Smoking Flowerpot Coral - Goniopora sp

[deeze]

Hey, I purchased a Flowerpot Coral yesterday and this morning he seems to be releasing a white mucus that resembles cigarette smoke into my tank. He's pretty much closed up while doing it but yesterday he opened up about 25% right away and seemed happy. He's been in the FS for about 4 weeks and was 100% open every time I was in. It's got me a bit nervous.
Thanks,

 

[john kelly]

Did the white mucous come out of a mouth or multiple mouths? or did it come off of its body?
If it was opened 100% in the FS, it should be opened 100% in your tank by now.
Place the coral in moderate/easy and indirect water flow.
If you have metal halide lighting or strong lighting, place some shading between your light and the coral to cast a shadow until it opens up, then slowly remove the shading over a period of days.
Also, if you have territorial fish, they may claim the coral as theirs and swim real close to it, which causes it to remain somewhat retracted for about a week. The fish eventually quit and the coral extends properly.

 

[deeze]

Hey, that's a lot of good information. She finally opened up a little later on in the day... about 24 hours after purchase so all seems good now.
The mucas seemed to be comming off his entire body. Is that good or bad? It hasn't happened again since as far as I can tell.
Is it normal for him to close during the night? I've heard two openions on it so I'm not sure. He does close, which I expected but some say it should be open all the time.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by deeze
Hey, I purchased a Flowerpot Coral yesterday and this morning he seems to be releasing a white mucus that resembles cigarette smoke into my tank.
Stress induced spawning.

 

[lubeck]

i just brought one home on sat. It is bigger now than it was at lfs. I have it in a high flow towrads the very top of my tank. I have read alot of bad things about them and heard little success. I am going to try to keep it alive with all the readings from this site and others.
I heard they like good flow, good to mediocore light. They like to be fed meaty foods, I fed it yesturday some crushed up krill and cyclopeeze and phyto.
Your lighting might be alot differnt than the lfs. So it might be freakin out.
Oh mine does stay open all the time even at night.

 

[john kelly]

The mucas shedding is common with new gonis. They also give off a little bit sometimes when they are fed.
The retraction at night is somewhat species dependant. Some species will retract all of the way every night, some will retract only half-way every night, some will sometimes retract completely then also sometimes stay half retracted, and some will extend more at night on a regular basis than in the day. Most of the common species retract either half-way or all the way for most of the night.
As long as the coral is extended during the day, you are fine. It will occassionally retract in the middle of the day for an hour or maybe two, but if it stays retracted all day long then there is something not right.

 

[deeze]

That's good information. Like yours, mines getting bigger now than in the FS. Now that he's settled. I always use a test strip in the FS water bag when I bring new things home and boy their waters bad. I guess it isn't terrible but compared to mine which is pretty high, it surprises me. He seems very happy now with moderate flow and he's still closing at night but just as soon as my morning lights come on he'll fully extend in about 3 minutes... very interesting to watch.
So does the stress induced spawning mean it's a female or male? Or asexual?
Need to study a bit more on the topic...
Thanks,

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by deeze
So does the stress induced spawning mean it's a female or male? Or asexual?
Need to study a bit more on the topic...
Thanks,
The way you described it I would think Male. I'm glad it has adjusted to its new home, that's great!