Goniopora (flower pot) Care, advice, feeding

xrobbx03 · 03/21/2006, 05:44 PM

I recently picked up a flower pot coral. I know they dont live too long but i think they are nice looking and worth a shot to try. I did some research and found that my species is the Goniopora stokesi.

What im looking for is what is the best food to feed this coral i found many different options such as Hikari Frozen Rotifers, Liquid Life Plankton w/ Cyclop-eeze, Cyclop-eeze, Cyclop-eeze juice, Food mixtures, DT's Oyster eggs. Looking for the most effective food to keep one as healty as possible and for as long a possible.

Also whats the best way to target feed these corals?

Does anyone have any pics of healthy goniopora and also some pics of ones that are starting to die off so i know what i am looking for and be able to tell how mine is doing.

Heres a few pics of the coral its only been in the tank for a day. It seems to be doing fine (for now).

fishfanv · 03/21/2006, 05:51 PM

yours looks nice. i've had mine for about a year. i feed it cyclop-eeze mixed with microvert 3x/week using a turkey baster. i also dose its tank with dt's live phyto. i keep it in low-moderate flow under pc lighting. look in my gallery for pics of it if you want. it looks a lot like yours, similar coloring but i think mine might be a bit bigger.

xrobbx03 · 03/21/2006, 06:02 PM

so 3 times a week is good enough for them. I heard almost everyday for them or every other day. But i think if yours has done well for that long on that feeding method i will try that out for a bit. Yeah yours does look bigger i just got mine so hopefully its around awhile to give it plenty of time to grow. I also heard of people having their clowns host it. I wouldnt mind seeing that either.

usmcsgt · 03/21/2006, 06:12 PM

It's actually good for it to have a clown host in it.

fishfanv · 03/21/2006, 06:26 PM

oh no, don't let your clowns host it. goni's are too sensitive to survive clown hosting for very long. when my goni was in its first tank my perc hosted the poor goni for awhile until the polyps stopped extending. someone, i believe it was jennkerry (reefcentral's goni gurus), recommended that i take the goni or the perc out of the tank if i wanted the goni to live long term. so i moved the goni to its current tank and it's been doing great. it's been in there for about 9 mos.

i'm not sure if feeding every day is a good idea. i think on jennkerry's site they recommend that only for nursing sick gonis back to health. you should check out jennkerry's site, reefcraze.com & reef artist's site, goniopora.org. those are great goni sites.

TrojanScott · 03/21/2006, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by usmcsgt
It's actually good for it to have a clown host in it.

???? Wow, just to reinforce what someone else replied with... NO, it is not good for a clown to even be in your tank if you're attempting a Goni.

Go to reefcraze.com for more advice on goni's and their care, Jen/Kerry seem to have a good idea of how to help them thrive.

Good luck.

li-mike · 03/21/2006, 06:40 PM

I have had one in my nano for about 9 months and it seems to be doing fine. It was a rescue coral for me as it was dying in its LFS home and I got it for 5 bucks. The back side had some dead areas. It has done ok for me. Day to day depends on how far the polyps come out. Mine have never come out that far but hey it was a shot I took to try and save it. I put a cut coke bottle over it and put in a 1/2 cube of rotifers 2x a week and then some Zoo and Cyclopse. I have gotten it to start to recolonize the dead zone but I do not have my hopes up for long term survival. It is truly an awesome coral though.

fishfanv · 03/21/2006, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by li-mike
I have had one in my nano for about 9 months and it seems to be doing fine. It was a rescue coral for me as it was dying in its LFS home and I got it for 5 bucks. The back side had some dead areas. It has done ok for me. Day to day depends on how far the polyps come out. Mine have never come out that far but hey it was a shot I took to try and save it. I put a cut coke bottle over it and put in a 1/2 cube of rotifers 2x a week and then some Zoo and Cyclopse. I have gotten it to start to recolonize the dead zone but I do not have my hopes up for long term survival. It is truly an awesome coral though.

li-mike, do you have pics of yours?

Psyire · 03/21/2006, 07:18 PM

This stuff was designed specifically for feeding Goniopora.

http://www.polyplab.com/reefroids.html

Emster · 03/21/2006, 07:21 PM

One food that mine seems to really like is mysis shrimp. I shave it frozen and add it to the mix of all the other food.

JENnKerry · 03/21/2006, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by usmcsgt
It's actually good for it to have a clown host in it.

I hope your kidding.
These guys benefit from a continual supply of planktonic foods. IF you can provide that, then you're on your way. That's key.

usmcsgt · 03/21/2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JENnKerry

I hope your kidding.
These guys benefit from a continual supply of planktonic foods. IF you can provide that, then you're on your way. That's key.

Hey Mine is doing awesome and my clown will host it and various other coral's and the goni doesnt seem to mind the clown SO NO IM NOT KIDDING, So im guessing your the expert and you have done all the scientific researh on them and know for a proven fact that they dont like a clown fish hosting in it. What works for some may not work for other's, There is more than one way to skin a cat. Thats the problem with some people on here, they think that there is only one way to do something.

li-mike · 03/21/2006, 09:19 PM

Yeah an older one right after the lights turned on so no extension.

Quote:

Originally posted by fishfanv
li-mike, do you have pics of yours?

Blown 346 · 03/21/2006, 09:46 PM

Mine died from my clown hosting in it, I had it for about 6 months and it was doing fine. That is until my clown fish found it, then it slowly started to receed until it died. It took my goniopra about 2 months of hosting before it started to look bad.

TrojanScott · 03/21/2006, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by usmcsgt
Hey Mine is doing awesome and my clown will host it and various other coral's and the goni doesnt seem to mind the clown SO NO IM NOT KIDDING, So im guessing your the expert and you have done all the scientific researh on them and know for a proven fact that they dont like a clown fish hosting in it. What works for some may not work for other's, There is more than one way to skin a cat. Thats the problem with some people on here, they think that there is only one way to do something.

I'm pretty sure a clown wouldn't bring the type of food a Goni needs, so it serves no purpose to the coral except aggrevation.

You may have a rare case on your hands. Plenty of us have been doing this a long time and know that a clown hosting in a gonipora will ultimately kill the coral.

I'm defending Jen/Kerry here. I don't know if they're experts, but considering they have a website dedicated to these corals, I'd bet my last dollar they know more about this coral than you do.

It's not a question of different methods, or more than one way to do something, it's something most people with any experience with this coral will tell you. Unfortunately, this coral is RARELY kept by even experienced hobbyist for any REAL amount of time, (sorry, 6 months to a year isn't much time) so we're all trying to help eachother out and educate. I held my tongue when this thread started with, "I know they don't live too long but it was nice looking and thought I'd give it a shot...." but the thread starter sounded sincere in wanting information, which is more than some people in this hobby ask for.

Okay, I'm off the soapbox.... glad your goni is doing well, hope you continue with the success.

JENnKerry · 03/22/2006, 04:45 AM

Well I'm not an expert and I understand there are more ways than one. But please believe me when I say that it's only a matter of time. Just because it's fine now, doesn't mean it will be. And yes the type of food the clown will bring it is not good for the goni.

speccialj922 · 03/22/2006, 06:48 AM

i concur, a clown-less tank usually results in a longer life of a goni.
notice the trend/ratio here...
6:1

cristhiam · 03/22/2006, 08:08 AM

I have not been able to feed my gony, Cyclop-eeze, actually nothing, I have it for about 10 months. It was huge on my 55, but is not so happy in my new 125. I know they like rich nutrient tanks

maybe that's why in the 125 is not so happy, new water.

JENnKerry · 03/22/2006, 12:07 PM

xrobbx03, yours looks alot like our green stoksi when we first got it. It looks very good to me. As far as telling when it is dying off, you will begin to see the tissue lifting off the skeletal base. These corals are very prone to tissue necrosis which once it starts, is very difficult to stop. We've had several that we lost to this. But all that comes with experimenting.
As far as seeing what a healthy one looks like, you can see lots of pics in our gallery

Kerry

seansod · 03/22/2006, 12:29 PM

Here is an excellent site for Goni's

http://www.goniopora.org/index.htm

Tony

I have had mine for over a year and yes my clowns do Host it sometimes and his polyps stay fully extended.

I would not reccommend letting a clown host though

marcel leroux · 03/22/2006, 12:34 PM

General rule of thumb, is that a clown hosting in it will irritate it till it does not extend its polyps any more. I feed mine cyclopeeze mixed with mysis.

xrobbx03 · 03/22/2006, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JENnKerry
xrobbx03, yours looks alot like our green stoksi when we first got it. It looks very good to me. As far as telling when it is dying off, you will begin to see the tissue lifting off the skeletal base. These corals are very prone to tissue necrosis which once it starts, is very difficult to stop. We've had several that we lost to this. But all that comes with experimenting.
As far as seeing what a healthy one looks like, you can see lots of pics in our gallery

Kerry

thanks. Yeah i dont see any of the tissue lifting off the bottom so thats good. I actually do see more smaller arms starting to grow.

JENnKerry · 03/22/2006, 02:37 PM

That's a good sign

03/21/2006, 05:44 PM	#1
xrobbx03 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Plaistow, NH Posts: 116	Goniopora (flower pot) Care, advice, feeding I recently picked up a flower pot coral. I know they dont live too long but i think they are nice looking and worth a shot to try. I did some research and found that my species is the Goniopora stokesi. What im looking for is what is the best food to feed this coral i found many different options such as Hikari Frozen Rotifers, Liquid Life Plankton w/ Cyclop-eeze, Cyclop-eeze, Cyclop-eeze juice, Food mixtures, DT's Oyster eggs. Looking for the most effective food to keep one as healty as possible and for as long a possible. Also whats the best way to target feed these corals? Does anyone have any pics of healthy goniopora and also some pics of ones that are starting to die off so i know what i am looking for and be able to tell how mine is doing. Heres a few pics of the coral its only been in the tank for a day. It seems to be doing fine (for now).

03/21/2006, 05:51 PM	#2
fishfanv Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: sf bay area Posts: 768	yours looks nice. i've had mine for about a year. i feed it cyclop-eeze mixed with microvert 3x/week using a turkey baster. i also dose its tank with dt's live phyto. i keep it in low-moderate flow under pc lighting. look in my gallery for pics of it if you want. it looks a lot like yours, similar coloring but i think mine might be a bit bigger. __________________ "yes we can" Current Tank Info: 40 & 30 gallon reefs

03/21/2006, 06:12 PM	#4
usmcsgt Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Pensacola Fl. Posts: 999	It's actually good for it to have a clown host in it. __________________ There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits on the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder. -- Ronald Reagan Current Tank Info: 100 Gal Mixed reef Cube.

03/21/2006, 06:26 PM	#5
fishfanv Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: sf bay area Posts: 768	oh no, don't let your clowns host it. goni's are too sensitive to survive clown hosting for very long. when my goni was in its first tank my perc hosted the poor goni for awhile until the polyps stopped extending. someone, i believe it was jennkerry (reefcentral's goni gurus), recommended that i take the goni or the perc out of the tank if i wanted the goni to live long term. so i moved the goni to its current tank and it's been doing great. it's been in there for about 9 mos. i'm not sure if feeding every day is a good idea. i think on jennkerry's site they recommend that only for nursing sick gonis back to health. you should check out jennkerry's site, reefcraze.com & reef artist's site, goniopora.org. those are great goni sites. __________________ "yes we can" Current Tank Info: 40 & 30 gallon reefs

03/21/2006, 07:21 PM	#10
Emster Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Largo, FL Posts: 2,364	One food that mine seems to really like is mysis shrimp. I shave it frozen and add it to the mix of all the other food. __________________ Emmett Jan. 09 TOTM Current Tank Info: 180 gal, Iwaki 70, 4-3/4" sea swirls, 3-400 watt Radiums, 4-80watt T-5's , custom Ca reactor, 1/3hp aqualogic chiller, i-Tech 400, Tunze osmolator

03/21/2006, 06:02 PM	#3
xrobbx03 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Plaistow, NH Posts: 116	so 3 times a week is good enough for them. I heard almost everyday for them or every other day. But i think if yours has done well for that long on that feeding method i will try that out for a bit. Yeah yours does look bigger i just got mine so hopefully its around awhile to give it plenty of time to grow. I also heard of people having their clowns host it. I wouldnt mind seeing that either.

03/21/2006, 06:40 PM	#7
li-mike Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Wading River, NY Posts: 53	I have had one in my nano for about 9 months and it seems to be doing fine. It was a rescue coral for me as it was dying in its LFS home and I got it for 5 bucks. The back side had some dead areas. It has done ok for me. Day to day depends on how far the polyps come out. Mine have never come out that far but hey it was a shot I took to try and save it. I put a cut coke bottle over it and put in a 1/2 cube of rotifers 2x a week and then some Zoo and Cyclopse. I have gotten it to start to recolonize the dead zone but I do not have my hopes up for long term survival. It is truly an awesome coral though.

03/21/2006, 07:18 PM	#9
Psyire Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,870	This stuff was designed specifically for feeding Goniopora. http://www.polyplab.com/reefroids.html

03/21/2006, 09:46 PM	#14
Blown 346 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Rockford, Illinois Posts: 6,596	Mine died from my clown hosting in it, I had it for about 6 months and it was doing fine. That is until my clown fish found it, then it slowly started to receed until it died. It took my goniopra about 2 months of hosting before it started to look bad.

03/22/2006, 04:45 AM	#16
JENnKerry Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jersey Posts: 7,384	Well I'm not an expert and I understand there are more ways than one. But please believe me when I say that it's only a matter of time. Just because it's fine now, doesn't mean it will be. And yes the type of food the clown will bring it is not good for the goni. __________________ We Don't Have a Signature..... Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon Reef

03/22/2006, 06:48 AM	#17
speccialj922 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: maryland Posts: 1,737	i concur, a clown-less tank usually results in a longer life of a goni. notice the trend/ratio here... 6:1 __________________ Dumb enough to get rid of my tank 33g hex flatback in my classroom.

03/22/2006, 08:08 AM	#18
cristhiam Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Groveland, FL Posts: 3,099	I have not been able to feed my gony, Cyclop-eeze, actually nothing, I have it for about 10 months. It was huge on my 55, but is not so happy in my new 125. I know they like rich nutrient tanks maybe that's why in the 125 is not so happy, new water. __________________ 2 yellows tail damsels, yellow watchman goby, tail spot blennie, purple pseudocromis, starry blennie, 2 clowns, 1 black clown, mandarine & Yellow tang Current Tank Info: 125 AGA, 3 40W 6500K, 3 110W URI Actinics, running on 2 IceCaps 660, CSS125

03/22/2006, 12:07 PM	#19
JENnKerry Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jersey Posts: 7,384	xrobbx03, yours looks alot like our green stoksi when we first got it. It looks very good to me. As far as telling when it is dying off, you will begin to see the tissue lifting off the skeletal base. These corals are very prone to tissue necrosis which once it starts, is very difficult to stop. We've had several that we lost to this. But all that comes with experimenting. As far as seeing what a healthy one looks like, you can see lots of pics in our gallery Kerry __________________ We Don't Have a Signature..... Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon Reef

03/22/2006, 12:29 PM	#20
seansod Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach, Va. Posts: 135	Here is an excellent site for Goni's http://www.goniopora.org/index.htm Tony I have had mine for over a year and yes my clowns do Host it sometimes and his polyps stay fully extended. I would not reccommend letting a clown host though

03/22/2006, 12:34 PM	#21
marcel leroux Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Ft Lauderdale Posts: 145	General rule of thumb, is that a clown hosting in it will irritate it till it does not extend its polyps any more. I feed mine cyclopeeze mixed with mysis.

03/22/2006, 02:37 PM	#23
JENnKerry Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jersey Posts: 7,384	That's a good sign __________________ We Don't Have a Signature..... Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon Reef