Reef Discussion

potatocouch

Member
Jan 16, 2014
1,124
153
Sydney
Those That Confident In Gonio Care
I have my ups and downs with Goniopora .. they are pretty ... in fact super pretty, especially those long stems one (never liked the encrusting version).

Long story short ....

What's their chance in a captivity, where no target feeding happen; only broadcast feeding ?

My resume with Goniopora:
  • 2012: Red encrusting .... status: 1 polyp left; never comes out but very hardy; can be considered goneski.
  • 2014: Long stem red .... status: dead ...
  • 2016: Neo bright green/yellow .. status: thriving!!!
This is the reason I'm thinking to get another red ... they're not a cheap coral.

Please chime in :)

ai688.photobucket.com_albums_vv244_stargate985_IMG_9682.jpg
 

S1L3NT

Member
Jul 17, 2011
18
5
Good to see people with some doing well :) Personally i've never had issues with any gonis, even my stokesi was going well for over 2 years before my clowns harassed it to death :( however i gave all direct feedigs, the stokesi even ate mysis shrimp pieces...

The red in that pic looks like a G. planulata to me. Purple centers on a couple of hte mouths that i can just barely make out...

Personally I think direct feeding is a big part to their success, but quite a few of them come from turbid locations so they should be able to ingest food without direct feedings without problems. In saying that, i see mine feeding on reef roids without direct feedings sometimes. But the response is much stronger when directly fed. I use 'julians thing' for spot feeding mine. With the wave maker(s) on feed mode. 10 minutes is enough time for all the heads to grab food IMO. Then the flow kicks back in and after a short period of time the reef roids is mostly disappeared so it must go somewhere right? :)

I'm not sure i've read about any goniopora not requiring a direct feeding, except one or two encrusting types which never responded to direct feedings. I had a blue/purple one which never really responded to food quite like hte others, but did still appear to ingest food sometimes.

Any pics of your old ones?

I've got 3 types of goniopora so far, but always on the look out for more. My favourite coral and love experimenting with them. I have a hot pink encrusting type, a darker red one, and a light brownish one with white mouths. In my previous tank years ago i kept probably 7-8 different types and only ever lost teh stokesi (which was due to the clowns). My stokesi had created a few goniopora buds which i passed out to friends/other reefers for free and only a couple of them lost the coral on the last time i spoke to them.
 

potatocouch

Member
Jan 16, 2014
1,124
153
Sydney
Good to see people with some doing well :) Personally i've never had issues with any gonis, even my stokesi was going well for over 2 years before my clowns harassed it to death :( however i gave all direct feedigs, the stokesi even ate mysis shrimp pieces...

The red in that pic looks like a G. planulata to me. Purple centers on a couple of hte mouths that i can just barely make out...

Personally I think direct feeding is a big part to their success, but quite a few of them come from turbid locations so they should be able to ingest food without direct feedings without problems. In saying that, i see mine feeding on reef roids without direct feedings sometimes. But the response is much stronger when directly fed. I use 'julians thing' for spot feeding mine. With the wave maker(s) on feed mode. 10 minutes is enough time for all the heads to grab food IMO. Then the flow kicks back in and after a short period of time the reef roids is mostly disappeared so it must go somewhere right? :)

I'm not sure i've read about any goniopora not requiring a direct feeding, except one or two encrusting types which never responded to direct feedings. I had a blue/purple one which never really responded to food quite like hte others, but did still appear to ingest food sometimes.

Any pics of your old ones?

I've got 3 types of goniopora so far, but always on the look out for more. My favourite coral and love experimenting with them. I have a hot pink encrusting type, a darker red one, and a light brownish one with white mouths. In my previous tank years ago i kept probably 7-8 different types and only ever lost teh stokesi (which was due to the clowns). My stokesi had created a few goniopora buds which i passed out to friends/other reefers for free and only a couple of them lost the coral on the last time i spoke to them.
@S1L3NT the picture is just to attract attention :) it's cool how some people would notice the granular details that comes with them .. which means they do love them and they do research about them.

Just like how zoanthids are ... the frills, the mouth, the ring .. but let's leave it at that.

I don't have pics of my old one .. basically both are reds .. one encrust, the other long stem ... the long stem one .. pretty sure it's purple centers on mouth.
 

lukusis

Member
Sep 3, 2014
415
144
That thread title..... made me think i was on a Reddit sub for a minute :p
 

ReeferRob

Solidarité
Oct 22, 2014
2,661
931
Bel Air
One thing that Gonis need is feedings 2-3x a week. I also stir up the sand every other week and they stretch out to catch food. You have to realize they they are dirty water corals and they thrive on suspended particles. That organic detritus is a banquet to them. You can take a soda bottle and cut out the bottom to make what I call a cone feeder so they get the food, leave it in place for 15 minutes.
 

S1L3NT

Member
Jul 17, 2011
18
5
I love goniopora myself and have done a fair chunk of research and always keep my eyes out for people keeping them to pick their brains haha. So many cool ones around but some are VERY $$$$$ :(

I'm with ReeferRob on this one though, feedings a few times a week. Even just stirred up sand bed, mine do the same when i stir my sand bed up atleast once a week.

Soda bottle trick works, as does an egg crate "cage". But I don't bother with this unless there is reason for it. I just turn off the wave makers for 10 minutes or so let them feed. Then let the wavemaker run another 10 before i turn my return pump back on. Seems to well enough, i always notice them feeding.

Mine respond to lots of different foods too, and sometimes even the "juice" from the frozen foods. Theres a few sites online with different foods that can be used.

If you don't want to direct feed, i would at least water column feed minimum 3 times a week with something like reef roids or similar. I personally think they are still able to get the food in the faster current as long as it is in the water column long enough without going down the overflow, etc.