alveopora/gonipora identification

[uwscotch]

I acquired a free LPS this weekend. I'm afraid it may be a goni. but do they come in yellow. This pic. is not mine, Hope you don't mind pHp. Only place I've seen a picture of what I have. It is the yellow coral in the right hand corner in the pic. I have a pretty good system but we all know that doesn't mean anything with a flower pot. I have 190 watts on a 30 gallon and it's pretty high in my tank with moderate water flow. Any suggestions of what to do to encourage survival or does anyone live in Indonesia to return it to the water. Water par. are great, sp 1.025, amm, no3, no4 all 0. Maybe a bad thing since they like hi nutrient water. ca @ 400. Etc.
Thanks for any help.
Again sorry for stealing the pic.

 

[uwscotch]

Unfortunately i do not have a camera but I plan on justifying the purchase as a technology need from a training grant. Used at work and occasionally at home. Anyways, the coral i have is on a stone that is 1/2 of a sphere. Found out i can count the tentacles and plan on doing that as soon as i get home. I haven't seen pics of the yellow ones thou.

 

[m.rogers]

a eazy way to tell the 2 is that alveopora polyps have 12 tentacles tips and goniopora poylps have 24 tentacle tips that sould tell you and let us know what it is.
mike

 

[uwscotch]

unfortunately it is a goniopora. I will try my best since it looks great right now. Maybe I'll find the secret to their success. I'll keep you posted.

 

[sammystingray]

Many will tell you the secret is basically dirty water.....very nutrient rich, and not pristine enough to keep all the other corals with it. Some of the longest lived gonis I have seen have been in non-reef type setups mostly just fish, although reef lighting was on the tanks. We keep our reefs so clean for the other corals, that gonis starve......that's one theory anyway.

 

[sammystingray]

Dyed corals by the way, have less chance to feed the zooxanthellae from light, and usually starve pretty fast unless fed.....

 

[uwscotch]

great, thanks for the advice. I will probably move it to my fish tank. It has good lighting but not as clean of water. I'll keep an eye on the fish to make sure they don't pick at it. Also try to feed it with small plankton, stuff the fish will not inhale. Sound reasonable? Dyed, I'm not surprised since the color did not look that natural, it was just to bright and I cannot find info on goni's being that fluorescent yellow.
Thanks for all the help

 

[sammystingray]

Well, you don't have to move it because of what I said...they always die regardless, but the 18 month mark is usually from starvation in to sterile of water......the quicker deaths are poor water or disease, etc. If it is doing well at the moment, I would probably leave it.