Goniopora polyformis

[wjguy]

I have a yellow flower pot, and I have read several different documents stating different water flow requirments to keep it healthy, I have only had mine for a few weeks now and have it in moderate water flow about 14'' away from a 400w 20k, and am supplementing the tank with phyto and coral frenzy a coral food recomended by my LFS in this short time I have noticed a decrease in color in some of the polyps. I was wondering what some of you do to keep this fragile coral.

 

[NC2WA]

Pray. (and hope it lives past 1yr).

(and yes this is sarcasm)

 

[wjguy]

ya that is what I have been told by alot of people. but I knew it was a hard one to keep going into it.

 

[Pentagona]

Feed it daily, meaty bits of size, and each polyp must be fed if it's to survive for any leangth of time.

 

[morgan]

put them in sunlight and they take care of them selves mine do

 

[NC2WA]

Feed it daily, meaty bits of size, and each polyp

Is target feeding with cylopeeze or artci-pods sufficient?
Or does it need something more substainal?

 

[morgan]

live rotifers and green algea probly be the best i think they are omnivorese but i dont feed mine anything in the sunlight they seem to fiend maybe under 10000k globes they would be good
i noticed goniopra.org is gone anyone know what happend to that was a very good site

 

[wjguy]

live rotifers and green algea probly be the best i think they are omnivorese but i dont feed mine anything in the sunlight they seem to fiend maybe under 10000k globes they would be good
i noticed goniopra.org is gone anyone know what happend to that was a very good site

what do you mean by globes is that just a 10k halide instead of any other kelvin range or is it a certain type of halide bulb. a little new to the halides not up on the lingo

 

[seattle989]

10K = color temperature closet to the sun is what ive been told. Morgon is implying that his coral does well in the sunlight thus 10k for your metal halides would be like the artificial sun

 

[Pentagona]

Pods are realistically probably just a little small. These guys like it chunky. It really is amazing to watch just how darn big a chunk of food they will eat. And unlike most of your anemones and stuff, they won't regurge it back up. They process their food really quickly. I feed mine finely chopped bits of shrimp/clam/squid/etc. My colony is happy, healthy, and growing. The hard part about feeding them is being able to leave your equipment off long enough and keeping other critters from stealing their food. These guys aren't really sticky, so flow has to be turned off for at least half an hour to give them a chance to get their mouths around their food. I use a turkey baster and kind of spread a slurry of chopped yum yums over the whole colony. Then I fight off my shrimp/hermits/fish/etc. for about 15 minutes to give them a chance to sufficiently grab something. Leave flow off for another fifteen mintutes and then fire everything back up to "blow" off any excess. Kind of a tedious coral to keep, but it can be done by those that don't mind having to spend that kind of time and energy to make sure their getting fed well. A couple of side notes...don't let sand or detritus build up on the colony, they will begin to necrose rather quickly, and be mindful when using something like Joe's Juice. I once had a teeny tiny drop fall onto my colony while treating an aptasia that was close by and it was almost like watching the few polyps it hit disolve in front of my eyes.

 

[Pentagona]

And on another side note, they are not omnivores, and algae and rotifers will be useless to them. I do believe that in the wild these guys thrive in pretty nutrient rich waters, much more so than we could really create in our tanks without major problems for our other inhabitants, which is why they have to be fed so well.

 

[wjguy]

ya I have been cutting mysis into tiny bits and mixing it with phyto and the coral frenzy food I got from my LFS and have been feeding it once a day, not sure if it is working or not as it is still a little new to the tank but I have read that cyclo peeze is the food to be feeding, not sure if that is the case or not but was going to try and was wondering if you guys know of a local dealer.

 

[Pentagona]

The mysis is good, try serving whole. Cyclopeeze, while a great food, is even still a little small. When I say they like it chunky I mean they like it chunky. I wouldn't worry about the phyto, does nothing for them and will eventually lead to a bloom in your tank if you're not careful. Very few corals (mostly leathers and of course clams) actually need phyto to sustain themselves. Coral frenzy IMO is not worth the energy it takes to feed it. Stick with bigger frozen bits like mysis and even krill. Chopping up some fresh clam and table shrimp will do well also.

 

[Pentagona]

As far as local dealers go for frozen cyclopeeze, I know for sure blue sierra carries it. Pretty sure Barrier Reef does too. Don't know about any of the stores in the north end, though as popular as it is, I'm sure somebody does.

 

[Pentagona]

10K = color temperature closet to the sun is what ive been told. Morgon is implying that his coral does well in the sunlight thus 10k for your metal halides would be like the artificial sun

Actually 6500-6700k is closest to the suns kelvin rating, but appears very yellow in our tanks. That's why people choose 10000k. Gives off nice white light while staying relatively close to the lower kelvin ratings that are best for growth, not neccessarily coloration.

 

[wjguy]

The mysis is good, try serving whole. Cyclopeeze, while a great food, is even still a little small. When I say they like it chunky I mean they like it chunky. I wouldn't worry about the phyto, does nothing for them and will eventually lead to a bloom in your tank if you're not careful. Very few corals (mostly leathers and of course clams) actually need phyto to sustain themselves. Coral frenzy IMO is not worth the energy it takes to feed it. Stick with bigger frozen bits like mysis and even krill. Chopping up some fresh clam and table shrimp will do well also.

As far as local dealers go for frozen cyclopeeze, I know for sure blue sierra carries it. Pretty sure Barrier Reef does too. Don't know about any of the stores in the north end, though as popular as it is, I'm sure somebody does.

Ok I will keep up with the chopped mysis and make some calls to the LFS around here, I will stop by the red sea in shoreline and see what they have. Thank you very much for all your information it has been very stressfull for my girlfriend watching this coral and seeing a slow decline in its health. help is very much appreciated.

oh and as for feeding schedule do you feel every day is good?

 

[Pentagona]

ABSOLUTELY! Though if you miss a day here and there I wouldn't stress too badly over it.

 

[NC2WA]

wow...every day...high maintenance coral..

no wonder why my flower pots don't live past 10-12 months..sounds like im not feeding them enough..

 

[wjguy]

Ya it seems that they are very high maintenence. but worth all the work when they open fully