Hosting pic :)

[eastland]

I know you have all seen this before, but here's my Ginopora/Clown hosting.
So far, Iron & Magnesium suppliments have kept both Ginopora's alive to date...only time will tell is the lessons we learn on this board pay off...I'm thinking they do The clown tried to host the 2nd pic (Ginopora), but settled for the first...as it accepted him/her.

 

[shrimpi]

how long have you had the coral? and how established is your tank? looks really nice and healthy and your clown seems to love it.

Alot of ppl say that goniopora is not the easiest to keep happy- yours looks like its thriving.

 

[eastland]

My setup is almost a year old now...that makes the Ginoporas about 6 months old. I don't change my water as often as I should according to the charts. My calcuim is always sky high with no additives (550), I use reef buffer/builder weekly to keep up the alkalinity levels. Nitrates run about 20ppm. I have LP/SPS corals, and a Seabae/Rock ananome that seem to be ok...no complaints here.

 

[azfishgal]

Very nice pics! Whatever your doing seems to be good, because everything looks healthy. Do you have a full tank shot?

 

[shrimpi]

ya I want a goniopora but was deterred by the bad stories! then I read about alveopora (did I spell that right? lol) which are supposed to be easier.
Whatever you are doing seems to be working- who cares what people say you are 'supposed to do'. I think they look great.

 

[markus1]

Not to rain on your parade, awesome pics by the way, but I have an unfortunate story about the hosting you've got going on.
I have a pair of cinnamon clowns who wouldn't go near any of my coral, even my goni, for about 6 months. The goni was doing great, despite how difficult I am told they are to keep. Anyway, the clowns all of a sudden one morning decided to go in the thing, and they love it. I was stoked, much like you, this was as close to a symbiotic relationship as I was going to get without having an anenome. Well, the goni, I am sorry to say, is now about half-alive and is going down fast. The clowns seem to rub on one particular spot and don't allow the coral to fully open. Needless to say, I think it isn't feeding very much and is now about 50% skeleton. I would imagine it won't be more than 2-3 weeks before it dies completely.
You may have to make a choice someday: get rid of the coral or the clowns. If you don't the coral may very well die from the irritation.
Hope this helps in the future.

 

[shrimpi]

I have also heard of this happening.

Although, Ive heard of people having no problem with thier clowns hosting LPS. Just wait and see how it goes, if it starts to decline.. make a choice.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Flower pot 6 months so far? WOW congrats! and continued luck!

 

[markus1]

Yeah six months no issues. Now, with the clown problem, it looks like I'll never know how long I could have kept it. Trust me, I'm no expert.
On the other hand, I have a question. For those who have had a goni and had it die on you, can you just leave the skeleton in to become part of the base reef, or should I take it out once it is mostly dead? It's my first go-round with one of these and I don't know the "rules".
I'm guessing I can just leave it in, as long as my levels remain ok. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[eastland]

I really don't see the clown being a problem, they are not dying by any stretch of the imagination, they are actually growing larger. I add normal amounts of magnesium & iron, this should make for an interesting thread down the line as to what happens. As you can see in the pic, the ginopora's are happy...I think that between the two, they have enough surface area to support the clown laying in them.