Is anyone successful with gonis with filter socks?

[Big E]

I don't actively feed my gonis............they get what they get. Your colonies look small.....I've only noticed my large colonies aggressively try to eat.

I've seen my zoas gulp down mysis, never tried it with gonis

You just need to DIY something like a liter coke bottle with the bottom and top cut off. I would try to drop the food on a polyp or place it there. Similar to how people feed dendros, ect.

I don't think you have to feed gonis especially the species that have been aquacultured.

I always go by looking at the mouths when it comes to LPS..........that gives you a good idea of what size of food.

 

[VintageReefer]

Thanks! Yes these are small colonies, I am hoping to grow them out successfully. Thanks for the tips! I’m always ready to admit areas I could use guidance with and I appreciate your advice

 

[Big E]

This is just a general suggestion to try if you have one goni closed up. Try to isolate it and make sure the other gonis aren't touching it. These all don't play along nice.

 

[VintageReefer]

Yes I’ve heard especially to keep bernardapora away from gonis

And that most short tentacle goni are actually bernardapora

Sooo to be safe I will keep mine separated

 

[MartinM]

Some species are commercially farmed at mass scale (20,000+ colonies annually for one farm in the study) so there’s a great deal of a deal of actual, published research about them. Among other things, it says:

- they only use blue and violet light
- they do not use more than 75 par
- they cannot eat without light (eating, not photosynthesis)
- they do not utilize phyto, although they will ingest it
- they do need to eat to grow (duh) with food in the 50-200 micron range rich in PUFA’s
- they are allelopathic


IME, which for me takes a small frag to a golf ball skeleton in a year and a softball in two to outgrowing my tanks in 3:

- Red Sea AB+ along with foods in the 50-200 micron range every day (they’ll have an obvious feeding response).

That’s the only consistent thing I do besides keeping them under 220 PAR. They’re scattered among different systems and flows and intensity but they all get that and they all grow fast. FWIW, I would not try to reef without AB+ anymore, I see such good results. (And no, they don’t sponsor me).

Also FWIW, some other LPS do terribly in my systems…so while I perhaps have “the golden Goni touch” it definitely doesn’t apply to everything…

 

[MartinM]

Yes I’ve heard especially to keep bernardapora away from gonis

And that most short tentacle goni are actually bernardapora

Sooo to be safe I will keep mine separated

Yes anywhere nearby and the Goni will stop

 

[Miami Reef]

Some species are commercially farmed at mass scale (20,000+ colonies annually for one farm in the study) so there’s a great deal of a deal of actual, published research about them. Among other things, it says:

- they only use blue and violet light
- they do not use more than 75 par
- they cannot eat without light (eating, not photosynthesis)
- they do not utilize phyto, although they will ingest it
- they do need to eat to grow (duh) with food in the 50-200 micron range rich in PUFA’s
- they are allelopathic


IME, which for me takes a small frag to a golf ball skeleton in a year and a softball in two to outgrowing my tanks in 3:

- Red Sea AB+ along with foods in the 50-200 micron range every day (they’ll have an obvious feeding response).

That’s the only consistent thing I do besides keeping them under 220 PAR. They’re scattered among different systems and flows and intensity but they all get that and they all grow fast. FWIW, I would not try to reef without AB+ anymore, I see such good results. (And no, they don’t sponsor me).

Also FWIW, some other LPS do terribly in my systems…so while I perhaps have “the golden Goni touch” it definitely doesn’t apply to everything…

Do you also keep wild caught goniopora?

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

If it hasn’t been already done. I’d take you pumps apart one by one, and examine them using a LED Pen Light to see if they are rusting or leaking toxins into the water. BTW, A Rusty, leaky 24DC Pump won’t trip the GFCI and may not throw a fault code.

 

[MartinM]

Do you also keep wild caught goniopora?

Most of mine are WC

 

[Miami Reef]

50-200 micron range every day (they’ll have an obvious feeding response).

What foods do you use in this range?

 

[MartinM]

What foods do you use in this range?

I make a custom mix for the whole tank. By volume it’s:

50% AB+
25% phyto 1-10 microns (not for gonis but for other inhabitants and the food web)
25% brightwell zooplankton S (30-200 microns)

Then about 10-20 mL of Selcon and several scoops of BRS reef Chili. I keep it in a mini fridge with a magnetic stirrer and it’s dosed in equal parts every 15 minutes from 6:30am until 11am (research shows that they mainly feed in the morning and at 6 AM to 12 PM is the best time to feed them). in my 200L system I’m dosing 40mL of the above per day, but there are no fish, so I have to dose more food. I also dose nitrates because I have trouble keeping those at 5ppm.

 

[mizimmer90]

How long do people normally wait before adding their gonis to a new tank? Anyone with success adding them to an early stage tank?

 

[VintageReefer]

I waited 8 years lol

But it took many years before stable goni’s were on the market and more was known about them.

If your tank is newer I would suggest getting a frag that is captive bred to start with. Avoid wild caught / freshly imported frags

 

[mizimmer90]

I waited 8 years lol

That's some patience right there lol

 

[MartinM]

I added after just a few months

 

[mikst]

Any time I've succeeded with them I look after the water circulation and feeding and water change

Water Current and microelements matter

Vinegar is not my choice as you can not use high amounts because of pH; I use Calcium Citrate and Magnesium Citrate

Hello, trying to absorb all this. I've been looking at compounds for dosing Mg because I'm a diy and gotta know the details kind of guy. Not a huge fan of MgSO4 because I'm not sure what can utilize the sulfate in our tanks so it doesn't creep up and likewise with MgCl2, the chlorine creeps up and changes salinity if also does with NaCO3.

Magnesium citrate came to mind so I started searching. I've found responses saying it dissociated and then the citrate is metabolized. It's just a bunch of C H and O, so it seems like it can form all sorts of compounds, to include carbonate or bicarbonate boosting alkalinity . Looks like it could also turn into sugars compares le to carbon Dosing.

One comment noted that if one needed to boost their Mg by 100mg it would increase alkalinity by 23dKH. Which is, undesirable. However the same poster later went on to say that if Mg were where you wanted and you just gave small doses to maintain then the magnesium carbonate wouldn't change things much.

Can you tell me more about your experience with magnesium citrate and Mg / alkalinity values?

Thanks!

 

[MrGisonni]

I can tell you something about my Goniopora from recent observations. They don't like the nitrates below 10ppm. Polyp extension is significantly less. FWIW

 

[I never finish anythi]

Some people just can't keep certain corals , I honestly don't think filter sock would even play a part.

 

[tath34ever]

High nitrate, good amount of phosphate, trace elements, manganese, iron and high Magnesium around 1500 has worked magic for my gonioporas who were not doing good for a long time. Pictures are 2-3 months apart