HH Goniopora palmensis coming back?

[4251cpd]

I got a hh in the form of what I thought was a bleached corallite skeleton when I purchased my 1st mushroom back in Dec..
Two weeks into it's new home I noticed light pink circles inside of the corallites where green microalgae did not encrust the skeleton. A couple of days later I noticed what is in the 1st pic. After posting it all over the place the general opinion was goniopora.
The three photos show its progression. My questions are : I only have 48 watts total pc 50/50 lighting supplemented by 4-6 hrs of sunlight, is that enough? Feeding every other day a combination of mashed cyclo, rotifers and oyster eggs, too much or every day? Is this in fact goniopora palmensis? Any other tips and clues would be appreciated. Thanks, Mike.

 

[Maxx]

Mike,
Congrats on doing so well with such a difficult coral. Its only been a short while, but the coral has made a huge improvement since its been in your care.

Dont know if you've seen this or not, but here is an article on Goniopora corals by a guy who's having great luck caring for them. Ive personally never kept them and have no 1st ahnd experiance on this coral....

The Care and Propagation of Goniopora

Here is another link to a site that alsao gives info on keepiong Goniopora. Not sure, but I think its by the same people who wrote the article I linked you to above.

http://www.reefcraze.com

They go by JENnKerry on RC. Might try giving them a PM or an email for more detailed info.

Regardless, I hope you continue posting up pics and detail progress on your experiances with this coral. I'd really like to set up a LPS only tank in the future and this is one of the corals I would love to have in it. But I want to know more about them first.

Stay safe on the streets, there's a couple of others LEO's here on the board. Stan /snobanker is another one in Washington, I'm down in St Louis.

Take it easy.

Nick

 

[4251cpd]

Thanks much Nick. Just please tell me you're not a cards fan.....anyways.
goniopora.org was the site I got an idea for a feeding regimen. I will continue to show the progress, am now taking notes (as a trained observer should) and when I can doing more research. Stay safe, Mike.

 

[Maxx]

Not so much a baseball fan in general after the strike.....(C'mon, Then league minimum starting salary was $183,000 a year and that's not enough money? When was the last time someone was killed playing baseball??? And now that barry bonds still has the opportunity to surpass Hank Aaron's record and he's on steroids, but no-one will prevent it?? WTF...Sides, the Cards like to choke lately....)

I'd be very interested in seeing a full tank shot if you can find one...

Nick

 

[4251cpd]

My 12 gallon nano cube would be your QT. I will get to work on that request and will post probably tomorrow sometime. The tank has been up since Sept. and my inhabitants so far: false perc, common firefish, skunk cleaner shrimp, 6 b-l hermits, 8 various snails. HH's include two small brittle stars, an asterina(sp) star (7 legs, it's wicked looking) many worms (1 red bristle). Though my NO3 is a steady 10ppm, it's skimmerless w/a moded fuge that hosts macro, and a lot of rice sponges. I've only bought 2 corals but have 4 in the tank.
1st purchase turned out to be the motherload because I bought what the lfs thought was a single aqua green/purple (depending on angle of viewing) Pacific Discosoma for $15. Well it unattached from the rock and budded so I have two of those. The rock also had the goniopora colony, see above. I just got a Fl Ricordea and may have to move it away from the Discosoma. Future wishlist: Torch or frogspawn for centerpiece, a xenia frag (I know they grow like weeds), zoanthus frags and possibly a small open brain.
Sorry played baseball all my life. The better half sez it's a boderline obsession...

 

[John Kelly]

My questions are : I only have 48 watts total pc 50/50 lighting supplemented by 4-6 hrs of sunlight, is that enough?

How deep is your tank? Your coral should grow, although slowly, if it is placed within 18 inches of the 48w lights. If it were mine, I would place it around 12 inches under the light and begin from there. If the tissue coloration begins to lighten or fade again, move it lower. If it continues to regain color, which it should, leave it there for another month or two and watch the tissue perimeter for signs of growth.

Feeding every other day a combination of mashed cyclo, rotifers and oyster eggs, too much or every day?

Every other day is good for awhile longer; watch for tissue growth. Eventually you should be able to back off to once every three or four days. Feed as many individual polyps as you have the patience to.

Is this in fact goniopora palmensis?

I do not believe it is. I think the polyps/corallites are larger than the palmensis; although, I am not sure what species it is. If it is what I think it is, the polyp stalks will always remain very short, the tentacles will remain short, and the centers will not be a different color than the surrounding tissue.

Any other tips and clues would be appreciated. Thanks, Mike.

It looks like your doing everything right! If you ever upgrade lighting, be sure to slowly acclimate your goni to it (use shade); otherwise, you may end up with a bleached goni again.

HTH

 

[Anthony Calfo]

speaking to the husbandry here... and without much other info (water change schedule/quality... noxious neighbors, etc)... I'll say overall that the care being given here is above average and perhaps will lead to success. The natural sunlight is huge here... and the regular and varied feedings crucial. Round out the matter with a low bioload (avoid aggressive tankmates like corallimorphas... starpolyp... noxious soft corals like colt or mushroom leather, etc) and do weekly water changes instead of monthly (as well as small weekly changes of carbon rather than large monthly ones). FWIW

best of luck,

Anthony

 

[4251cpd]

speaking to the husbandry here... and without much other info (water change schedule/quality... noxious neighbors, etc)... I'll say overall that the care being given here is above average and perhaps will lead to success. The natural sunlight is huge here... and the regular and varied feedings crucial. Round out the matter with a low bioload (avoid aggressive tankmates like corallimorphas... starpolyp... noxious soft corals like colt or mushroom leather, etc) and do weekly water changes instead of monthly (as well as small weekly changes of carbon rather than large monthly ones). FWIW

best of luck,

Anthony

Husbandry consists of an everyother day wc schedule of 48 oz's. It's a 12 gallon set-up. I do have corallimorphs but they reside in such a way that they are close to the inlet of the "sump" and are no-where near the goni colony. NO3 levels are 5-10 on all tests. Running carbon 24/7 and chempure.
Have a small fuge. Run a polyfilter once a week for 24 hours. Funny part is this was piece of lr that I bought my 1st coral (Pacific Discosoma) which when introduced to my tank performed a pedal laceration and now have 2.
This is the rock the colony is on.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

corals are commonly imported with more than one species on rock, but that is not a sign of tolerance (ever). Just a snapshot of a war in progress

And the bigger issue with the corallimorpha in the tank is chemical aggression... too foetn folks believe that corals have to touchto really do damage. Its quite the opposite. Having the 'shrooms near the overflow is helpful but no guarantee... we cannot even quantify what they are exuding let along if it is all being filtered out

That all said, your husbandry sounds very good. I do believe you have a good chance of success here.

 

[Maxx]

Mike,
Have you seen this thread?

Reefroids


Nick

 

[4251cpd]

Mike,
Have you seen this thread?

Reefroids


Nick

Thanks, Nick. I immediately emailed them for a sample so I will post after the 1st week of april about it. They said it would ship out on the 1st. Stay safe.

 

[Maxx]

Cool...

how are things doing in the meantime?

Nick

 

[4251cpd]

Cool...

how are things doing in the meantime?

Nick

The stalks are getting longer. Since they are showing the feeding response I am able to see the stalk since the polyp gets "smaller". The coloring is showing on the stalk now. Now the entire colony, and each individual are a peach/ darker pink. I'm very encouraged that it will pull through and might actually thrive. Since I'm not too familiar w/the reproduction strategies of this species, I'm beginning to believe that it "seeds" itself in an outward direction of the colony to form daughter colonies. Im' gonna try to get a top shot because it will show that very small polyps are beginning to form. I really believe that the "success" the goni is showing is due to keeping a
"dirty" system. Showing a bit of NO3, meaning that my tank is on the nutrient rich side. I've read several different opinions and reports that believe that goni's absorb nutrients readily and 3 feedings a week is helping out. Plus I've noticed "fat" expansion when it gets it's 4 hours of sun. I will post more when I pick up tidbits and make new observations. Holler at you later, Mike.

 

[Maxx]

I would agree with your theory about the Goni species typically doing better in a more nutrient rich system. I'd bet money that Elegence corals are the same....

Please post pics when you can.

Nick

 

[4251cpd]

Wouldn't that be funny. I w/a few minutes of experience in this hobby shows off my tank of the month featuring the two "toughest" corals to keep in captivity actually alive and thriving...LMAO, gotta find a shady lfs. Mike.

 

[4251cpd]

I would agree with your theory about the Goni species typically doing better in a more nutrient rich system. I'd bet money that Elegence corals are the same....

Please post pics when you can.

Nick

I still gotta learn how to take better pics but here it goes: This is just when the sun came up so the expansion is not 100%.

 

[Maxx]

There but for the grace of God.....

Wouldnt be the first time something like that happened.

Nick

 

[4251cpd]

A little better pic w/full expansion:

 

[Maxx]

Mike,
thats in much better health than it was when you first got it! Hats off man! You're doing something that not many people can.
Now just dont screw it up!




Nothing like a little good natured pressure to keep you going.

Nick

 

[4251cpd]

Mike,
thats in much better health than it was when you first got it! Hats off man! You're doing something that not many people can.
Now just dont screw it up!




Nothing like a little good natured pressure to keep you going.

Nick

Thanks Nick. Everything thats been printed about parameters, etc., is at least 4-5 years old. Decided to go against the grain a bit. I'm beginning to wonder if all of the previous study's conclusions were slightly off: meaning the reason might be that in fact the reef is actually nutrient rich (I know the thunder is starting in the background) but the inhabitants (read corals) use these up so readily that the background count becomes nil. I know this is thinking really, really outside the box but if this goni is comming around using a skimmerless system w/a constant NO3 5-10, then this is the key or really a great case of dumb luck. And you know we feel about coincedence-no such thing. Stay safe, Mike.