Goniopora stutchburyi--On the rocks or sand?

[Balletomane]

I've acquired a nice specimen of this LPS. I've done some searching about its care and needs. But most I've seen refers to iron supplementation and feeding (moderate in this regard). I've seen little regarding placement. I have a 65 gal. tank that is 24" deep. I run a six bulb T5 array. I'm acclimating it on the sand for now, and it hasn't croaked on me after five days (I think I can, I think I can....). What do folks advise in terms of placement? Higher up on the rockwork, or keep it low? I run three Koralia powerheads, so my flow is moderately strong. Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated!

 

[organism]

I keep mine on the sand under moderate flow, it is really intolerant to higher light and has bleached twice on me for a few months whenever I've tried to move it. As far as care I just feed it some cyclopeeze or powdered pellet food every so often, but I have a frag of it that I never feed and it does great as well. The coral does grow slow as dirt though, probably one of the slowest I've seen, made the frag a year ago and it's grown about 1/4" on every side lol

 

[organism]

btw what colors is yours?

 

[Balletomane]

Thanks for the reply (I feared I had an orphan thread for awhile). It's red with lighter highlights around the mouths and tentacles. I'm afraid I don't have a digital camera with any kind of zoom to make a worthwhile image.

I've admired this genus since jumping into this hobby and have heeded the many cautions about their survival rate. But an article in Reef Hobbyist convinced me to keep an eye out for G. stutchburyi, and when my LFS acquired a couple of frags I couldn't resist.

 

[wireefman]

I have 4 different gonipora's in my softy/lps tank.. all of mine are in high flow with moderate lighting. none are on the sand... all 4 of mine ive had 5 months or less... all are growing at amazing rates... ive actually fragged 3 of them 1 multiple times in that time frame. i feed very very heavy... avg 4 cubes a day.. my tank is a 70 gal cube with 13 fish... and i run an old skool swc 180 *major over kill* on this tank so i do get the organics out of the water, however all my corals get to eat a lot of food..

 

[noy]

I keep mine on the same with high flow. I get great polyp extension but not much growth.

Post some pics!

 

[organism]

I have 4 different gonipora's in my softy/lps tank.. all of mine are in high flow with moderate lighting. none are on the sand...

Just like not all Acropora have the same lighting and flow needs, neither do all Goniopora, especially this species.

 

[cbass488]

I just bought a pink one with lime green mouths from the lfs tonight. Just tiny at the moment, but the pictures of full grown ones are amazing. It was new fish day and every customer in the place was interested in them.