Goniapora Dead?

[Pelagikos]

Hi everyone!
I've had this goniopora for about 7 months and for the first three it was fully extended and bright pink..
for the last four this is exactly what it looks like...
There have been a few changes in lighting and salt but those took place after this behavior started.
I'm considering just tossing it or should I move it? 50 gallon peninsula with two Hydra 32s 10" above

the water.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It’s not dead. It can stay closed up for months, my first one stayed closed for 2 months before it slowly started to open up. If the water is good, flow and lighting is good, then just leave it alone.

EDIT: it needs medium light and flow, so the sand bed is not ideal

 

[Pelagikos]

It’s not dead. It can stay closed up for months, my first one stayed closed for 2 months before it slowly started to open up. If the water is good, flow and lighting is good, then just leave it alone.

That's great news! It didn't look completely bleached as you can see the hot pink clearly. I have it on the substrate now I'm considering moving it up the rock work do you think that might be a good idea? I have a gyre running as well as 2 Nero's on chase random...

 

[HuduVudu]

@Pelagikos dose iron. The gonis especially the reds need it. You will start to see polyp extension when you dose.

You do need to get on it because that goni is in a bad way.

 

[Pelagikos]

.

 

[Pelagikos]

Thank you I'd skacked dosing iodide by Seachem. Is that a sufficient product?

"Slacked" rather

 

[Pelagikos]

.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone!
I've had this goniapora for about 7 months and for the first three it was fully extended and bright pink..
for the last four this is exactly what it looks like...
There have been a few changes in lighting and salt but those took place after this behavior started.
I'm considering just tossing it or should I move it? 50 gallon peninsula with two Hydra 32s 10" above

the water.

Tissue recession and due to stress. Location is first issue as they do best at lower third of tank in semi-subdued lighting and moderate to medium flow where pulses are favorable versus constant flow. To touch on these two, goniopora is photosynthetic and gets some of its nutrition from light building zooxanthellae which live in the flesh of the coral which is usually brown in color and regulates the population living in its flesh. Too little light will cause this coral to brown out as in case of yours.
I would not recommend blasting this coral with a lot of light. If you start to see your Goni as in your pic starting to receed , its likely from light intensity being too high and same principle applies to too much flow. If you had a powerhead blowing right at this flowerpot from short range, it may have killed off some of the tissue which caused a domino effect to the rest of the coral piece.
Goni does best in low to medium flow, with some random flow as mentioned above. This will allow a waving motion which helps keep the coral clean and brings food past the colony. If you see its' tentacles thrashing around, there is probably too much flow and reocation to a more calm section of the tank would be best.
Lack of food is a big issue with these coral and there are two types of food you can give them . . . . . Amino acids are one as they play a major role in building proteins as well as other biological functions which corals regularly take in for growth and color. The second type of food is planktonic plankton such as reef chili and reef roids.
The general consensus is to keep Phosphate levels around .05 ppm and Nitrate levels between 10-20 ppm for these guys. This is a safe range for these coral and others especially in a mixed reef.

 

[bruno3047]

If you drop some Goniopower right onto that little guy and cover it up so it’s not disturbed, within an hour or two it’ll start extending again. Guaranteed.

Yep.

 

[bruno3047]

First two pics are my Gonis during feeding time. Notice the improvisational feeding tools.

Next two pics are a couple hours after eating. When I got my red Goni into my tank it looked just like yours for almost 2 weeks, before I dropped some food on his head. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to succeed in this hobby.

 

[bruno3047]

I’ll go feed my Goni right now if you want me to show you how it’s done. Just ask.

OK. I’m going to watch a movie. Later.

 

[rhostam]

If you upset it, it may stay ticked for months. As long as there is no algae growing on it and it has some color, it will come out when ready. If algae starts growing on it then the corral is dead. I did a lighting change once and mine closed up for months. One things settled down it started to extend. It took about a month for the polyps to fully extend.

 

[Pelagikos]

First two pics are my Gonis during feeding time. Notice the improvisational feeding tools.

Next two pics are a couple hours after eating. When I got my red Goni into my tank it looked just like yours for almost 2 weeks, before I dropped some food on his head. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to succeed in this hobby.

I'd love to know more about your improvised feeding tool.... Also it seems that yours are on the substrate do you find that's where they seem happiest?

 

[Pelagikos]

If you upset it, it may stay ticked for months. As long as there is no algae growing on it and it has some color, it will come out when ready. If algae starts growing on it then the corral is dead. I did a lighting change once and mine closed up for months. One things settled down it started to extend. It took about a month for the polyps to fully extend.

I really didn't think I had done anything to take it off but apparently I had. I was having some issues with some cyanobacteria, so maybe that was the problem? It's so hard to narrow things down in this hobby as far as corals are concerned but I really appreciate the insight. Where do you have yours located if you don't mind me asking?

 

[rhostam]

I really didn't think I had done anything to take it off but apparently I had. I was having some issues with some cyanobacteria, so maybe that was the problem? It's so hard to narrow things down in this hobby as far as corals are concerned but I really appreciate the insight. Where do you have yours located if you don't mind me asking?

Mine have been high and low in the tank (before/ after tank move). They are at their best closer to the bottom with healthy flow.

Also, spikes in nutrient and long term or heavy touch (by you or crabs/snails) are things that upset mine.

 

[Pelagikos]

Mine have been high and low in the tank (before/ after tank move). They are at their best closer to the bottom with healthy flow.

Appreciate the info. I know every tank is vastly different, but I've got a peninsula so I'm wondering if I can put them on the rock somewhere close to the bottom... I have a lot of corals that have to use up the substrate.

 

[bruno3047]

I'd love to know more about your improvised feeding tool.... Also it seems that yours are on the substrate do you find that's where they seem happiest?

Yes. I keep my gonis on the substrate. The green one I just glued the frag plug to a larger flat rock to help keep the sand out. The smaller red one I drilled out a hole in a flat rock and glued the flag plug into the hole so that there would be a continuous flat surface for the goni to grow laterally. Today is feeding day so I’ll post some pictures later on my process.

 

[bruno3047]

I'd love to know more about your improvised feeding tool.... Also it seems that yours are on the substrate do you find that's where they seem happiest?

Here’s a picture of some of the parts of my feeding tools. There’s a half inch clear rigid tube with a short length of flexible tubing attached to one end. A small funnel that I stick into the end of the flexible tubing, a cut-off 2 L soda bottle that I use for my smaller corals, like the Red Goni, and a modified empty cashew container that I use for larger corals like the Green Goni. Feeding time is around 6 o’clock. I’ll post more photos then.

 

[bruno3047]

These are the two Gonis right now before feeding.

 

[bruno3047]

These are the Gonis ready to be fed with the feeding tools in place. I’ll bring the tool down until it’s about an inch off the sand and then I just pump it up and down gently to get the Goni to close. Then I just place it onto the sand with the tube centered on the Goni body. I never touch the Goni itself.