Why am I having issues with gonis?

[reef.science]

Hello everyone, I've been having zero issues keeping coral and even the ones that were having issues, I was able to diagnose and treat the problem. For some reason, I'm having huge issues with Gonis. Every Goni I get eventually closes up and starts to waste away. My tanks new relative to people who keep coral but I've had zero issues with anything else so far.

My parameters are as follows:
Salinity: 35 ppt
Ph: low of 7.97 and high of 8.22
(Hannah testers)
Nitrates: 5ppm (stays very consistent week to week)
Phosphates: .04 ppm (stays very consistent week to week)
(Trident testing system gives these numbers but have confirmed with hannah)
Alk: 8.9
Calcium: 490
Magnesium: 1310
I dose all for reef and do 5 gallon water changes bi-weekly with red sea coral salt (the salt with the lower alkalinity, not the red sea pro or whatever it is)

Run a nyos 120 Skimmer all day to increase ph and got rid of my refugium due to it bottoming out my nutrients.

I spot feed my corals with reef roids and mysis shrimp twice a week
Fish get pellets and inverts get sinking pellets.

I have three anemones doing fine, all my coral is doing fine, but the gonis start out fine, then slowly they just stop extending.

What am i missing here outside of keeping my ph more stable. I mean, even my stratospheres and gmks are doing great and those guys are known for melting.

Running 2 radion pro g5s. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[tharbin]

I haven't kept gonis in years but that was a common problem with them. My understanding is that you need to check your Manganese levels as they seem to be somewhat more dependent on it and use a suitable food. No idea which food but since Julian Sprung was one of the first to make the link with manganese, I'd try his GoniPower.

 

[Kerbash]

Yeah I second the Manganese, i had the same issue a few months ago, my red goni closed up for close to 3 months, added a bit of Manganese salts every day, started opening up again and back to normal after 2 weeks of dosing. Now he's growing over the receded part.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Why am I having issues with gonis?

Because they're gonis.

I bet they last about 6 months, right?

 

[littlefoxx]

Im the same, I can keep torches, mushrooms, leathers, bubble corals and zoas but no goni. I gave up and just enjoy my other corals

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello everyone, I've been having zero issues keeping coral and even the ones that were having issues, I was able to diagnose and treat the problem. For some reason, I'm having huge issues with Gonis. Every Goni I get eventually closes up and starts to waste away. My tanks new relative to people who keep coral but I've had zero issues with anything else so far.

My parameters are as follows:
Salinity: 35 ppt
Ph: low of 7.97 and high of 8.22
(Hannah testers)
Nitrates: 5ppm (stays very consistent week to week)
Phosphates: .04 ppm (stays very consistent week to week)
(Trident testing system gives these numbers but have confirmed with hannah)
Alk: 8.9
Calcium: 490
Magnesium: 1310
I dose all for reef and do 5 gallon water changes bi-weekly with red sea coral salt (the salt with the lower alkalinity, not the red sea pro or whatever it is)

Run a nyos 120 Skimmer all day to increase ph and got rid of my refugium due to it bottoming out my nutrients.

I spot feed my corals with reef roids and mysis shrimp twice a week
Fish get pellets and inverts get sinking pellets.

I have three anemones doing fine, all my coral is doing fine, but the gonis start out fine, then slowly they just stop extending.

What am i missing here outside of keeping my ph more stable. I mean, even my stratospheres and gmks are doing great and those guys are known for melting.

Running 2 radion pro g5s. Any help is much appreciated.

Gonis are a coral that will challenge the most experienced hobbyist. These are coral that can be beautiful yet challenge the most experienced hobbyists and can be great one day and wither the next. Gonis are photosynthetic corals and obtain energy source from light for color and energy. Insufficient light will cause them to change color and even shrink. If there was a recent change in lighting you will have issues. Water flow has a similar effect as too much flow will kill some of its cells. Moderate to medium flow is best to keep their tentacles swaying to keep debris off of them and deliver food in which they require regularly. Also, adding aminos to the tank as well as manganese is beneficial for their health.
Some good foods are chopped up krill, mysis shrimp, phyto and zooplankton. Im not a fan of powdered plankton foods as they can raise phosphates quickly but they work well with goni and alveopora.
Assure nitrate and phos Not elevated. Also its important to have Mag at 1300-1350 to help stabilize CA and ALK levels in their water

 

[steveschuerger]

I’ve got some gonis going on 3 yrs now. Most fairly younger. That being said I keep my Magnesium high at almost 1500 and I dose kz 4 part micro element weekly, which includes pretty much all the micro elements you need decent flow my other biggie. PAR is all over from 120-275 for them depending on placement. I generally broadcast feed frozen to entire tank daily and powdered mix a couple times weekly .

 

[dank.reefer]

I have to say that the flow can be a big factor in my gonis/alves. I Have one right now that I need to move. I added another gyre to help with some dead spots in the tank and ever since then my blue eyed Goni has retracted. Conversely ever since I added that pump my Superman Goni and Alien Eye Alve have been taking off. They are picky corals. Not on the same field as Zoas and Euphilias and as such their vitality cannot be compared.

 

[Big E]

They generally don't like high light or heavy flow. Don't buy from vendors if these are the maricultured ones coming in.

After owning these I have noticed many times they eat large pieces of food not small dusty type coral foods but they are also fine with no feeding.

Stick to aquacultured gonis that have been in the hobby for a while.

I've got 6 different gonis and they all are thriving. I've fragged them numerous times over the years. I use IO and change 10% a week. I've never dosed Manganese.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

my oldest goni is 4 years old, I have others that are 2 and 3 years old. I don't know what it is to be honest, I don't test for manganese and I don't dose it. I rarely feed my corals, I feed reef roids maybe once every 2 months. They are placed in a medium-high light and medium-high flow.

 

[PeterEde]

stunning but fragile. I tried and failed. It took 6 months and a bigger tank before I gave it another try. 1 month in and all look ok. So far. But I'm weary

 

[reef.science]

I appreciate the replies from everyone. I've read about manganese being important for them. I've not had one die completely on me yet. They usually hang in there for 2 months then they close up and start having issues. I like what Kerbash was saying in regard to dosing a little manganese salt. Especially since they're both in my QT system right now. Hopefully I can get it (it being the ability to keep gonis) cause my girlfriend loves the way they look.

 

[tharbin]

I also agree that starting with captive-raised stock is a game changer. Getting a frag that was raised in captivity for several generations is a much more fool-proof frag.

 

[Miami Reef]

my oldest goni is 4 years old, I have others that are 2 and 3 years old. I don't know what it is to be honest, I don't test for manganese and I don't dose it. I rarely feed my corals, I feed reef roids maybe once every 2 months. They are placed in a medium-high light and medium-high flow.

What foods do you feed your fish/tank?

 

[Baronen]

I will also say my experience has been changing anything up with large colonies seems to cause major issues. I moved my large alveopora colony that had been there for over a year and tripled in size and it immediately bleached and has limited extension. We will see if I can ever get it back

 

[alindell]

I've had a pink goniopora for like a year now. Just bought an Ora red. Flow seems to be very important for them. I feed mine every now and then. They they like a bit of nutrients in the water and don't like being burnt with light. Need a very stable tank. I've noticed alk swings are something they don't like. Keep it simple and easy.

 

[alindell]

Kept at bottom of tank

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What foods do you feed your fish/tank?

frozen mysis for lunch and reef frenzy for dinner. If I'm not home, then they get flakes and pellets from the autofeeder. I have 8 fish in a 40 breeder.

 

[Miami Reef]

frozen mysis for lunch and reef frenzy for dinner. If I'm not home, then they get flakes and pellets from the autofeeder. I have 8 fish in a 40 breeder.

Thank you for answering.

My hypothesis is that particulates are what’s needed by goni. In your case, I think the reef frenzy is feeding them.

 

[reef.science]

What foods do you feed your fish/tank?

It's mysis shrimp twice a week which i mix with some reef roids and sinking pellets. I broadcast feed daily with ocean nutrition nano reef fish food and crab cuisine. The system gets a dose of reef fuel every 3 days.

(Oops, thought the question was for me, still getting used to interacting with R2R)