Coral ID please...

[kmckienz]

The pink polyps in the front.....I picked up this coral at my LFS about 2 weeks ago. I forgot to ask what it's name is and now I can't find one like it online.

Anyone know?

[RyanG]

Flower pot? Does it have a hard skeleton or completely soft?

[Bifferwine]

Flower pot -- goniopora. One of the most difficult corals to keep, they rarely live longer than a few months, but a few people on here have had success with them for several months (myself not included ). Red ones are supposedly hardier. It's a really beautiful piece, congrats.

[RyanG]

Holy S batman I actually IDed a coral with no help! I AM actually learning a lot! Im so impressed with myself!

[kmckienz]

I have a flowerpot goniopora and it does not look the same....simlar, but not the same.

[RyanG]

Can you take a close up shot of the polyp? Does it have a hard skeleton?

[Bifferwine]

Yeah I see your other one in the background. There are different types, the red one looks like an encrusting goni.

[RyanG]

This time I used help Heres a link

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/produ...3&cid=54&did=3

[reeffreak]

It is a goniopora,they come branching,encrusting and cylindrical variety.It is one of the most difficult corals but the reds are slightly easier.I would start target feeding both colonies a couple of times a week.Cyclopeeze,fish eggs,oyster eggs and other very small zooplankton foods gently squirted with a turkey baster....generally with the pumps off.One other thing is 24 tentacles per head are gonioporas and 12 are alveopora.

[kmckienz]

Thanks! Yes, it is definitely the encrusting variety.

As far as target feeding...forget it. It will either make it or not. Everyone said the same thing about the tubastrea and gorgonian and they are thriving. Now I do stir up the sand bed, stock copepods and squirt the mysis shrimp directly over head, but I don't do any of those other additives. I have too much other work to do to have the tank be a 2 hour a day feeding regiman.

My modo is, it will either survive in my mini ecosystem or not. I won't replace anything that does not.

So far just about everything in my tank everyone says is hard to care for. My theory is I think you guys do too many water changes and keep disturbing the balance of the system. I have fresh water tanks that I have not changed/cleaned the filters in years and the only water added it top off. Now I do clean my protein skimmer filter, but I have stopped cleaning the biowheel filters (for now..as I am experimenting).

I realize this tank is young (5 months now) but I have read about a lot of crashes in the tanks of people who do regular water changes and follow all the "rules"

What can I say..I am a rebel... (who's willing to lose everything for the sake of the experiment)