Throw Coral Away?

ChrisKSB · Feb 12, 2022

This goni is dying off and the dead spot keeps getting bigger. Phosphate and Ammonia are rising. Do you just grab it and throw it away so as not to pollute the tank?

What do you do?

Mal11224 · Feb 12, 2022

This Goni is still very much alive. You can keep it and it will regrow over the dead part. The question here is why is it happening. Could be too large of a change in parameters in a short time. It will take time but as long as your tank is stable and it was doing well before, the polyps will extend again and regrow over the dead part.

tripdad · Feb 12, 2022

You can put it thru an antibacterial dip to treat it, such as an iodine based reef med dip. It may or may not help. If it is a wild goni they tend to be really touchy. try a maricultured one next time. Good luck.

dedragon · Feb 12, 2022

unless this is a really small tank, the goni dying isnt the thing throwing off your parameters. I would try a water change and filter media change first, add some activated carbon and check your rodi unit tds. Maybe an iodine dip as well if it continues to get worse

ChrisKSB · Feb 12, 2022

Thanks for the replies, the tank is only 32 gallons. I'll keep an eye on it...and do another water change.

dedragon · Feb 12, 2022

remember to change the filter media out as they could be leeching phosphate, and double check rodi tds because sometimes that is a source of phosphate as well

Aquajamin · Feb 12, 2022

Your Goni looks healthy aside from the problem area. It might have just been a snail, crab, or fish that irritated it but get the water parameters in check. My go to is running carbon in case something accidentally got into the tank. Water changer are always a good reset as well.

Uncle99 · Feb 12, 2022

I think they call it a Goni…..because they seem to be Goni quickly IME and do that quite regularly.
Never kept one past 9 months myself, gave up on them, like elegance corals and wall hammers, once they start, they go.
Looks like a slow recede, you can try feeding it, reef roids may be accepted, their are not the best feeders.

vetteguy53081 · Feb 12, 2022

Dont throw away. Clean area with GENTLE blasts from a turkey baster. I personally like mine Off the sandbed as I find particles irritate them. Check your light which may be a little too high or low. Adding Aminos to their water is a must.
Goniopora is a photosynthetic coral and gets their color and energy from light. This is done through a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae that live in the flesh of the coral. The dinoflagellates are actually the photosynthetic organism and the Goniopora obtains nutrients off of the photosynthetic process. Zooxanthellae is usually brown in color and the coral tightly regulates the population living in its flesh. Too little light will cause the coral to turn brown in color.
I would not recommend blasting Goniopora with a lot of light. I don’t think there are a lot of advantages to doing so. If you start to see the coral starting to turn lighter and bleach out, it is likely the result of high lighting intensity. When in doubt, favor lower lighting intensities until it is clear that the coral is demanding more.
One mistake some reef keepers make is providing them too much flow. If you have a powerhead blowing right at Goniopora from short range, it may kill off some of the tissue at that point of contact and cause a chain reaction to the rest of the colony.
Goniopora appreciate low to medium flow, but preferably with some randomness to it. That way you will get that gentle waving motion which helps keep the coral clean and brings food past the colony. If you see the tentacles violently thrashing about, that is probably too much flow and it would benefit from being relocated to a more calm section of the tank.

ChrisKSB · Feb 13, 2022

Aquajamin said:
Your Goni looks healthy aside from the problem area. It might have just been a snail, crab, or fish that irritated it but get the water parameters in check. My go to is running carbon in case something accidentally got into the tank. Water changer are always a good reset as well.

I have a Halloween Hermit Crab that was constantly on top of it picking around this area...not since I moved it though.