Hi, Is there any way for me to find information about normal flowerpot coral behavior? I don't know what color they should be or how they normally behave when fed. Today, about an hour after feeding them a food I know they like, flake food they retracted. I know they like it because they really hold on to it. Previously I tried to give them coralific delight and they immediately retracted. Do these coral normally retract after feeding? Within a few hours they come back out either way but this is the first time they retracted after feeding them flake food so now I don't really know if they retracted from the coralific because they didn't like it, or retracted because they were no longer hungry.
Flowerpot Coral Behavior
- Thread starter Ralph Ritoch
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That is really hard to answer because flower pot is a common name for goniopora and sometimes alveopora..
There are allot of different species and colors of goniopora. Some have short polyps and some have long... Some have small polyps and others have small.. They are in the same family as porities.
You have a picture? They can be very finicky, some are not too hard and some are near impossible to keep...
They are not a beginners coral. Most like medium light and medium flow and is a good starting point. There are exceptions too, some prefer high light..
Some of the harder species like to be feed and is really what has led to their success. Personally I like feeding mine.
Ralph Ritoch
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These are goniopora. They are a little retracted right now which is normal this time of night. At full bloom they're only about 1.5" to 2" at most. One is a brownish green and the other is light green. I've been told that if their color lightens I should be worried so I'm not so sure about the light-green one. It's polyps bloom a lot larger than the darker goniopora and it eats less. I'm not sure if they are the same species or not.
ps: They like an incredible amount of light. I don't put my lights at 100% for fear of my other corals but these guys are most active when its 90% or more.
Ralph Ritoch
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My green goniopora has long 2”-3” polyps. Every once in a while they will fully retract, then it opens up the following day.
What are you feeding them? Some of those polyps are huge! I have been feeding mine flake food but I ordered reef roids.
Just because his has long and larger polyps does not mean yours will it can be a completely different species. Take goniopora stutchburyi which always have tiny polyps. They almost look more like porities and I have seen them misidentified as porities before. Your is not that but it is hard to tell what you have and it is rather hard to identify some of the gonis. Some gonis are also encrusting while others form head.
They do retract at night or other times if they stay that way they are not happy.
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
I feed all my corals ReefRoids twice per week.
cancun
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Hi! My Red Goni was actually 2 tiny frags I glued to a rock next too each other 3 years ago. Now when retracted at night they have quadrupled in size. I don't target feed my corals reef roids or anything. I grow my own phyto and add it to my tank every other day. I also use Red Sea Reef Energy A and B every other day. Here is a pic of my Goni...I also have a new small red Goni frag...and a purple alveapora I have had for two years. The last pic is my news Goni frag.... about two months old.
Alchemy
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I'm no expert but check out Reef Hobbyist Magazine - First Quarter 2018 Volume 13 which is available online. There is an article about Flower Pot corals placement (light and flow) and feeding. I feed mine reef roids every so often ... there is also a youtube on reef roids and how to feed your corals. Hope that helps some.
Ralph Ritoch
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The reef roids arrived today. Both Goniopora retracted after feeding. When they came back out they were much more active than they were beforehand. I'm not sure if they like the reef roids or not but its my understanding it was developed specifically for Goniopora so I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out. Maybe they just don't trust new foods.
Bestway to feed gonis is turn flow down and dust over them letting the food drift down to them..
They are super sensitive and some will retract just from a shadow.
I use reefroids, gonipower, and coral frenzy...
I also feed mine bacteria..
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Flowerpot Coral Info » Flowerpot Coral
create your page to connect people [color=#bed8f8][b]Flowerpot Coral[/b][/color](Goniopora sp.)[code][/code][color=#bed8f8][b]Quick Care Facts[/b][/color][code][/code][b]Care Level:[/b] Difficult[b]Temperament:[/b] Aggressive[b]Waterflow:[/b] Medium[b]Placement:[/b] Bottom to...
