Goniopora hidden

[30galofwater]

Hi everyone, hope someone can help or get me out of my ignorance.
I bought a Goniopora a week ago and since then its being very shy, does not comes out as far as it was on the store.
see attachment.
I have a 30gl tank 50lb live rock, 2 snails, 5 damssels, 1 clown fish, 1 bullet goby and 1 leaf fish (i know, to many fish.. they are happy though), anyway.
a water pump, uv light about 1 foot from the coral and the water pump is above the goniopora and 1.5 foot far. I have a magnum 350 and the tank has been great for 3 years.
does anyone has any idea how to make coral show all their beauty or potential or length. Any type of food i should be giving it and procedures on how.
thanks, hope this info help.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Goniporas are supposedly very hard to care for. From what I have read they will a lot of times do well for six months or so and then just mysteriously die.
You may want to do a search on goniporas to try to get some more information on them.
That being said, it may still just be adjusting to your tank. Give it some time and it may open up. What are your water parameters? If your water quality is good I would just give it some time. Hope it does well for you.

 

[nycbob]

make sure to put it in high water flow and light area. it should expand in a 2-3 days. they dont last too long. usually 1 year. also, mk sure to put it on a sandy substrate.

 

[nigerbang]

Originally Posted by nycbob
make sure to put it in high water flow and light area. it should expand in a 2-3 days. they dont last too long. usually 1 year. also, mk sure to put it on a sandy substrate.
They dont do real well in High lighting...
Try and shade it just a little...Not all they way or anything..They seem to do well in "Dirty Water"..Moderate flow should be okay as well....Shading will work depending on your lighting set-up...
I have seen reports that tanks dosed in Iron seem to make flowerpots do well...Just give it some time..

 

[nycbob]

mine opens up only in high flow area. as for the light, i guess moderate and high is fine.

 

[team2jndd]

take it back to the store.

 

[smoothie]

Med light, med flow and spot feed it every now and then. I have 2 that are doing great. One for about a year the other for only 2mo.
What kind of lighting are you using?

 

[garychef1]

My LFs had a feqw gonioporas but he didn't sell them to me because they can easily die and are hard to take care of. He said no matter what tank you moved it into it would still have problems.

 

[team2jndd]

that means your lfs liked you. The manager at my lfs told me he only sells those types of corals to people that he doesn't like. Kinda makes you not want to trust your lfs eh?

 

[frh674]

Goniopora... I've had mine almost a year now... I've never spot fed it. I found it likes to be under shade on the sand in a low flow area. and I also found it to open up more when carbon is being run in the system for some reason why I dont know.. also check and see if it has a worm on it. mine did he used to rob the goniopora of its food, would stick it's head in the mouths and go diggin in for something who knows but he's removed. pm me if you want to see pictures of it I dont think I can post the address here
forgot to add... all I have a pc lights and my tank is 24" deep and my goni is on the sandbend

 

[nycbob]

i was lucky mine is still doing good after a year. i bought it bc the lfs told me it was easy. it seems like mine likes to hv dissolved organic matter in the water. it is a beautiful coral i must admit.

 

[bgrae001]

I have 2 and they are doing great. I've had mine for about 8 months. I have them on the bottom of my 55 gal corner under 285 watts of mh/pc combo with no problems.
Do you have a full tank shot we could see? I was just a little concerned because your rock looks dirty and I didn't see much Coraline.
Do you test for cal and mg? if so what are your water parameters?

 

[nycbob]

i found this article at a coral website:
Goniopora, Goniopora spp., is also commonly referred to as Flower Pot Coral. This coral, which has 24 tentacles at the end of each polyp, needs a high light level. Goniopora does best with moderate to high water movement and will accept about any placement from the lower to middle areas of the aquarium. Because it is aggressive when competing for space, its placement must be well out of reach of other corals. Goniopora would benefit from the addition of a food such as PhytoPlan or Marine Snow. Due to the limited knowledge about these corals and their care requirements, keeping them is best left to the advanced aquarist.

 

[guinness]

why on the sandbed? i have mine on some live rock and it has been fine for a few months now.

 

[codyjp]

humm, either my coral is on drugs or i am doing something wrong. I have him sitting on LR, at the TOP of the tank, in light flow and he opens up huge all day long. Then tucks away for a nap at night.
I have only had it about 2 months but it was about %50 of the curent size when I saw it in the store. (over a period of a few weeks).

 

[shrimpi]

Just got mine today (made a post about it in another thread)
It opened up within 15 minutes of being introduced to the tank. It was huge within 30 minutes.
This pic was after about 10-15min. It got bigger later on.
i hope it lives, Im gonna try and care for it the best I can!