Purple Goniapora (flowerpot) ISSUES

[Jackalope]

Ahhhh K. i have a purple flowerpot... ok X that. its my Wife's as i would never get one, but yeah she wanted it so hear i am trying to figure out what in the WORLD parameters/temp/waterflow/etc. these guys like and feeding... seriously ive raised brains from the dead, but i can get this guy to extend its polyps. i attempted phyto basting, low water movement, high flow, low light, high light, i cant seem to to get the right combo.

Temp: 77.5 Very stable w/in .5 degree
Salinity: .0245 (for the linkia)
Calc. round 380-420
No po4
no nitrates/trites
No ammonia

I'm not saying this thing dieing will end my relationship, but it will sure as heck give me some points! Pls lol.... help.

pic of what it looked like for oh.. 2 days after purchase

 

[LuckyReefer123]

Its only been in your tank for 2 days? Sounds like it might just be getting used to your water. I wouldnt worry too much for right now. It doesnt look like its dying. I would give it time. If it gets worse then hopefully others can hlep you. Even my corals that have been in my tank for 9 months act wierd at times and dont come out for a good week or so, then when it comes out it looks healthier than ever. I would keep attempting to feed it though since these corals need it. Best of luck.

 

[Jackalope]

oh no, ive had it for 3 months and it is slowly regressing back. it actually has a dead spot on it the size of a dime. im working on a pic right now to upload what it looks like now.

 

[Skyreefer]

I have read that the red and purple goniopora coral is easier to keep than the green and yellows. I have a greenish/tan goniopora that was a little bleached in the fish store, but after being in my tank for a few months it is full of color and doing well. When the polyps start to fully extend and sway in the current you should try to feed it. I mix up a batch of frozen and liquid foods to feed my fish and corals and I feed my goniopora this mix almost every day. The trick is to very gently blow the food juice (mix of zooplankton, phyto...) slowly over the colony. I use a turkey baster with a small piece of airline tubing wedged in the spout. If you blast the coral too hard with the food the polyps will just retract. Sounds like your parameters are good so I would just give it time to adjust where it is. Don't move it around the tank and don't blast it with flow. Good luck.

 

[Jackalope]

aye. i use a turkey baster and blow it upstream so the water takes it to it. what type of lighting and intensity do you have? im still uploading pic from phone to photobucket, then diverting it to hear for you guys to see. going to text the wife and see how long we had it. it could be longer. i dont pay attention to time frames to well.... stupid ADD. pic inc shortly!

 

[Jackalope]

here it is now. getting about 75 par atm. max i can get it till my tek2 reflectors come in. ok wife says 4 months now. sheesh im terrible.

 

[Skyreefer]

Is this what the goni looks like throughout the day? Polyps always retracted?

 

[Jackalope]

yeah a Very small portion the size of a quarter comes out oh... 1/8 of an inch tops... its receeding bad. in the pic the far right whitest area is all that comes out. i can see polyps retracted elsewere but they are diminishing.

 

[Jackalope]

it makes me very sad as i hate things like this dieing... esp. by My hands

 

[Skyreefer]

It's hard to say exactly what caused its decline but it looks like it may be dying. Where is it located in the tank? Direct target feed the polyps that are extended during the day everyday. From the research I've done I have found that goniopora needs to be fed very often. This is one of the hardest and most sensitive corals to keep. Mine is eating and doing well now but I have my doubts about its health in the future. Good luck nursing it back to health.

Read this article for more info- http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/12/inverts

Hopefully you can find a solution.

 

[Jackalope]

its 4 inches from the water's surface. so it can get at least 75par. perhaps from the get-go i didnt target feed it enough and its starved to death. now im thinking its just in a downward spiral with no control to return. im going to give it my best shot spot feeding it perhaps 2 times a day lightly. running dual photoperiods per 24 hours and everything loves it except this. so im thinking light isnt the issue but starvation itself... LFS never said a Thing about feeding importance on this little guy

 

[Skyreefer]

It's possible that having it that high up in the tank could be bleaching it into retracting. I have mine on a rock on the sand bed. I've seen many tanks with goni's on the bottom or mid section of tanks.

 

[Jackalope]

understood, but im taking into consideration that im not using reflectors on my 8- bulb T5HO lighting atm. and i just remeasured the par... its only 55 where its at. i placed it in a better flow area as well so perhaps it can "catch" stuff better between feedings. i dose phyto ritually... well before the point that my skimmer goes nuts for the night lol. its a ballancing act. gotta love it.

i Did just do a target feeding with phyto/flake/brine blended up. im hoping that would be what it can use? its blendered.

 

[BigAl07]

Unfortunately this coral has a very dismal long-term survival rate in our tanks. It's truly one of those "Difficult/Expert" coral for a few reasons.

• 1) If it gets damaged in one portion of the body most of the time it means the demise for the whole colony.
• 2) It's one of those coral that need to be fed often but due to the nature of it's feeding this process will usually cause degration of the tanks water parameters.
• 3) We just don't know enough about this animal for the majority of us to be able to keep one more than a few months to a year.

I "think" that if this were my coral I'd do an Iodine dip and then double check your water tests. This animal requires "PERFECT" water conditions in our tanks.

 

[sasquatch]

they are tough to keep, sometimes its the coral itself, some do really well some just go all poopy like, they are sand bed dwellers, like turbulent flow, lots of light and food, have you tried using a pop bottle feeder like a big coke bottle cut off and placed over the coral? maybe you can tease the remaining polyps into eating, worst case " diamonds are a girls best friend"

 

[BigAl07]

...worst case " diamonds are a girls best friend"

SO true!

 

[steved13]

I've had 2 of these, 1 ORA and 1 wild, neither 1 made it. It hink I had the same problem, I didn't feed them enough from the beginning and then they "failed to thrive" and I couldn't bring them back. I tried moving them up, down, more flow, less flow, more light, more shade, every move just seemed to make it worse, and when I went back a step because it was worse, that didn't help either.

There is a good article online, I think it was an LFS that had them thriving for a few years, but I can't find it or you.

 

[Jackalope]

yeah Sas, i was thinking about that last night on the feeding ordeal. actually i thought about taking some of this acrylic i have and making what would almost be a frag plug rack but more on the lines of a feeding system. like a square with open top. being a sand dweller is new. didnt know that. its on a rock atm at the top due to no reflectors... GAH i need those things bad. seriously though im embarrassed having a dieing coral. its just the way i am. makes me feel as i have failed. being a living thing is the kicker. feel like i failed one of my kids. im going to construct that box and perhaps since they like sand... put some sand in the bottom. idk maybe killing the flow would be like from the frying pan to the fire.

Thanks for all the replies guys. i appreciate it. will keep updates.

 

[BigAl07]

There's a LFS about 60 miles from here that has GREAT success with them. He's got them in a 150g system and he feeds 2x a day enough to feed one of my tanks... YEARS! It's shocking how much "Liquid" food he uses every day. The trick is HEAVY water changes and he's running TWO huge skimmers on that tank. Each one rated at 300g. All the other coral (all are LPS and softies) are doing GREAT because of the heavy feeding. I'm serious when I say for about 20 minutes his water is GREEN and CLOUDY right after feeding.

 

[Jackalope]

maybe this will help with feeding. i figured it would take too long to make a custom holding device so tupperware it is.