Pink/Red Goni

[gflat65]

Just got a nice goniopora. I have it at the bottom of the tank, but it still gets a good bit of light. I'm running a 250W DE over the center of a 125 and 175W SE's on the ends. The bulbs are about 6" above the surface of the water, so about 24-28" from the goni. Is this gonna be too much light for the goni? Is so, gotta find a new location...

 

[coralcutie]

I have had tremendous success with red goinioporas and pink ones, they've lived for more than one year already and are opened huge daily, and they actually take food offered to them. They are under two 400W SE, 20K bulbs. I think they are really pretty. The ones to avoid typically are the yellow ones (almost always die), green ones, usually don't last long. Purple ones don't die, but takes a while to fully open. And all shades of red and pink are super hardy from all of my experience. I found one on the bottom of my tank behind some rocks, didn't even know it was there for over 6 months, brought it back up and now its opened as wide and long as it could be. The polyp extensions are incredible!!!

 

[John Kelly]

Re: Pink/Red Goni

Just got a nice goniopora. I have it at the bottom of the tank, but it still gets a good bit of light. I'm running a 250W DE over the center of a 125 and 175W SE's on the ends. The bulbs are about 6" above the surface of the water, so about 24-28" from the goni. Is this gonna be too much light for the goni? Is so, gotta find a new location...

No, the light will be good. Is it extending yet?

 

[gflat65]

It was trying to extend, but I think it was getting too much current. I moved it into a lower flow area. So far, the longest extension is ~1/8" above the skeleton. Thanks for the tips. I knew conventional wisdom said that gonis are hard to keep, so it is nice to hear that the pinks/reds do much better than others. This is my first non hitchhiker goni.

 

[JENnKerry]

From what we have gathered, most goniopora like the lower ends of the light. Keep an eye on it, and if it shows any kind of distress, try to move it to a more shaded area.

 

[John Kelly]

It was trying to extend, but I think it was getting too much current. I moved it into a lower flow area. So far, the longest extension is ~1/8" above the skeleton. Thanks for the tips. I knew conventional wisdom said that gonis are hard to keep, so it is nice to hear that the pinks/reds do much better than others. This is my first non hitchhiker goni.

IME, it is best to place a new goni in a slower indirect water flow with shaded light until it extends its polyps and tentacles. Once it extends, you can always try moving it to higher flow, higher lighting area later on if you want. The trick is to get it extended first so you can figure out where its flow and light limits are. Use something as a shade between the goni and the nearest source of light. I use strips of folded aluminum taped to the top of my tank. It doesn't have to be very big, just enough to keep the highest intensity rays off of the goni. You shouldn't have to shade all of your light sources, just the one that the goni is under. Once it extends, then you can slowly remove your shading over a period of hours/days. If you remove too much shading at one time, you will instantly notice the goni react to it. If you purchased it from your LFS and it was extended at the store, it should be extending within 1 day in your tank if your water chemistry is good and it is Properly Acclimated.

From what I have gathered, most goni's like higher intensity light. You have to Properly Acclimate them first though, otherwise they will remain retracted for a long period of time. My observations are, if kept under lower intensity light, goni's will look stretched; like xenia under lower light. Many/most will also turn more brownish/ tan colored all over and lose their bright coloration. Instant results with polyp extension under a lower light source doesn't mean that is the ideal lighting for the coral.

I believe that Goniopora will be much easier to keep once the proper methods for overall husbandry are established. JenNKerry are on complete opposite sides of the fence than I am when it comes to "proper" husbandry methods. I mean nothing bad by that. It just shows that goniopora can be kept in a variety of habitats as long as they are acclimated properly and target fed occasionally.

 

[John Kelly]

.

 

[JENnKerry]

From what I have gathered, most goni's like higher intensity light. You have to Properly Acclimate them first though, otherwise they will remain retracted for a long period of time. My observations are, if kept under lower intensity light, goni's will look stretched; like xenia under lower light. Many/most will also turn more brownish/ tan colored all over and lose their bright coloration. Instant results with polyp extension under a lower light source doesn't mean that is the ideal lighting for the coral.

I believe that Goniopora will be much easier to keep once the proper methods for overall husbandry are established. JenNKerry are on complete opposite sides of the fence than I am when it comes to "proper" husbandry methods. I mean nothing bad by that. It just shows that goniopora can be kept in a variety of habitats as long as they are acclimated properly and target fed occasionally.

You've gathered one thing, we've gathered something else. Perhaps we could meet somewhere in the middle?

 

[John Kelly]

You've gathered one thing, we've gathered something else. Perhaps we could meet somewhere in the middle?

It's inevitable! :beer:

 

[gflat65]

It wasn't showing much polyp extension (but a little more than what I reported earlier) at the LFS, but it was under pc's. I have it under a ledge I made for more sps locations. This ledge blocks a good bit of light, but still allows alot of ambient. The flow is more subdud there, also. Hopefully, when I get home this afternoon, it show extension all over (regardlss of how much, uniform extension would be a start).

Thanks again for the info. I'll keep you posted on when I start to see good extension and what conditions/number of times moved, etc. they appear under.

 

[gflat65]

Polyp extension all over. It is only 1/8-3/16", but it is all over, so it's lookin good. I'll post a pic eventually. I'll give it a few days and then move it out into more light (with similar current) to see how it reacts.

 

[John Kelly]

Polyp extension all over. It is only 1/8-3/16", but it is all over, so it's lookin good. I'll post a pic eventually. I'll give it a few days and then move it out into more light (with similar current) to see how it reacts.

Can you post a pic of it the way it is now? It would be interesting to see. Is it mound/column shaped or flat/encrusting?

Observe it after your lights go out tonight to see if it comes out a little more or stays the same.

 

[gflat65]

I'll get a shot now. Can't post until tomorrow (or Wednesday if the storm is an issue tomorrow and we don't make it in to work). My pos computer doesn't support USB under XP. Tried flashing BIOS, but was unsuccessful. blah blah blah. Laptop's at work...

I'll definitely check it out after nightfall. I may try feeding some Cyclop-eeze tonight, too.

 

[coralcutie]

here is a picture of mine. the one on the left has been there for more than one year now, doing great, and it eats. the one on the right for abotu 8 months now. they're both doing great. I have not seen baby polyps drop, but notice little patches of it spreading, like its encrusting on the rock. They're under strong but indirect flow of water, under 800 Watts of MH 14K and 196w PC Blue, about 10" away from the light, also close to the window, so some sunlight in the afternoon also. I feed them some cyclopeeze with brine, mysis, plankton mix, the juice for the fish, etc...hope this informatin helps. I've tried yellow ones with similar care with no luck at all btw!

 

[gflat65]

Mine has much smaller polyps than those. I have a pic uploaded to bellsouth, but for some reason, the site has quit responding and won't load... I'll get some posted soon...

 

[gflat65]

Bellsouth finally loaded for me.

crappy close up

Shot of location in tank

 

[JENnKerry]

When inflated, it should look like this:

Most of the brighter colored Gonis like the Reds, pinks, purples, are said to prefer higher output light. Makes sense if you look at SPS corals, the blue torts and Acros...all higher lighting since they have brighter coloration. The yellows, green Goni's, tend to like lower light

 

[John Kelly]

gflat,

Are you sure that isn't some type of porites? That may be all that it extends...(?)

 

[gflat65]

The polyps are ~1/8-3/16" in diameter. The heads look like most goni's I've seen, but smaller. There was one polyps that extended about an inch while it was at the LFS, but it was the lone stretched polyp. It looks like a dense mat right now. Are alveopora smaller than goni's? They have more 'tentacles' on each polyp, don't they?

 

[John Kelly]

The polyps are ~1/8-3/16" in diameter. The heads look like most goni's I've seen, but smaller. There was one polyps that extended about an inch while it was at the LFS, but it was the lone stretched polyp. It looks like a dense mat right now. Are alveopora smaller than goni's? They have more 'tentacles' on each polyp, don't they?

Alveopora have 12 tentacles on each polyp.
Goniopora have 24.
Porites have ???

Maybe post your pic as a "ID Help" thread. I'm fairly sure it is Porites. Goniopora, Alveopora, and Porites come from the same family Poritidae. I believe Porites is considered a small polyped stoney (sps) while goniopora and alveopora are considered large polyped stonies (lps).