Gonopora

[Paul B]

A gonopora is a coral that most people, Including me, have problems keeping for more than a year or two. I am really determined to find out why because it just annoys me. These things should live forever.
I have read all sorts of things about them and it seems that it is all incorrect.
I personally have not observed them much in the sea although I have seen them.
Even if I did, I would not be able to look at it long enough to watch it eat, if it even does eat.
The literature says they eat a variety of foods and in a tank will eat brine shrimp. I have not found that to be the case. I don't feed adult brine shrimp but I have been feeding them new born shrimp for a couple of months and I got to say that even while watching very close with a jewerer's loupe and squirting live shrimp all over them many times, I have yet to see them swallow one shrimp. I will stare at one polyp, very close up and using a pipette place shrimp right on it's tentacles and they just swim away. The tentacles are not at all sticky like an anemone and any food just falls off.
I know they live in water with a lot of detritus but they don't seem to consume that either.
I did however get a few polyp's to eat a small piece of live blackworm.
I will put a piece of a worm on a tentacle but it has to be a tentacle that is upright because the worms will just slide off. Then, if the worm stays there for a minute or two, the polyp will wrap it's arms around it like an octopus and in 15 or 20 minutes it will swallow it.
Yeah I know, you really got to be nuts to kneel in front of a tank with your face against the glass while wearing a jeweler's loupe squirting pieces of worm at a stupid animal that does not want to eat anyway.
So in an hour, I got two tentacles to eat an eight of an inch of worm.
I am not even 100% sure the thing is eating it or just being annoyed by it.
It seems to eat it but it is very hard to tell because after it wraps it's arms around the worm, the tentacle shrinks and gets covered by other polyps.
Of course this is just a test and I am not getting a full time job trying to feed this thing. Eventually it's going to have to eat pizza like the rest of us. :dance:

 

[jgraeff]

i have a nice size one in my tank and have not been seen it eat anything either however since i make my own food and make different sizes all mixed together im sure if gets some of the really small particles of food in the flow. I have also read they get most of the nutrients from lighting. But then again il tag along on this thread to see if anyone else knows more about it.

 

[luisse25]

i read somewhere that your suppose to put it in the sandbed and once in a while stir the sand around it?thats how they get food from the sand...i guess...

 

[Paul B]

i read somewhere that your suppose to put it in the sandbed and once in a while stir the sand around it?thats how they get food from the sand...i guess...

I do that all the time and watch it closely, it does not look like it is absorbing any of that detritus but like I said, almost all of the information I read about these things and many other things in this hobby is just rumors. I have seen them in canals in turbulent water but maybe it is something else in tutbulent water that they need like maybe high oxygen or fast current, out board motor oil, I don't know

 

[Brie]

I've been doing alot of research lately on goniopora species so may have a few pointers for you.

One, the species you have in your photo is goniopora stokesi, and is notorious for being the hardest species to keep alive in captivity. They like mid-high light, lowish flow, pristine water, but at the same time, alot of food. It appears that the key to keeping them(and all gonios) alive is making sure they get enough, and proper food sources. You can't really feed them anything bigger then cyclops, and they will retract at the slightest touch, so placing food directly on them is usually a bad idea. They will typically grab food out of the water column. Things to try are dosing the tank once or twice a week with Reef Nutrition Rotifers and Oyster eggs, or cyclop-eeze.

I recommend you read this article, it has more in depth info and advice.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2

 

[Brie]

Another word of advice, keep it off the sand bed. Goniopora are prone to brown jelly disease, which can be caused by irritation and abrasion from the sand particals. Glueing it atop a rock(as I see you have done), or keeping it on some egg crating is ideal. Proper flow will also keep gunk from accumulating in between the polyps, another BJD causing factor. I'd recommend against stiring up your sand, as this can be a cause of the reasons listed above.

 

[BCT182]

nice post Brie!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

When I saw BCT and Goniopora together, I expected some funny remark about penicillin.:lol::lol:

Yes, EXCELLENT writing Brie. I recall when Gonios, Bubbles, and elegant were about the only corals brought in commercially and died off within a couple months. A lot more is known these days. In fact hobbiests seem to be adding in lieu of subtracting from the coral of the world. At least moving in that direction. Sites like here on RF and stores like Barrier Reef and a Red Sea Aquarium to name a couple, are excellent for educating the public on corals and fish.

I think Brie has always added a lot to this hobby, even when at her previous store and especially now. Wish she would post more often :>)

 

[Paul B]

Thanks Brie. I have kept quite a few of these but none more than two years which is the reason I wanted this one. They are very common in stores and fairly cheap.
I really want to plan a dive trip to study them but that will not happen for a while.
I find that you get the best information about an animal by studying it in the sea as opposed to someone's tank.

 

[Brie]

When I saw BCT and Goniopora together, I expected some funny remark about penicillin.:lol::lol:

Yes, EXCELLENT writing Brie. I recall when Gonios, Bubbles, and elegant were about the only corals brought in commercially and died off within a couple months. A lot more is known these days. In fact hobbiests seem to be adding in lieu of subtracting from the coral of the world. At least moving in that direction. Sites like here on RF and stores like Barrier Reef and a Red Sea Aquarium to name a couple, are excellent for educating the public on corals and fish.

I think Brie has always added a lot to this hobby, even when at her previous store and especially now. Wish she would post more often :>)

awww. Thanks.

I did what I could working at PetHell, now that I work at BR, my syphoning off of knowledge has drastically increased thanks to the guys.

We sucessfully fragged this gorgeous australian goniopora a couple weeks ago. As far as I know, the pieces we sold are doing great. I know the large chunk we put in the display is happy as can be so far.

 

[tomz]

awww. Thanks.



We sucessfully fragged this gorgeous australian goniopora a couple weeks ago. As far as I know, the pieces we sold are doing great. I know the large chunk we put in the display is happy as can be so far.

]

I ended up with one of the larger pieces, it's doing great, along with the rest of my Gonioporas. Bad phone pic but it will have to do for now.


View attachment 37092



Tom

 

[FreakinReefin]

I ended up with one of the larger pieces, it's doing great, along with the rest of my Gonioporas. Bad phone pic but it will have to do for now.


View attachment 37092



Tom

Is there anything particularly different that you are doing to sustain them? Special lighting or temperature difference? Maybe a chemistry difference? I have had one for about 7 months and it is getting worse and worse...and I have NEVER seen the polyp extension that you have.

 

[tomz]

Is there anything particularly different that you are doing to sustain them? Special lighting or temperature difference? Maybe a chemistry difference? I have had one for about 7 months and it is getting worse and worse...and I have NEVER seen the polyp extension that you have.

Most of them are less than a year old, so we'll see how they're doing in another year. I've had one of them for a couple of years, so that's why I decided to add more. Most of them are 10 to 20 inches below a 250W 10K MH.

My reef is very heavily loaded with fish and I feed a lot, and often. I also have my nori feeding station right above them so they get the maximum amount of fish leftovers, and deposits. With the heavy feeding I have to run a very large skimmer and a couple of denitrators.

I can only guess that they are doing well (for now) due to stable water parameters and lots of potential food in the water column.



Tom