Encrusting Gonio?

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Dnwolf

Member
Hi guys , so i've recently got this flower pot coral on impulse .
After doing a bit of research . i found out that this type of corals are extremely tough to keep and requires lots of feeding .
Its slowly beginning to extend its polyps as u can see in this photo :
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Apparently theres two types of gonio , the encrusting ones and the non-encrusting ones . I heard that the encrusting one are much easier to keep than the non-encrusting ones , Is that true ?

If it is easier to keep , I plan to target-feed it mysis shrimp/ rotifers on a weekly basis .

since it does have a symbiotic relationship with algae , it should be able to make its own food right ?

Also , i bought a branching hammer coral and a open brain coral . They are slowly acclimizing to my tank parameters and are doing real good . The only concern i have is , would i be able to keep this gonio ?
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Either way mate, unfortunately the goniopora corals are rather difficult to keep in the long term if you don't feed each polyp on a regular basis. Whether it's encrusting or non-encrusting, I would be treating it as the most difficult to keep as that will give it the greatest chance of survival.
Personally I would be target feeding it twice a week and making sure that each individual polyp gets some food and is eating as that will mean the coral will reward you by growing strong and healthy. Once every three days would be even better to be feeding it, I would also be offering smaller food than the mysis shrimp as that will most likely be too big for the coral to consume as they have small mouths and aren't able to expand very far. Things like oyster eggs, Cyclop-eeze juice and phytoplankton are great foods or Goniopower by Two Little Fishies would be the best option as it has been developed specially for the goniopora species of corals :) I definitely wouldn't treat the coral like it can produce it's own food, that is a sure death-wish for them, I don't mean to sound harsh or offensive but they do require some tender love and care to thrive and survive in the long term :)
For the best care and info on the goniopora corals check out the Reefkeeping Article on them:
The Care and Propagation of Goniopora
 
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Steve L

Member
I've had a large (baseball size) green encrusting one on my sand bed for the past 6 months and it's doing great. I don't spot feed but turn off my skimmer and feed all of my corals with oyster eggs and phyto feast twice a week. So far no complaints. I bought a small pink frag a couple months ago and so far it's ok, but I have it high on my rock structure and I'm not sure it likes the lighting. They do love fairly strong current, at least mine do.
 
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Dnwolf

Member
Is it ok if i just dose a little a day into my tank like how I would for other supplements instead of target feeding it ? Also , how long do you off your skimmers ?
 
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Steve L

Member
Dnwolf said:
Is it ok if i just dose a little a day into my tank like how I would for other supplements instead of target feeding it ? Also , how long do you off your skimmers ?
Click to expand...

By dosing you mean feeding then no I wouldn't do it that often. Twice a week should be more than enough. In a tank your size you'll increase the nitrates quickly with all of that food. The problem with feeding the entire tank instead of target feeding is that a lot of the left over food winds up settling in the sand bed, and the foods these things eat are practically microscopic, so the waste piles up fast. If you blow off the rocks and vacuume the sand bed at least once a month it won't be as much of a problem.

I usually turn off my skimmer for an hour when I feed the entire tank.
 
Surfnut

Surfnut

Active Member
Feed it with Cyclopeze and you shouldn't have any issues. Do remember to turn off the protein skimmer prior to feeding though.
 
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Dnwolf

Member
As im living in Singapore and Singapore is really close to Indonesia , I suspect that this species is the Goniopora Stokesi , which many people had deemed impossible to keep . Is that true ?
 
Wrangy

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
I would highly recommend goniopower to feed it if you want to give it the best chance of survival! :) It's a food that has been specifically designed and produced for the goniopora species of coral. When feeding them you have to make sure that you feed each individual polyp or as close to every one of them :)
 
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Dnwolf

Member
I notice that many of the goniopora i see online have very long polyp extentions , but mine are really short and the "petals" are short and stubby .
Anyways , my hammer seems to be doing fine but wont eat the mysis shrimps i feed it .
The open brain coral was looking great at 1st then after i moved it a few times it seems to be deflated and looking shrivelled .
Can anyone tell me the best placement for this coral ?
 
Mr.Reeefer

Mr.Reeefer

Member
IMO, it really depends which of the goniopora species you have, and what condition you get it in, if you get it in great shape your chances of survival increase, I had 4 now I have 3 gonni's, the stokeski is the hardest of all to keep and is why I went from 4 to 3, the goniopora stokeski comes from turbid lagoons and is very poor at getting a feed for itself and in our home aquariums as the water is generally kept very clean it makes there chances of survive much less, I target fed mine with phyto and still had no success, the only people that have managed to keep a stokeski for more than a couple of years ran their tank quite "dirty" with no protein skimmer at all.

Reefroids is also made for gonni's.

I was the same and bought mine as an impulse buy, and after research I was very angry with my LFS for selling it too me, they new I am a beginner and should have recommended that maybe I try that coral later on........
Good luck with whatever you decide to do, I still have 3 and there doing well!!
 
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