its cells and start a reaction with other cells. This is the reason I dont like mine on the sand bed where there is insufficient light and flow. Moderate to medium flow is a must to keep the tentacles swaying and keep debris off of them and deliver food which must be fed regularly. Adding aminos to the tank is a plus for them.

 

[nothing_fancy]

In my experience Goniopora is definitely less forgiving than say a frogspawn. Without knowing the par you're getting at that area or details on your parameters it's hard to tell if the coral is just taking a long time to acclimate or if it is in fact going south. The gonioporas that I keep do well in the sand getting around 120par with moderate flow. I have never target fed although I believe they like some nitrates around 3-5ppm and some phosphate around the .1ppm not greater than. Im sure others have noticed this but I have noticed the acclimation time of a goniopora for me to be longer than most other corals even SPS. All three of the goniopara pieces I have currently took around a month to fully open up but stayed colorful through that period. That being said, if something is going on that it doesn't like it could retract and not open up for a very long time. I would reckon this is some parameters that need to be adjusted on your part in order to allow the goniopora to acclimate properly and stay consistent

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Goniopora grow pretty slow. Do you see little goni polyps forming?

I haven’t noticed really any growth since it shrunk like that. I remember seeing little polyps when it was healthy.

In my experience Goniopora is definitely less forgiving than say a frogspawn. Without knowing the par you're getting at that area or details on your parameters it's hard to tell if the coral is just taking a long time to acclimate or if it is in fact going south. The gonioporas that I keep do well in the sand getting around 120par with moderate flow. I have never target fed although I believe they like some nitrates around 3-5ppm and some phosphate around the .1ppm not greater then. Im sure others have noticed this but I have noticed the acclimation time of a goniopora for me to be longer than most other corals even SPS. All three of the goniopara pieces I have currently took around a month to fully open up but stayed colorful through that period. That being said, if something is going on that it doesn't like it could retract and not open up for a very long time. I would reckon this is some parameters that need to be adjusted on your part in order to allow the goniopora to acclimate properly and stay consistent

good to know. Aside from it shrinking, it really hasn’t looked like it’s taken a turn for the worse since all that happened several months ago. I may move it to a higher light and flow area and see how it responds.

 

[joefishtank]

I haven’t noticed really any growth since it shrunk like that. I remember seeing little polyps when it was healthy.

good to know. Aside from it shrinking, it really hasn’t looked like it’s taken a turn for the worse since all that happened several months ago. I may move it to a higher light and flow area and see how it responds.

If you aren't already trying to directly feed I would try that before moving it. I turn off my flow and use a turkey baster with an extention on it to drop reef roid dust on top and hope it eats. Because you said the polyps are shrinking I would try feeding then lighting. I would try feeding for a month then more light for a month. I also dose seachem zooplankton since I started my tank and I don't know if it helps. If you can measure par I think that would be ideal going week by week to test if it needs more energy from photosynthesis.

 

[nothing_fancy]

I haven’t noticed really any growth since it shrunk like that. I remember seeing little polyps when it was healthy.

good to know. Aside from it shrinking, it really hasn’t looked like it’s taken a turn for the worse since all that happened several months ago. I may move it to a higher light and flow area and see how it responds.

I noticed your tank is fully hooded, whats your PH like currently?

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I noticed your tank is fully hooded, whats your PH like currently?

8.1-8.4, haven’t checked ph in forever because it typically stay stable with keeping the other ones stable

 

[nothing_fancy]

8.1-8.4, haven’t checked ph in forever because it typically stay stable with keeping the other ones stable

Well, If you have the kits and the time I would test as many parameters as you can when you have a concern. Things can up and change on you especially PH in my experience. If you have the ability to check phosphates too since you are feeding that might not be a bad idea...