flowerpot coral?
- Thread starter christina
- Start date
mudplayerx
Active Member
It sounds like cyanobacteria to me. If the flowerpot coral is not already in an area of decent waterflow, I would move it to an area of higher water flow. You could also try scaring it so that it fully deflates and retracts and then using a brush with extremely fine/soft bristles (like a brush for an infants hair sold in the baby dept) to try and remove the brown area.
Unfortunately flowerpot corals are a very difficult species to keep healthy in a closed environment. They aren't recommended for beginners at all (not that you are one). I just recently bought two flowerpot corals that were only $20 each and I have to say that I am extremely nervous after reading on how difficult they are.
Good luck with yours
Unfortunately flowerpot corals are a very difficult species to keep healthy in a closed environment. They aren't recommended for beginners at all (not that you are one). I just recently bought two flowerpot corals that were only $20 each and I have to say that I am extremely nervous after reading on how difficult they are.
Good luck with yours
murph145
Active Member
flower pots = slow death in my opinion....
i bought on about 3 months ago now.... very beautiful big and green....
i have great water conditions and everything else is doing fine... i feed on a regualr basis with a mixture of coral foods and baby brine shrimp.... calcium stays at a stable 460 ph 8.2 temp 80 am 0 ni0 na 0 pho 0.... and i have started to notice the slow recession of the polyps .... same as what you are experiencing the brown isnt algae at all..... the brown is actually dying polyps the turn to a brown film that disolves showing a whole where the polyp used to be.... mine is slowly doing this a ployp here and one there .... im affraid its going to be dead within another 3 months....
i dont really know what else to do .... seems like everyone has had poor results with this coral....
good luck! :happyfish
i bought on about 3 months ago now.... very beautiful big and green....
i have great water conditions and everything else is doing fine... i feed on a regualr basis with a mixture of coral foods and baby brine shrimp.... calcium stays at a stable 460 ph 8.2 temp 80 am 0 ni0 na 0 pho 0.... and i have started to notice the slow recession of the polyps .... same as what you are experiencing the brown isnt algae at all..... the brown is actually dying polyps the turn to a brown film that disolves showing a whole where the polyp used to be.... mine is slowly doing this a ployp here and one there .... im affraid its going to be dead within another 3 months....
i dont really know what else to do .... seems like everyone has had poor results with this coral....
good luck! :happyfish
ophiura
Active Member
Please give us more specifics on your tank - age, lighting, inhabitants and SPECIFIC water quality including calcium (which is CRITICAL to test for in a reef tank :yes: ): Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, alkalinity, calcium, pH, specific gravity? Really these are very important to know :yes:
mudplayerx
Active Member
My flowerpot seems to be growing new little tentacles on its base. Do you think this is a sign that it will flourish in my tank, or do they all have new growth, even when slowly dying?
I have been told to feed my flowerpot baby brine shrimp. Do I just dump them into the tank or are there extra measures that I have to take to make sure that the flowerpot gets the brine shrimp?
I have been told to feed my flowerpot baby brine shrimp. Do I just dump them into the tank or are there extra measures that I have to take to make sure that the flowerpot gets the brine shrimp?
murph145
Active Member
mine has little ones growing too but some parts are dying i dont know.... i feed mine baby brine too and i just dump them in on top of the flower pot coral cuz hes high up in the tank.... im not sure i guess these corals are better left at the store i dont think they have a long life in tanks... ill let everyone know but it looks like its slowly recedeing
shawnts106
Member
OK everybody.. lets not get on the soap box with the whole goniopora coral freakshow!!!...
now.. sounds like your flowerpot has brown jelly desease... you can stop this by dipping it in a reef dip/iodine solution from seachem... this seems to stop it dead.. then return it to the tank with med/high current.. this should stop it...
I have had SEVERAL experiences with flowerpots... bad and good, after extensive research for years into this subject of why these corals just seem to just die in our captive reefs I, as well as julian sprung, have concluded though.. of course extensive research and observations that these corals need to have a diet of phytoplankton to survive in captivity.. in the wild these corals are found on lagoonal type reefs that are absolutly covered in phytoplankton masses... so much the water is often green.... these corals seem to love this very rich diet of phytoplankton and a bit of zooplankton too.... Julian Sprung conducted several "gut" analasis of different WILD colonys of the species GONIOPORA and concluded through every gut analasis that these corals feed primarily off phytoplankton... there was very little zooplankton in their guts...
I have found that the people who do have these corals and are able to keep them have done so in very matural tanks with a ton of LR and most of the time with refugiums.... I know of a man that has a 300gallon tank, of course with a refugium, that can and has for some many years kept things in his tank alive that no one has ever attempted, from flame scallops, to different colors of goniopora and alveopora to even linkia stars and fromia stars... now he is trying a morish idol....
this is just 1 of many people I know that have successfully kept these wonderful corals.... I myself have and am continueing to keep these corals..yes I have a fuge and yes I add DT's LIVE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON like NOBODYS business!!!... lol, I have fraged my alveopora twice and have a red goniopora, which at the moment is very ticked off because of the other nearby corals... and also the very hard to keep green goniopora... I spot feed these corals every once and a while (*1 time a month or two*), and they seem to love it.. the next day you can see these little dark dots in their tenticles where they have eatten it... I feed them Phytoplankton mainly... occationally I have put cyclop into the tank... but they dont seem to like it... so I have backed off on that... I think if people would experiment with there reefs by purchasing 1 flowerpot coral that is in very good health... and do DTS LIVE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON twice weekly they will be able to keep these wonderful corals... I have kept these corals in less than perfect water quality.. with trates up to 40ppm and not the exact ideal pH nor Alk or Ca.. so they are obveously tollerant of many water conditions... the water quality in my tank now is perfect... 0 everything.. they still seem to love it.. and I do NOT skim... I personally think that this takes too much out of the reef that is good... but if you DO NOT have a refugium than yes I recommend skimming!
I hope this helps... once again this is just research that I have done... maybe you should do you own!
good luck!
My flowerpot seems to be growing new little tentacles on its base. Do you think this is a sign that it will flourish in my tank, or do they all have new growth, even when slowly dying?
possibly... no i do not think it is dieing if it is growing new tentacles... go buy some DT's and triple the dosage and add this to your tank twice weekly.. remember that this is LIVE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON so it is not bad for your water quality!
try this and you will see a serious improvement!!!
goodluck!
now.. sounds like your flowerpot has brown jelly desease... you can stop this by dipping it in a reef dip/iodine solution from seachem... this seems to stop it dead.. then return it to the tank with med/high current.. this should stop it...
I have had SEVERAL experiences with flowerpots... bad and good, after extensive research for years into this subject of why these corals just seem to just die in our captive reefs I, as well as julian sprung, have concluded though.. of course extensive research and observations that these corals need to have a diet of phytoplankton to survive in captivity.. in the wild these corals are found on lagoonal type reefs that are absolutly covered in phytoplankton masses... so much the water is often green.... these corals seem to love this very rich diet of phytoplankton and a bit of zooplankton too.... Julian Sprung conducted several "gut" analasis of different WILD colonys of the species GONIOPORA and concluded through every gut analasis that these corals feed primarily off phytoplankton... there was very little zooplankton in their guts...
I have found that the people who do have these corals and are able to keep them have done so in very matural tanks with a ton of LR and most of the time with refugiums.... I know of a man that has a 300gallon tank, of course with a refugium, that can and has for some many years kept things in his tank alive that no one has ever attempted, from flame scallops, to different colors of goniopora and alveopora to even linkia stars and fromia stars... now he is trying a morish idol....
this is just 1 of many people I know that have successfully kept these wonderful corals.... I myself have and am continueing to keep these corals..yes I have a fuge and yes I add DT's LIVE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON like NOBODYS business!!!... lol, I have fraged my alveopora twice and have a red goniopora, which at the moment is very ticked off because of the other nearby corals... and also the very hard to keep green goniopora... I spot feed these corals every once and a while (*1 time a month or two*), and they seem to love it.. the next day you can see these little dark dots in their tenticles where they have eatten it... I feed them Phytoplankton mainly... occationally I have put cyclop into the tank... but they dont seem to like it... so I have backed off on that... I think if people would experiment with there reefs by purchasing 1 flowerpot coral that is in very good health... and do DTS LIVE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON twice weekly they will be able to keep these wonderful corals... I have kept these corals in less than perfect water quality.. with trates up to 40ppm and not the exact ideal pH nor Alk or Ca.. so they are obveously tollerant of many water conditions... the water quality in my tank now is perfect... 0 everything.. they still seem to love it.. and I do NOT skim... I personally think that this takes too much out of the reef that is good... but if you DO NOT have a refugium than yes I recommend skimming!
I hope this helps... once again this is just research that I have done... maybe you should do you own!
good luck!
My flowerpot seems to be growing new little tentacles on its base. Do you think this is a sign that it will flourish in my tank, or do they all have new growth, even when slowly dying?
possibly... no i do not think it is dieing if it is growing new tentacles... go buy some DT's and triple the dosage and add this to your tank twice weekly.. remember that this is LIVE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON so it is not bad for your water quality!
try this and you will see a serious improvement!!!
goodluck!
mudplayerx
Active Member
Thanks for the info! I already dose phytoplankton for some of my other corals... should I up the dosage?
Also, I would appreciate some coral IDs if you guys could. The first pic is my flowerpot coral. The second pic is a coral sold to me as a "red jewel." The red jewel has the same anatomy as a flowerpot, but the stalks are much much shorter. Sorry the pics are so blurry!
Also, I would appreciate some coral IDs if you guys could. The first pic is my flowerpot coral. The second pic is a coral sold to me as a "red jewel." The red jewel has the same anatomy as a flowerpot, but the stalks are much much shorter. Sorry the pics are so blurry!
shawnts106
Member
WOW, the second picture is a jewel indeed! haha, its a red morph flowerpot.. Goniopora type...
these are very beautiful.. and seem to be more hardy than the green ones... BTW: what are your tank stats..
this is what I need
Volume:
Type of filtration:
Amount of Dts Added and on what schedule... daily? weekly? :
lighting:
Other Additives:
What other things things are you adding?
any other phytoplankton or zooplankton products are you adding?
I would also add Liquid Life... its a great product to use in target feeding those gonis too!
hope this helps!
these are very beautiful.. and seem to be more hardy than the green ones... BTW: what are your tank stats..
this is what I need
Volume:
Type of filtration:
Amount of Dts Added and on what schedule... daily? weekly? :
lighting:
Other Additives:
What other things things are you adding?
any other phytoplankton or zooplankton products are you adding?
I would also add Liquid Life... its a great product to use in target feeding those gonis too!
hope this helps!
mudplayerx
Active Member
Its a 55 gallon tank about 8-9 months old. The lighting is two 150watt 10k metal halide coralife pendants. Filtration is provided by two 330gph hang on the back power filters (media removed and replaced with nylon stockings full of aragonite sand and pieces of live rock).
I dose about 15-20 drops of phytoplex twice a week. The only other supplements I add are kalkwasser once per week...a very light dose.
My water parameters are:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phosphate 0
ph 8.2-8.4
alkalinity (the new test kit I have sucks and it says my alkalinity is zero)
calcium 420
specifi gravity 1.026
temperature 82 (constant)
I dose about 15-20 drops of phytoplex twice a week. The only other supplements I add are kalkwasser once per week...a very light dose.
My water parameters are:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phosphate 0
ph 8.2-8.4
alkalinity (the new test kit I have sucks and it says my alkalinity is zero)
calcium 420
specifi gravity 1.026
temperature 82 (constant)
shawnts106
Member
Yes everything looks wonderfully... I would get rid of that nasty Kent stuff.. its preserved and can be detremental to your water quality... I would go get yourself some DTS and triple the dossage doing it twice weekly... this is best.... this stuff is live not preserved!
also, you can also turn off your main filtration for an hour while feeding, provided there is some type of powerhead to help with waterflow in the tank while feeding... this way there is more time for them to get it out of the water!
also, you can also turn off your main filtration for an hour while feeding, provided there is some type of powerhead to help with waterflow in the tank while feeding... this way there is more time for them to get it out of the water!
shawnts106
Member
It does help keep color and promote growth.. but the main ingredient is .. phyto.. there is a huge page on it in Coral Magazine a few months ago, dealing with Julians work.. very interesting.. I will get that copy for you to check into !
!
ophiura
Active Member
Yes, in most cases they do not survive past a year. People are trying to identify what the "missing links" are...for sure they do not seem to do well in "clean" SPS coral tanks. The hypothesis at this time is that phytoplankton and iron supplementation are keys...but yet there are other tanks where they seem to survive and do not have these things added.
shawnts106
Member
for sure they do not seem to do well in "clean" SPS coral tanks.
hate to bust your bubble, but the guy that I was talking about.. his tank is a HEAVILY SKIMMED SPS tank with a refuge... but he runs no carbon.... just goes to show you what a mystery they are!!!
hate to bust your bubble, but the guy that I was talking about.. his tank is a HEAVILY SKIMMED SPS tank with a refuge... but he runs no carbon.... just goes to show you what a mystery they are!!!
mudplayerx
Active Member
Mine seems to be doing great. I found out a great way to feed him. I have a clear tupperware dish I place over the entire flowerpot. In the top of the dish I have poked a small hole just large enough to fit a syring into. I then inject the phyto into the tupperware and leave it there for about 10 minutes, keeping the flowerpot totally saturated with phyto.
I know I've only had the flowerpot for a week, but it is huge, fully extended, and growing new tentacles
I know I've only had the flowerpot for a week, but it is huge, fully extended, and growing new tentacles