Flower Pot Coral..pic

M

m3ntal

New member
So I was at my local LFS and I wanted to get a starter coral since this is my first time and the guy there recommended me a flower pot coral. I told him I wanted something EASY to take care of and he said this one wasn't so bad...

So I bring it home and I find out after doing some research that its one of the HARDEST to keep alive. Oh man....

I'm gonna go back there tomorrow and see if I can exchange it for some star polyps... If they say no, what are some techniques and care tips can you guys can give me to keep this thing alive??

I bought some kent zooplex and brine shrimp to target feed it.

Thanks!

IMG_4252.JPG
 
That's a beautiful specimen. If your tank water is stable and your lighting adequate, you might inquire of the lps forum "now what?" and see if you get some specifics on feeding. That's the worst thing. That one is out and active, and if you can feed it right, you might luck out.
 
See if they will exchange it or give you credit for a purple or red one...they seem to do very well. IMO, the greens should not be sold as they usually die within 8-10 months. There are a few people doing some research with them here on RC...do a search and you should come up with the threads. GL
 
Do you guys know if this coral is supposed to retract when the lights are off? I thought I read that they barely ever retract.

Day two progress pics:

Seems to be enjoying its new habitat.
flowerpot.JPG


flowerpot2.JPG
 
I did the same things and bought a green one and so far it is doing very well. It does retract when the halides go off, but opens right up when they come back on. What do you feed yours?
 
I just saw a few of those at a LFS near me, and wasn't surprised when I kept looking around and saw a barracuda in a 9" cube waiting to be sold....:(

These are beautiful corals though, thanks for sharing pics.

Good luck!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7210747#post7210747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by alanscott
I did the same things and bought a green one and so far it is doing very well. It does retract when the halides go off, but opens right up when they come back on. What do you feed yours?
Click to expand...

The sales guy at the lfs told me to feed it a variety of kent products...I picked up a bottle of Zooplex to try for now. I also use brine shrimp.

I try to target feed them but i'm not sure if they are taking it in or not. Its hard to tell!

I wouldn't mind trying this coral if my tank was a 1 year + old but mines only 5 months old:(
 
I have never had problems with flower pots. moderate light moderate flow. I feed D.T's phyto. I have 4 of them and the only one that died was because of aptaisa or joes juice ??? I also have a true RED one that is to die for
 
I had a red goni for a while, but it eventually started dying. My LFS guy calls them rentals.

However, I have an alveo this is doing well (knock wood). They are supposed to be easier.

ANYWAY...one thing I would recommend is to get some DT's live phytoplankton ASAP. I think sqitching from the live phyto to preserved (Kent) stuff is one of the reasons it went down hill. I have also read the Dr. Mac (Pacific East Aquaculture) has good luck target feeding them Cyclopeeze.

I recently bought some Reefroids from www.finsreef.com that is supposed to have a zooplankton sized specifically to feed goni. I can't say for sure whether it works or not, but my corals seem to like it.
 
The Goniopora stokesi, the green one you have, is the most common and the most difficult Goniopora. The purple ones seem to be the easiest although the red ones are also easier than stokesi.


I would recommend feeding Cyclops. Cyclops are bright red zooplankton which I think are a type of copepod. Julian Sprung has an interesting article that suggests Goniopora need an element called Manganese as well as Iron, more than most other corals. Although Goniopora do not feed on phytoplankton they probably will benefit from the iron. Cyclops are very high in Manganese and whenever I feed Cyclops my purple Goniopora eats it. The sales person claim that you should feed a variety of kent products is probably just grasping at straws and an effort at a bigger sale.

Best Wishes,
Barry
 
Thanks for the input kahunakatz.

The kent product called "zooplex" I got says that its zooplankton. Also, it's bright red as you described cyclops. Is this the same stuff?

Where can I get cyclops?
 
I am not sure but I think the Kent Zooplex has Cyclops. Although I don't normally endorse brands on the forums I like the Argent freeze dried Cyclopeeze or the Liquid Life Frozen Cyclopeeze. If you can not get either of the other two brands I would use the Kent Product. Cyclops are the only red Copepod I know of and I think the Kent product hit the market just when Cyclopeeze became popular.
 
The flower pots are my favorites and have had 2 of them for 6 months no problems. I keep mine on bottom of tank and they are really thriving. I think they feed better on the bottom and get plenty of flow also. I put my first one in tank after just 1 month and has been doing great see my photo gallery.
 
Looks very nice. I guess not all of them die I still have mine almost 2 years, nothing special, I've tried to feed mine different things and not able to feed it. They do retract from time to time. I feed my tank from time to time with cyclopeeze, phytoplackton, zooplankton. Not sure if that helps but it's doing great. The do like smooth flow around them. Good luck with yours.
 
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