Is anyone successful with gonis with filter socks?

[Miami Reef]

Not sure. Started with a multi-species blend but then as you cultivate your own it becomes the 1 dominant species so whichever is the most dominant that’s what I’ve got.

Thank you

I also dose Manganese regularly and iron every so often.

What managnese and iron do you dose?

 

[JGT]

Thank you


What managnese and iron do you dose?

Make my own. Got a bag from Amazon and add a few teaspoons to gallon water. Manganese Sulfate monohydrate from Alpha Chemicals. 1pound for $10. Lasts a long time and cheap. For iron I use BA Ferriron or 2LF iron concentrate. Whatever is cheaper or on sale.

 

[Jimbo662]

What manganese and iron product do you dose?

Sorry, it's not iron...it's idodide. Kent Marine Concentrated Iodide Supplement and

AF Lab Manganum​

 

[Big E]

All my gonis are getting not more than 150 par and probably less in most cases. They thrive in indirect light I don't like to hammer them with flow. If you can, make sure they get flow from all sides.

I don't filter my sump water with socks or anything for that matter

I do 10% water changes a week and never dosed iron or Manganese. I don't believe Manganese does anything.....that's just marketing from Sprung and his products.

I also try to stick to aquacultured gonis...........I'm not sure of the long term success of all the pastel type gonis that come in all the time now. They are not aquacultured.

They also like chunks of food not fine foods. The heads of the polyps expand out almost like how a snake swallows prey.

 

[V_Sh]

I wrote this on another forum:

I am a carbon doser. I dose vinegar.

I do regular water changes and dose manganese and iron.

I dosed Tropic Marin K+

No difference.

I really don’t think carbon and trace elements are the issue.

I sent off an ICP MS to Oceamo. If any element comes undetectable, I will highly consider dosing them. I broadcast BRS Reef Chilli 1-3 times per week. I think it worked better when I target fed them?

I’m really at a loss. Here’s what I think could be causing my issues:

Lighting too strong
Not feeding enough/proper foods
Some trace element is depleted or too elevated

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

 

[steveschuerger]

I have about 45 Gonis and 4 Alveopora in a 90 gallon AIO style tank. No filter socks, reactors or skimmers. I’m using extra rock in back for in “in tank” refugium. That’s the only extra I have. I do use a Fluval 407 canister for chemical and polishing of the water. Minimal water changes. Par 120ish to mid 200s. Moderately strong pulse flow. For dosing I use B-Ionic 2 par, B-Ionic Magnesium(small doses daily), kz 4 part micro element weekly, Reef Plus for Aminos and some vitamins every 3d days or so. I also add phyto from Dinkins daily. I broadcast feed a mix of frozen daily and a mix of powdered foods every week. Here’s my tank-

 

[vetteguy53081]

I run triple filter socks and Gonis doing great. Aminos are important in their water as is flow to keep debris off of them. Mine seem to retract when water temp gets above 80 degrees

 

[Miami Reef]

I started target feeding with goniopower last night. I also have benepets coming that I’ll mix together to target feed.

I’m hoping that feeding is the ticket to success.

 

[sghera64]

I have about 45 Gonis and 4 Alveopora in a 90 gallon AIO style tank. No filter socks, reactors or skimmers. I’m using extra rock in back for in “in tank” refugium. That’s the only extra I have. I do use a Fluval 407 canister for chemical and polishing of the water. Minimal water changes. Par 120ish to mid 200s. Moderately strong pulse flow. For dosing I use B-Ionic 2 par, B-Ionic Magnesium(small doses daily), kz 4 part micro element weekly, Reef Plus for Aminos and some vitamins every 3d days or so. I also add phyto from Dinkins daily. I broadcast feed a mix of frozen daily and a mix of powdered foods every week. Here’s my tank-

+1

Goni's (according to Justin Credible) seem live better in Goni crowds. That's not to say you can't keep a loaner. I also add my own DIY brew of Fe, Mo, Mn, I and yes Sr. All bought on Amazon and I use an analytical balance to weigh out for my solutions. I have a skimmer and intermittently use Rox0.8 carbon. I have a deep sand bed and 4 larger fish (Foxface, Tangs) in a 135 Gallon. Fish poop is great Goni food. Do you have enough large fish. I have a hydraulically connected bare bottom frag tank and frags of my DT Goni's grow just as well in the bare bottom.

I feed 1-2 times per day flake food (Prime Reef Flakes), Reef-Roids and fresh sea food counter prep I make myself. Fresh sea food is gulf shrimp, crab, salmon and anything else they want to throw away. I think the bacteria from this stuff is beneficial for Goni's. I have a 20 gallon aquarium beneath the DT that has about 18 gallons of water and the top 1/3 is filled with chaeto and tons of zooplankton, pods, worms, etc. Those keep my mandarin fat and may be feeding the goni's.

I have 4 Hygger 24V wave makers in the tank for circulation and they really move the water a lot. The Goni's don't care. Those are in addition to a Iwaki RLT-30 return pump from the 2 x 20 gal sump tanks.

Lighting is 2 x Kessil AP9x with some T-5 supplement.

My goni's generally are not upset by water changes or they seem to look fuller for a few days afterwards -- - especially if I stir up the sand in the W/C process.

I've raised Goni's successfully in 75-250 PAR - - but you can't just willy-nilly move them around. They need to acclimate over 2-6 weeks each time they move. If I have a Goni going "South" I cut it up on the band saw and dip it in H2O2 (10mL of 3% solution into 90mL of tank water for 10 min). If your Goni gets hair algae use that H2O2 solutions 1 time per week until the GHA is gone. Did this with an ORA red and it reclaimed real-estate previously stolen by GHA. It seems fragged Goni's do better than the parent (mostly). Maybe that is a Darwinian thing.

Stability is very important for Goni's (and other stony's). I've been guilty of letting my PO4 levels get too low (hence the daily reef roids). My NO3 is about 30-50 ppm (Nyos kit) and my PO4 is 0.030-0.060 ppm (Hanna ULR Phosphorus). Most of my Goni's sit on the sand.

Goni's do weird things: they pull in for days, then bounce back in one day like nothing happened. They also pull-in and "balloon" each polyp, then bounce back. Sometimes this behavior is their character, sometimes this is stress. Stress is when it takes 2-4 weeks for them to bounce back.

It's hard to tell what might be too much or missing from the OPs system, but I'm glad I found this thread with so many sharing their system parameters.

 

[tath34ever]

I’ve had a few long tentacle gonis not extending anymore. So a lfs advised me to add ChaetoGro for its trace elements and now it’s been a week and my long tentacle who had no extended at all but wasn’t dead started extending its polyps about an inch now so that has helped drastically.

 

[Miami Reef]

I’ve been feeding with goniopower and benepets about 2-3x per week for the past 1-2 weeks. I’m not seeing much difference.

Either my par is too strong (but how did they do so well for the months preceding?)

Maybe I didn’t feed the foods long enough?

Maybe I need to try feeding live phyto? I’ve heard good things about Dinkin’s.

Very strange.

 

[Midrats]

Mine is 27" from my eight bulb running six coral plus two blue plus 10 hours and doesn't mind at all. It doesn't seem to mind flow either. A cloud of LRS food passes by it several times daily. Benereef twice a week. Fish poop on it a lot.

Aside from the skimmer and some passive carbon, the sump is empty. I do a weekly 10% water change.

 

[Reefing.with.Rich]

I run filter sock and change them once a week to twice a week, I never ever feed any of my corals what so ever, my goni garden(20+ different gonis) gets between 50-100 par. The flow is light on some and heavy on others.
When it comes to gonis in my experience I think it just depends on the goni.
For example..
I have 3 Goni frags in the frag tank that came off the same mother colony, and they have all been doing great for months. Well the other day one closed up and has been closed for days now. They are all three next to each other and the other two are perfectly fine. I don’t think there’s a cure all to have thriving Gonis. Some will make it and some won’t. Just part of the hobby.
But good luck to you my friend and don’t let one or two ***** ones ruin your love for gonis!!

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

What type of phyto? How much par are yours getting?

Generally any live phytoplankton. But a mix will be the best as it offers a range of different proteins, lipids and nutrients. The golden/browns like Isochrysis, Pavlova, and diatoms Thalassiosira weissflogii, Chaetoceros, and Paeodactylum Tricornium are all good. Nanno can provide the most energy in plankton cultures, but adding the ones I mentioned above increase my culture density noticeably. The Reds Rhodomonas is what I culture but there are a few others, brings out the colors in your corals and to some degree fish.

Filter feeders, clams, NPS and a lot of LPS and softies also really benefit from regular dosing 1-2 ml per day per actual water volume. Unlike non-viable (dead phyto) live phyto will help with nutrient export and can outcompete nuisance algae.

 

[ninjamyst]

I doubt it's your light. I have seen goni at WWC in the same tanks as their acros with 6 XR30s that are very close together. They can handle mid or high lights. I have some success with gonis but also had a few frags die. Luck of the draw...

 

[steveschuerger]

Just a quick update. Upped the 2 part Alk and Ca with all the new and growing corals. Also upped my dosing of kz 4 part micro elements. Definite reaction with pluffier corals all around including the gonis.

 

[Rubymoon286]

I had a gorgeous goni in my 20 drop off that crashed during the snow storm here in Texas, and I've got several frags in my reef now, but still very early in the growth. I find that I need to target feed every other day and rotate what I feed. I do Benereef, Reef chili, and the Dinkin's Aquatics coral food (the name of it is escaping me.) I also dose around 60ml of phyto daily which seems to keep everything happier. I just pour the phyto into a powerhead and let it disperse in the tank.

For feeding the gonis, I do an isolated target feed with an upside down funnel over the end of my baster and slowly push the food out over each goni and hover over it for a few seconds once it starts showing a feeding response.

 

[VintageReefer]

All my gonis are getting not more than 150 par and probably less in most cases. They thrive in indirect light I don't like to hammer them with flow. If you can, make sure they get flow from all sides.

I don't filter my sump water with socks or anything for that matter

I do 10% water changes a week and never dosed iron or Manganese. I don't believe Manganese does anything.....that's just marketing from Sprung and his products.

I also try to stick to aquacultured gonis...........I'm not sure of the long term success of all the pastel type gonis that come in all the time now. They are not aquacultured.

They also like chunks of food not fine foods. The heads of the polyps expand out almost like how a snake swallows prey.

Seriously? I’ve been using powder and liquid food based on what I’ve seen in videos and read…I don’t really see any reaction but heard they absorb particles through the flesh.

What solid foods are you feeding? Can you post a pic of them after they are swollen and fed?

 

[Big E]

Seriously? I’ve been using powder and liquid food based on what I’ve seen in videos and read…I don’t really see any reaction but heard they absorb particles through the flesh.

What solid foods are you feeding? Can you post a pic of them after they are swollen and fed?

goni eating chunk food by Big E 52, on Flickr


This type of thing in the above video happens often in my tanks. I've seen them gulp down large pieces like this in my frag tank many times. They take a long time(4-5 minutes) to actually eat the food but if you turn the flow down and block any fish from stealing the food you'll witness the same.

This video was in my display tank and didn't really feel the need to record the whole process, but it shows how aggressive the polyps were in fighting for this chunk. The best part is if one polyp gets the food the whole colony benefits.

The food is my homemade fish food mush I feed probably 9 of 10 days.

I've seen countless videos of people hitting gonis with that dust food and they mostly just react to closing due to the spurt of the baster.

My suggestion is to just prove it to yourself and take the time to make a feeder and try to carefully drop the food over a polyp with the flow off.

I don't think they need the food to survive but just they are opportunistic if food comes their way.

People try feeding their goni when it's showing signs of stress or not opening...........that's not the time to feed. It's already too late.............you ever hungry when you're sick?

 

[VintageReefer]

I've seen countless videos of people hitting gonis with that dust food and they mostly just react to closing due to the spurt of the baster.

My suggestion is to just prove it to yourself and take the time to make a feeder and try to carefully drop the food over a polyp with the flow off.

I absolutely will try this. I’ve been keeping reefs for 20+ years but I’m new to goni and just got some for the first time last month and am wanting to ensure success

How did you make a feeder that drops one piece of mysis at a time ?