I have successfully kept a large (fist size contracted) green goniopora for the last 16 months. It has budded at least 10 times and some of the buds that didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t get swept under the rockwork are surviving well and growing. It has survived tank situations that have killed most of the other inhabitants in the tank (main pump failure and kalk reactor failure). Whenever it is troubled, it will retract into itself.
Here is a picture of it a few months ago.
I have always kept my tank calcium what most here would consider ridiculously low. This wasnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t so much intentional and I have not kept too much SPS in this tank. My Ca has hovered at around 200-250 ppm. I understand the chemical implications of this as well as the chemistry of my kalk reactor and why the calcium has stayed low.
A few days ago I decided to buy some acropora and montipora so needed to raise my Ca to encourage growth and reduce stress on the animals. I tested my Ca and it was 225. My alkalinity was 3.4 meq/l. I added about 200g of anhydrous CaCl2 to raise my calcium to 325 ppm. My target is 425ppm over the next few days.
This was a sudden addition and caused all of my corals (except my euphyllia and 2 open brains) to close up immediately, including my green goni and my red goni. About 3 hours has elapsed since the addition and all of my other corals are happy again EXCEPT the gonioporas. Both and completely closed while my green goni is bulbous aswell. I have never seen the goniââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s act this way, even through ammonia spikes and Ph spikes that killed all fish and most corals in my tank.
It is of course to early to make any conclusions but I am surprised that of all things my, gonioporas have reacted terribly to calcium addition. Considering the long rumors of impossible to keep Goniââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s and the facts that I have never had any problem with them and I keep my calcium far below what others do, I cannot help but post my observations here. Is it possible that calcium, or at least our method of adding it (CaCl2, or kalk, or reactor) is harmful to gonioporas?
Here is a picture of it a few months ago.
I have always kept my tank calcium what most here would consider ridiculously low. This wasnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t so much intentional and I have not kept too much SPS in this tank. My Ca has hovered at around 200-250 ppm. I understand the chemical implications of this as well as the chemistry of my kalk reactor and why the calcium has stayed low.
A few days ago I decided to buy some acropora and montipora so needed to raise my Ca to encourage growth and reduce stress on the animals. I tested my Ca and it was 225. My alkalinity was 3.4 meq/l. I added about 200g of anhydrous CaCl2 to raise my calcium to 325 ppm. My target is 425ppm over the next few days.
This was a sudden addition and caused all of my corals (except my euphyllia and 2 open brains) to close up immediately, including my green goni and my red goni. About 3 hours has elapsed since the addition and all of my other corals are happy again EXCEPT the gonioporas. Both and completely closed while my green goni is bulbous aswell. I have never seen the goniââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s act this way, even through ammonia spikes and Ph spikes that killed all fish and most corals in my tank.
It is of course to early to make any conclusions but I am surprised that of all things my, gonioporas have reacted terribly to calcium addition. Considering the long rumors of impossible to keep Goniââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s and the facts that I have never had any problem with them and I keep my calcium far below what others do, I cannot help but post my observations here. Is it possible that calcium, or at least our method of adding it (CaCl2, or kalk, or reactor) is harmful to gonioporas?
