Let the beatings commence...

[Phyl]

I ordered the unthinkable... I ordered that Alveopora off of LiveAquaria. I know they're hard, but a local friend of mine is doing superbly for almost a year with her Goniopora (has 3, her big one has had babies (3 or 4), also has an alveo) so I thought I'd try my hand at the "easier" of the two by I'm going to be following her advice for care...

Well.... This is what came:

I didn't get an alveopora... did I?

 

[austinsdad]

No pic.

 

[Phyl]

Eye spy with my little eye... I can see it. Hmmm.. weird.

 

[austinsdad]

It's magic. I see it now. Wasn't there at 1:55. Just empty space. And I haven't had my bud light yet either!!

Yep. Alveopora catalai (daisy coral). Billed as "colonies seem to waste away in captivity" - Eric Borneman.

Good luck!

 

[Phyl]

I've read (and I won't pretend to be an expert, that's why I'm writing HERE) that the Goni has 24 petals and the Alveo has only 12... Am I mistaken?

You should see this woman's Goni. It is amazing. Whatever she's doing she's doing right and she's bringing them back from the dead!

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...5&perpage=25&highlight=alveopora&pagenumber=1

Her pictures are at the bottom of that page.

 

[austinsdad]

won't pretend to be an expert, that's why I'm writing HERE) that the Goni has 24 petals and the Alveo has only 12... Am I mistaken?

Nope. Upon a further look at pg 241, I think you've got it!

The alveo's 12 petals look to be at the same level as the petals. But the 12 vs. 24 is the key I see.

Darnit! I'll know the next time I pick up a book, offer something and act like I really knew something.

Maybe pg 241, the goniopora djiboutiensis (flowerpot) is more like yours. Although the pictured one I'm looking at has a pink dot in the center.

 

[austinsdad]

Her pictures are at the bottom of that page.

8O Wow!

 

[Phyl]

What about Goniopora lobata. I did a google on the one you said and it led me to one that led me to another that led me to this. I think it looks like it (but with smaller polyp extension it was day 1 in the tank when I took that picture).

Follow Pendulas to Lobata: http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/html/101-200/Species pages/195.htm

And hey, if the shipper can make this mistake, why can't you?! If the it starts looking poorly I'll give it to Gen to care for. In the mean time I'll be pampering it like crazy.

 

[Phyl]

Wow is right, aren't they amazing? The purple one is *breathtaking* If you read the thread she's doing a combo of Liquid Life and blender mush and target feeding them. Nothing else spectacular about her tanks, as a matter of fact, very little is extreme. No MH lighting, no sump, etc. The first goni (her big one that's had the babies) went into the tank around the 2mo mark. At least I know that there is someone local that I can carry it to if it starts to degrade.

 

[austinsdad]

http://saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/inverts/stonycorals/goniopora/Globata.htm

This site has pics of both. Now I'm really confused. Even the djibou (I like the way this short version sounds - try it ) doen't look like the one in Borneman's book. The lobata do look a little more like yours. Wish you could see the pink centered djibou (I love that sound!) on pg 241/Borneman.

 

[Phyl]

The lobata in the pic at that link looks more like an alveo. I can't really tell from the picture, but it looks like there are only 12 petals per polyp. I did see a pic of the djibou (Yeah, I'm laughing) with the pink centers. If you hover over the smaller pictures in the link above that I posted you'll see one that is a closeup of the bright fuscia centers. Very cool. Mine hasn't settled in completely yet (and now that I know what it is I'll be moving it closer to the light : Goni's are higher light than Avleos, right?). The tenticles get longer every day, it seems and the polyp extension is getting better too. I'm going to have to put a bottle over it to keep the shrimp off of it during feeding though. Man are they maniacs! It is all so confusing. It will be interesting to see what LA wants to do about this crazy mix up.

 

[lando]

I am going to say Gonnipora as well. As you know, survival rate is dismal at best. I would contact liveaquaria and let them know they sent you the wrong coral, they may just resend you the right one. Good luck. The pics on the link look great. It is nice to see someone having luck with these corals.

 

[Phyl]

I've sent them my picture via email and am waiting for their specialist to look at it and get back to me. The customer support guy I talked to said that they'll either reship or credit my card, depending. It is up to the supervisor to make the call. If they credit my account them I'm going to demand to be credited for the shipping as well. We'll see.

I fed her some liquid life last night and she sucked it up greedily. It was fun to watch her eating. She tried to hang on to a piece of mysis that fell but my cleaner swiped it, lol.

 

[revhtree]

Darn cleaner shrimp!!!


Great looking coral! I tried an avi when I first started keeping corals. I didnt know anything about them and how they are very hard to keep. I am hoping your goni lives a long life.

 

[Phyl]

I am hoping your goni lives a long life.

Thanks, I'm sure you'll all get to share my trials and tribulations here. Hopefully we'll be having a birthday part for it next February. *crosses fingers*

 

[ReefGuru]

They are doable. FIrst of all, you have a gonti. No arguments hands down, gonti, they have 24 tentacles. Second, the best way to feed them is a mix of three things used at no particular ratio, I feed mine (doing well and growing for years) by adding phytoplankton, and for zooplankton I use cyclopeze. However, what really makes them grow is the fact that I stir up some of my substrate at LEAST once a weak. That liberates bacteria, protozoa, little worms, larvae and thousands upon thousands of things that they can eat. There are also a few people who have anecdotal evidence of longterm (5 yrs+) care and growth of denderophytha corals using sediment stirring. What I like about that even better, is that since I have started doing that all the cniderians in my tanks have been growing much better. This includes sps, lps, musrooms, anemone, zoo's and softies.

Andrej

 

[Phyl]

Kudos to you. That's pretty fascinating information. Thanks! I'll take all the advice and information I can get for offering up my Goni the best chances of success.