My Goni is all swollen!!!
- Thread starter Curgan
- Start date
Curgan
Member
I take brine, mysid shrimp, and some flake mixed with some kent Zoe... grind it up and putit in a dropper to feed it. he grabs the food pretty good, but of course some always floats away, and the fish have a hay day with it.. 
Its looking like the "swelling" went down and hes back to normal... Maybe he was just stretching/?? or getting all swollen for a big date tonight... who knows?
Its looking like the "swelling" went down and hes back to normal... Maybe he was just stretching/?? or getting all swollen for a big date tonight... who knows?
Jeremy0322
Active Member
Dont really know anything about them, but its beautiful non-the-less.
cindyp
Active Member
Hi I found this maybe thats what yours is doing?
You may be wondering how light can help control aggression between corals? You might also be surprised at the answer. In some ways - more light is better. To be specific, we need to start our aquariums with an appropriate amount of light for the species we intend to keep (about 5-10 watts per gallon for average reef keepers). Then we need to support the delivery of that light optimally to and through the water as time passes. This is an obligation that many aquarists fail to appreciate. Light bulbs and lenses need to be cleaned of dust, salt creep and debris faithfully on a weekly basis. And some lamps age much faster than others. For optimal performance, most fluorescent light bulbs need to be changed every 6-10 months. And how does this all relate to coral aggression, now? Very simple - as the quality of light reaching corals degrades over time from lamps obscured by dust, debris or age, then corals begin to expand their polyps and tentacles (swelling with water) in an effort to spread out their zooxanthellae to catch more of the weakly available light. And so, the worse the lights get, the more some corals pan for light and the closer they get to each other. The increased sensation of competitive species stimulates coral to produce more allelopathic compounds (chemical aggression) and turns a closed system into an increasingly more noxious environment! They are also wasting precious energies for defense that could otherwise be used for reproduction, growth, etc. Some aquarists, in fact, misinterpret the increased "mass" of a swollen coral that is panning for light as growth. This is not growth, of course, and it is also not an excuse for delaying the servicing of outdated or dirty reef lights.
You may be wondering how light can help control aggression between corals? You might also be surprised at the answer. In some ways - more light is better. To be specific, we need to start our aquariums with an appropriate amount of light for the species we intend to keep (about 5-10 watts per gallon for average reef keepers). Then we need to support the delivery of that light optimally to and through the water as time passes. This is an obligation that many aquarists fail to appreciate. Light bulbs and lenses need to be cleaned of dust, salt creep and debris faithfully on a weekly basis. And some lamps age much faster than others. For optimal performance, most fluorescent light bulbs need to be changed every 6-10 months. And how does this all relate to coral aggression, now? Very simple - as the quality of light reaching corals degrades over time from lamps obscured by dust, debris or age, then corals begin to expand their polyps and tentacles (swelling with water) in an effort to spread out their zooxanthellae to catch more of the weakly available light. And so, the worse the lights get, the more some corals pan for light and the closer they get to each other. The increased sensation of competitive species stimulates coral to produce more allelopathic compounds (chemical aggression) and turns a closed system into an increasingly more noxious environment! They are also wasting precious energies for defense that could otherwise be used for reproduction, growth, etc. Some aquarists, in fact, misinterpret the increased "mass" of a swollen coral that is panning for light as growth. This is not growth, of course, and it is also not an excuse for delaying the servicing of outdated or dirty reef lights.
Curgan
Member
Thanks Cindy that seems like what is probably going on, i really need to upgrade my lights, but dont have the expendable $$$. the Goniopora has been super healthy for 6 months with this light set up (1 48" T5 Actinic 54w and one 36"T12 50/50) i just hope this is sufficient untill i can get some better lights... anyone want to donate to the lighting fund??? hahahha:laughroll :laughroll
michael_cb_125
Well-Known Member
Nope you are over feeding it..... and it is getting fat..cough cough I mean Fluffy. J/K
note: My aunt says that she is not fat she is fluffy
~Michael
J/Knote: My aunt says that she is not fat she is fluffy
~Michael
mempho reefer
Member
How big is your tank Mark? cause i really don't think you have enough light. goniopora are very difficult corals to keep to begin with and typically require MH lighting or a 4 to 6 bulb t-5 with 6500k to 1000k and actinic combo. with just one t-5 actinic and a 50/50 t-12 i don't think the coral is getting enough full sun spectrum.
Jeremy0322
Active Member
If it is lighting is there any way to move it up in the tank?
mempho reefer
Member
i think it has more to do with the par and spectrum of the light combination that you have. moving it up may help in the short term but without the proper spectrum of light it likely will continue to deteriorate in the long run.
Curgan
Member
i dont know for sure if it is deteriorating, it has no receding marks, it is a full shere with more polyps continuing to grow on it. it is alot healthier then it was when i first got it... im just wondering why it got all swollen yesterday, today the goni seems to be back to normal... maybe gonis like less light???
mempho reefer
Member
then maybe it's just part of its natural process. my bubble coral will expand like that from time to time and it's just fine. i've never had a goni but have read alot about them and wanted one for some time just don't have the room for it in my tank. if it's been doing good for six months then you're doing something right so maybe you shouldn't do anything just yet. keep an eye on it and keep us posted. i'll be following this thread to see how things go. good luck
~mempho
~mempho
