Flower pot coral help

[aldo]

:?
Hi.
Just got a Green Flower Pot coral.
Can somebody give me alittle INFO how to keep it etc.
my L VHO 440w wter # good 66g dept 20".
For now its on top closer to the lights.

aldo (still learning - getting better )

 

[ReefLady]

Not the easiest coral to keep, and they have a pretty dismal survival record in captivity.

There is some anecdotal evidence that they prefer unskimmed tanks, with more organic compounds/bacteria -- food available.

I haven't personally owned one for many years, and probably won't again.

A couple articles for reference:

>>Flower Pot Coral/Goniopora<<

>>Goniopora Coral<<

>>Goniopora Revisited<<

HTH,

 

[captivereefs]

Hate to say it but it's gonna die. Will happen slowly over a 6 month period. Sorry!


Darin


www.captivereefs.com

 

[astride13]

Very interesting articles. I am glad I read them before I conned by another LFS. It doesn't sound difficult to keep this coral if you follow the number one rule, make you tank like the natural environment of its inhabitants. Only thing is, nobody wants a murky, high nutrient tank, so Goniopora is out of the question!

 

[kribbz]

i have a goniopora in my tank that has been there for almost a year now. when i first got it many people told me the same thing that it would die in a matter of months however i have had it alot longer than that. instead of slowly shrinking it has grown to the point now where i am almost forced to get rid of it because it is smashed up against the front glass with no where to go. so i think i'm gonna trade it in. i don't do anything different to it besides feed a blender mush of food and make sure i spot feed in the area. also i feed phyto at least every other day. if you want you can check mine out in my gallery it is the big red thing in front. the picture was taken quite some time ago so it has almost doubled in size since then.
kyle

 

[birman]

yes, the goniopora is quite difficult to keep. Mine has taken into retreat after about a month. Nearly gone... i took it out an dip into Seachem coral dip and has returned back to health. I feed it with phytoplankton..... so far so good.... still months to come to reach kribbz's status

 

[loganj]

The two most common goniopora to be seen in the aquarium trade are G.lobata and G.stokesi. Both come in brown and green and look very similar. G.lobata is a difficult coral to keep alive...usually not lasting more than 6 months. According to Anthony Calfo, "G.stokesi may be suffering under the blanket of G.lobata's poor reputation". G.stokesi is the one you want if you intend to keep this coral. It should be on a sandy substrate, under MH lighting, and in moderate current. Strong current should be avoided. I can't agree with the blanket statement that "It's going to die in 6 months" although if you have the G.lobata, that is the most likely outcome.

 

[BBReef]

what about alveopora? same thing or is it different?

 

[loganj]

Pretty much the same problem. I don't know of any particular types on alveopora that do better than others. It typically doesn't like direct MH lighting preferring instead sometning less intense such as VHO or PC's. Alveopora don't usually do well in aquariums although there are cases where they adapt and do well. You can tell the difference by counting the tentacle tips...alveopora has 12...goniopora has 24. I think it's safe to say that most alveopora are more hardy than the g.lobata and perhaps not as good as g.stokesi. One of the biggest problems with these corals is that not a lot is really known about them. IMO, you have to have perfect water conditions, enough food, and a good shot of luck. The stresses they suffer during shipping probably seals the fate of many of them before you or I ever even see them. One of the reasons g.stokesi tends to do better is that it is a free living colony and doesn't have to be broken off the reef. I would think the same would apply to alveopora colonies...if you could get one that wasn't broken off the reef and then subjected to bad shipping conditions, you would have a good chance of acclimating it and keeping it alive. Some aquarists have reported success keeping these corals in beds of seagrass as well.

 

[ReefLady]

Great info., logan - kudos to you.

FWIW, I did know an individual from another board who had successfully kept 2 or 3 Gonioporas for almost three years.

Their death is certainly not "guaranteed" - but it's also not a coral I would suggest to a new reefer without some extensive research.

Thanks much for all the great info.