Has anyone kept healthy Goniopora?

[delpni]

I am contemplating purchasing a really nice specimen of Goniopora (green) from my LFS. It has been in their tank for 3 weeks and always looks healthy. My tank is 75 gallons (for coral, I only have a birds nest in the tank so far) with 216 watts T-5, plus 4 Ice Cap reflectors (I have no clue what the actual increase in lighting is with these :confused2. For power heads, I have 3, each is 1075gph on a Red Sea Wavemaker, so I think I have PLENTY of current (from what I've read, I should avoid direct flow for the Goniopora). I have read that Goniopora can be tricky to keep and I am wondering if anyone here has done so successfully; I don't want something I'm going to kill. My parameters are good: 490ppm calcium, 1.025 salinity, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, phosphates are less than 5ppm, which I understand is high (but that is down from 10-12 a few weeks ago!), and ammonia is 0ppm. I supplement my tank (I have 2 BTAs as well) with Iodide, Strontium, and Calcium as directed on the bottle and everything seems healthy and happy. For fish, I have a Coral Beauty, 3 Chromis (blue), 2 Percula Clowns, and a Watchman Goby. What do you guys think?

 

[tehawesome]

The red and purple species are said to be the hardiest.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2</a>
I have a purple one and its doing great. Even gets hosted by my clowns sometimes and it never retracts from it. I don't intentionally feed it, but I feed rods to my fish which maybe what they eat.

 

[slayer]

If you really want one, buy a aquacultured one, like the ones from ORA.

 

[schwaggs]

They can be kept successfully but they must be fed for best results. Some are much easier to keep than others. I have a frag of a red one I got at the 2009 ARC frag meeting that is holding its own in my system. Great article on Goniopora:

 

[tehawesome]

I posted that link already, guess nobody reads previous posts =/

 

[schwaggs]

TehAwEsOmE;550079 wrote: I posted that link already, guess nobody reads previous posts =/

Sorry, didn't notice your link, you win.

 

[jef4y]

A couple of thoughts.

First, stop dosing your tank by the instructions on a bottle. Seriously... Dose what your tank needs, not what a bottle says. You determine that through testing and some level of calculated trial/error.

Second, an ORA goni will give you your best chance, but another alternative would be to look into Alveopora which apparently is extremely similar in look but a heck of a lot hardier in the tank.

 

[drnecropolis]

Seems like I remember one of the "tricks" required less than optimal water quality..seems (now I'm going to. Have to find the link) these guys comes from areas that stay very dirty from tons of turbulence in the water and keeps a lot of silt suspended in the water around it, giving it more than enough micros to feed on..

Let me find the link..

 

[gmpolan]

very difficult to maintain from my experience and i def didnt do my hw. I will not mention the name but a certain store about two years ago sold me one for my cube when i first got in the hobby and it died within a matter of weeks...

 

[geno]

Funny -- I was about to make a similar purchase from a LFS -- and the owner advised me not to waste my money! He also claims that they only live a year or two in captivity.

If you make the purchase -- at least you are doing so with a prior i knowledge.

 

[smoothie]

geno;551052 wrote: Funny -- I was about to make a similar purchase from a LFS -- and the owner advised me not to waste my money! He also claims that they only live a year or two in captivity.

If you make the purchase -- at least you are doing so with a prior i knowledge.

If your lfs is giving you sound advice like that then stick with them. Those business people are few and far between. If they are not a sponsor and are eligable to be one please ask them to do so or pm the proper people on here their contact info.
Mine did great in a dirty tank for 2 years. Then faded fast after a move and neglect on target feeding while I settled in. Still haven't tried another one. If I do I will go ora as Slayer suggested

 

[drnecropolis]

Check this site..

http://web.archive.org/web/20070210233500/http://goniopora.org/">http://web.archive.org/web/20070210233500/http://goniopora.org/</a>
Archived pages from Goniopora.org.. Tons of information on there..

 

[smoothie]

DrNecropolis;551203 wrote: Check this site..

http://web.archive.org/web/20070210233500/http://goniopora.org/">http://web.archive.org/web/20070210233500/http://goniopora.org/</a>
Archived pages from Goniopora.org.. Tons of information on there..[/QUOTE]
Good site. Now I'll never get to sleep

 

[drnecropolis]

Not really sure why it went down.. I suppose its such a specialized topic there wasn't enough interest to be worth the time, money and effort.. Lots of good info on there ( I'm not saying its the authority on the subject, only that it seems to make sense and have good details on all aspects)..

Hopefully someone will know more than I and can verify the information on there is legit..

 

[smoothie]

Not a bad place. I fed them snow, oyster eggs and cyclopeeze. I just think they would do well in a non-photosynthetic tank with quality fresh constant small feedings and good water quality. Perfect setting.

 

[delpni]

Sorry for my absence in my own thread. :blush: I appreciate all of the info; there are some GREAT links!! After weighing all my options and the advice given, I decided to get the one I've been eying for a great price from my LFS; they too advised me of it's often short life span. Since I've taken it home, it seems to be doing (looks anyway) better than it had before I purchased it. I feed it oyster eggs, phytoplankton, and keep it in a moderate flow. I've read that oyster eggs (so says new research...) may extend the life of most goniopora. I figured (after a member advised me in this thread ), it's already been brought into the store for trade and it will either sit in the store tank with countless other coral, go to a buyer who may or may not have read about it, or I can take it home. lol I've been doing A LOT of 'homework' on this species Thank you all!

 

[jef4y]

Keep the thread updated with the progress of it! And shoot some pics already.