Flower Pot corals die quickly?

[bluemarlin]

A long time ago, I bought a flower pot coral. It lived for about 8 months and then, irregardless of my efforts, died off. I have been avoiding them ever since. I just read on another post were someone wrote something about how flower pots corals die off very quickly. Is this right? I always thought that I killed the flower pot that I had and could never figure out what I did wrong. Does anyone have any experience they'd like to share please?

 

[chainsaw5vent]

mine is dying after 4-5 mos. i believe it is a combination of inadequate lighting and lack of direct feeding.

 

[nm reef]

It does seem that gonipora(flower pot) corals have a histroy of not doing well in home systems. For un-known reasons they fade away and seldom make it past 6-9 months...below is a link to a recent article that may possibly indicate hope for those that insist on attempting these corals.
<a href="http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen20.html" target="_blank">goniporas success?!!?</a>
I do have a gonipora as well as a alveopora...but my reef is designed with providing as great a chance at survival as possible. I have a massive pod population...approximately 50 gals of refugium that gravity returns(out-put is close to gonipora)...I do not use a skimmer. To date both appear to be doing fine...the goni in particuliar has actually grown considerably. They have been in my system for close to 6 months now...so I can not say my approach has been successful...but I do believe I may be on the right course...time will tell.These corals are not suitable to the majority of home systems and great care/research should be applied prior to adding one....sadly the vast majority never make it as long as 6 months ....if mine do fail then I seriously doubt that I'd attempt another.

 

[jonthefb]

This coral seems to be the least hardy of them all. For some reason they have a very short lifespan in captivity. I guess we just havent got the right conditions for this guy yet. i have tried several, each after improving my system, but none ever seem to do well for very long. first couple months they look gorgeous, expanded and fleshy, then they slowly deteriorate, usually starting at the base of the coral where you will see skeleton left by the dying polyps. I have tried everything at this stage, dips, isolation, etc, and nothing seems to help improve the condition. I think these guys just need to be left in the wild!
good luck
jon