Help with Goniopora...

[droog]

Hi,

I have 4 goniopora / flowerpot corals in my 130g DT. Not sure exactly the genii, but one is light green, another green/purple, one pink and one red.

The red one (my favourite) has been sulking for two weeks now (polyps retracted into body). Its difficult to relocate as is glued in place. Wondering if I should just let it be, or there is something I should try?

Parameters are:

Salinity: 35ppt
Alk: 8
Ca: 450
Mg: 1350
PO4: 0.08 (hanna URL)
No3: 0.2

The biggest change I made in recent weeks was to reduce nutrient levels via carbon dosing.

My pink colony is now happy and the red one unhappy. It used to be the reverse.

I feed them 2-3 times a week, Reef Nutrition products and/or ReefRoids. Had them between 6-12 months.

-droog

 

[Webmanny]

I have the same issue and it also started when I started carbon dosing. I think some of these species prefer a dirty tank. I also have a green and a pink one, which are doing great, but the red one looks unhappy.

Tagging along to see if someone smarter than me shares a solution.

 

[rt67ghy]

It looks like the carbon dosing is the culprit. My tank was pretty dirty with PO4 at 0.5 at times and algae/diatoms growing everywhere but my goni seemed to love it. Recently I started feeding mine Goniopower every day and growth is accelerating. I would recommend discontinuation of carbon dosing/ GAC use and gradually allowing an increment of organics/food in the water column.

 

[Webmanny]

This is just my personal preference and others may dissagree with me, but I would much rather lose a single coral to a "super clean" tank than deal with Green Hair Algae again.

I totally eliminated GHA from my tank by dosing carbon. My tank looks beautiful now and not a shred of GHA. If this is the price I pay, I can live without red Gonis.

 

[droog]

I have been carbon dosing in my system from day 1 (albeit a very low dose).

Suspect that I screwed up the dosing by using a non-sealed container and/or diluting the carbon source too much. This led nutrients build-up and algae problems.

My tank don't have any GHA issues, but does have the plating version of Lobophora Variegata. Brown algae (looks black really) and is harming some corals. Its not plague proportions, but its ugly and hard to eliminate. My lower nutrient levels seem to be staving it out - my skimmer is pulling a lot more out of the water than it used to.

I'll try cutting back my dosing and let the nutrient level rise a little, I'm adding a Naso tang to tackle the lobophora algae - apparently they love it.

If I can achieve a balanced level that keeps them all happy will do that. Otherwise I'm with Webmanny on this one.

Is it "well known" that red goni's need dirtier water? If so, what do we mean by "dirty"? NO3/PO4, suspended particulate matter or both? I don't run any mechanical filtration - just skimmer and carbon dosing.

-droog

 

[droog]

Oh, I also meant to ask... if the polyps stay rertracted, how long do I have before the situation becomes irreversible? Any guidelines?

-droog

 

[Tweaked]

I have over a dozen goin colonies, and my oldst one of over three years can close for over two months at time and then reopen even bigger each time. I used to think something was wrong, but just chalk it up as normal for this one.

 

[gooner2062]

i have a red green and a purple all doing well especially the purple. i too noticed a difference in the red when i started dosing vodka. polyps were really recessed and didn't look too good. i stopped the vodka and placed the coral on the sand bed with a cut down fizzy drink bottle over it and target fed reefroids every other day. it made a full recovery after a few weeks btw.

 

[rt67ghy]

This is interesting for goni lovers It appears that red gonis are more sensitive to less nitrates and phosphates in the water or they could be more sensitive to a rapid change- that is water becoming clean too fast.

 

[laga77]

I have three. A pink/ purple pastel, a dark red and a bright green. The green one is the oldest at about a year with me. About 6 months ago the red one started to withdraw. It had some RTN which I was able to stop it by blowing off the bad tissue. It then stayed closed up for about 4 months. Two months ago I read a post somewhere about someone having good success with Goni by dosing iron and vitamins like Reef Plus. With nothing to lose I gave it a try. Red has now come back to where it was before and all three are full and colorful. I know the results are unscientific, but red was not coming back until the addition of the two additives. I plan on continuing the dosing. BTW everything else in the tank is doing great. 50G with SPS LPS NPS and clams.

 

[droog]

I have over a dozen goin colonies, and my oldst one of over three years can close for over two months at time and then reopen even bigger each time. I used to think something was wrong, but just chalk it up as normal for this one.

Interesting, thanks for posting. I was freaking out after a few weeks, maybe I need to be more patient.

-droog

 

[droog]

i have a red green and a purple all doing well especially the purple. i too noticed a difference in the red when i started dosing vodka. polyps were really recessed and didn't look too good. i stopped the vodka and placed the coral on the sand bed with a cut down fizzy drink bottle over it and target fed reefroids every other day. it made a full recovery after a few weeks btw.

Cool, thanks... I can easily do this

I have three. A pink/ purple pastel, a dark red and a bright green. The green one is the oldest at about a year with me. About 6 months ago the red one started to withdraw. It had some RTN which I was able to stop it by blowing off the bad tissue. It then stayed closed up for about 4 months. Two months ago I read a post somewhere about someone having good success with Goni by dosing iron and vitamins like Reef Plus. With nothing to lose I gave it a try. Red has now come back to where it was before and all three are full and colorful. I know the results are unscientific, but red was not coming back until the addition of the two additives. I plan on continuing the dosing. BTW everything else in the tank is doing great. 50G with SPS LPS NPS and clams.

Thanks also. What product did you use to dose iron?

So three successful strategies from three different reefers. Brilliant

Many ways to be successful right?

-droog

 

[laga77]

Kent iron & manganese. Good Luck