Flowerpot coral.... yes, I'm an idiot

[breebauer]

I guess I'm just one of those people that have to learn the hard way,:frustrat:.

I did it, I bought one. I'm not supposed to be buying anything for my tank until after Christmas, but I did. And, I bought a coral that has a very questionable future in any aquarium. Today, I just decided that after Christmas, I would be switching to a new tank with new lighting, and that would be my present to myself.

And then, tonight, I bought the 'impossible' coral. Guilt has set in. But since now I own the coral and the giult that comes with it, I figured I'd ask those who have/had one what they've noticed to help or hurt their short life expectancy.

I feel like I have a good start, already, here's a pic of it in the bag acclimating:

And another pic after it was in the tank only 15 mins.:

It was only $25, so I can live with that. The quick polyp extention kind of made me feel a little better. I've read that most prefer to keep them on the sand bed, but that's not going to be possible for a few weeks, so, I'm hoping it's happy where it is for now. It's got med light, low -medium flow in it's temporary spot.

I'm open to any suggestions!
Thanks!


(Remember, I already know I'm an idiot. And I WILL start my holiday shopping tomorrow, I promise!!)

 

[Doc]

it doesn't look like a traditional flower pot goniapora. Is it an encrusting goni? I have an encrusting one that looks like, well, like a f*&king stud. they all like the same thing: near bottom of tank, lower flow. They also like to be fed. That is the mistake most people make is that they don't target feed their goni. they like cyclopeeze as well as other small plankton. suck up food in a turkey baster or syringe and then shoot it into the polyps. it will give it a chance to live

-Doc

 

[reeffreak]

Yes do what Doc said,turn your pumps off and gently shoot some cyclopeeze about 3 times a week.Not all hope is lost,there survival has been improving now that people understand there needs.

 

[Alexander]

good luck with the coral. I hope it makes it to the new year for your new setup. if you really want some good target feeding I bet you could use the 2 liter bottle trick where you cut out a bottle to fit over the coral to feed it, however I have never done this so I would say more input would be prefered on that method

 

[breebauer]

Thank everybody for the help!

Dr. Marco- is there a way to tell the difference between then encrusting type and the traditional type? Mine looks like one big rock, and actually it was probably a piece taken from a larger colony, since it looks like it was cut in the back. Does the encrusting type have a better survival rate (I'm hoping)?

How about lighting? They had it in a shallow tank with pretty strong lights and super strong flow. Does it need super strong lights? (It could have been there because it just came in and didn't get to move it yet.)

(My regular guy wasn't at the store when I bought this yesterday. The one that was working just told me it was 'some type of flowerpot'. He was also kind of unhappy to be working since he spent the entire day and night before getting his new shipment in, and a huge snowstorm was coming. I didn't want to bug him any more than I already did.)

Oh, is $25 an ok price? It's about 4" x 3 1/2" when it's closed up. Just wondering....

Thanks!

 

[MikMcgyver]

good luck with the coral. I hope it makes it to the new year for your new setup. if you really want some good target feeding I bet you could use the 2 liter bottle trick where you cut out a bottle to fit over the coral to feed it, however I have never done this so I would say more input would be prefered on that method

That method works great, you dont have to turn anything off either..

 

[Bifferwine]

I use the bottle method to feed my goni too. It works well.

I think $25 is an excellent price, I paid $40 for mine, and it's about the size of a golf ball.

 

[Doc]

Gonis tend to like the bottom of the tank. I don't put mine on the sandbed, I have it about 2 inches above, on top of rocks to hopefully have it encrust to make new colonies to sell.

You can tell if it is a flower pot by looking underneath the coral. If it is all white with dimples it is a flower pot and will be tough to keep. If it looks like a regular rock that has been encrusted, then you have a great success rate. Mine is almost the size of a football when the polyps are fully extended. It is amazing!

the like moderate flow but not too strong or the polyps will retract. I stopped target feeding mine but I do add liquid life coral plankton to the tank three times a week. it is so small that the fish cannot eat it, and so it swirls around in the water column for the corals to ingest. great stuff for gonis

-Doc

 

[Doc]

as for lighting. they need good lighting, but not necessary. they do want to be low in the tank, that is key for placement. I have mine under T-5 lighting, which is good enough for SPS corals and the Goni is about 2 feet away from the lights. they do fine with PC lighting too

-Doc

 

[Alexander]

random question for you doc.... angel friendly? under vho lighting ok?

 

[Doc]

not generally. they need more light than VHO. it is touch and go as far as angels go as well. I only had mine in my angel reef tank for about 2 months and I was feeding 5 times a day. It did just fine then, but not sure if it can be duplicated. It would be an interesting experiment though. If you got a good specimen that was doing well, your Koran is not big enough to really do much damage. if you add it at night, just after a heavy feeding, that would be the best way to go. Place it away from where he usually hangs out - probably in Jacks territory

-Doc

 

[Alexander]

but your thinking I can't pull it off with my lighting?

 

[reeffreak]

Thank everybody for the help!

Reeffreak- is there a way to tell the difference between then encrusting type and the traditional type? Does the encrusting type have a better survival rate (I'm hoping)?Who died and made Dr. Marco the expert?You have an encrusting goniopora.They come in three flavors-encrusting,branching and spiracle skeleton.None of that has anything to do on whats easier,its the color.Reds and Purple goniopora are slightly easier than greens

How about lighting? They had it in a shallow tank with pretty strong lights and super strong flow.Moderate lights and low to moderate flow.Under halides it needs to be shaded.PC middle or higher,T5 lower half.



Oh, is $25 an ok price? It's about 4" x 3 1/2" when it's closed up. Just wondering....Thats a good price,about $40-50 for green here.Slightly higher for the purple and reds.

Thanks!

I know its been said already,it needs to be fed regularly.
Good luck

 

[Doc]

I don't think VHO puts out enought light. what wattage are you looking at? do you have 4-5 watts per gallon total? even if you do, I am not sure on the depth the VHO penetrates as they really thrive on the sandbed. they need unobstructed room to stretch out their tenticles. that is where some people have run into trouble with them, keeping them confined and they stress out when they cannot stretch out.

They don't need any different lighting than most other LPS corals. If you can keep a wall hammer, you can keep this guy in your tank. As I recall, you don't have enough light for LPS in your 180. is that correct?

-Doc

 

[reeffreak]

Doc,you didn't even notice I changed Breebaur wording from ''Dr. Marco'' to ''Reeffreak''.

 

[Doc]

yes I did notice. I figured you were trying to assert yourself since you are the true Goni expert and you thought I was a poser (even though mine is SO much bigger than...wait, you don't have one, huh). So , I let you have your moment in the sun...albeit alone :mrgreen:

-Luv Ya :bounce:

-Doc

 

[Alexander]

well sadly I'm only rockin about 3wpg. if I had a nice spacious spot on top do you think it would work? if not when I get my octopus my 48in t5s will be joining the vho on top of my 180 so I can put my low light 36w on my 80gal, then ill be rockin some more wattage, with good penetration

 

[reeffreak]

well sadly I'm only rockin about 3wpg. if I had a nice spacious spot on top do you think it would work? if not when I get my octopus my 48in t5s will be joining the vho on top of my 180 so I can put my low light 36w on my 80gal, then ill be rockin some more wattage, with good penetration

Yes,get a red one.

 

[reeffreak]

yes I did notice. I figured you were trying to assert yourself since you are the true Goni expert and you thought I was a poser (even though mine is SO much bigger than...wait, you don't have one, huh). So , I let you have your moment in the sun...albeit alone :mrgreen:

-Luv Ya :bounce:

-Doc

Incorrect,mine barely survived the tank-saster,it is recovering in the fuge.

 

[breebauer]

Ok folks, I really appreciate all of the help so far, now I think I have a new problem:

Is this stuff on top brown jelly?
If it is, what should I do? I'm thinking that someone might reccommend an iodine dip, and if they do, the only two things that I have that might or might not help me are:
Kent Marine Iodine
I also have some kind of household iodine (Povidone Iodine 10%)

I've never done this before (shame on me) so if this is what I need to do, and I can use one of these two things, maybe some one can tell me about a site that has step by step instructions.

That would be great!
And thanks so much for all of the help so far!