The Goniopora Project

[GoTakuF1]

Smack me, I'm feeling adventurous! Actually, it's just the next phase of the goniopora project: fragging and distributing. I have a piece that has been with me for quite some time and has been the healthiest and easiest to care for out of all of the "hard greenies." It's getting a bit too big for my tank and it's time to try my hands at fragging these things (hopefully make space for some new recovery prospects). Hopefully, we'll see if we can replicate the recovery procedure in other environments. I need 2 to 3 people who's willing to try and be completely dedicated. I would normally do this in private but I'd like to start documenting some of this project in this thread. Please let me know here and hopefully, we'll have the frags in a few weeks/months time

Oh and here is the test subject:





Looking forward to your participation, thanks and cheers!

[sandiegan]

completely dedicated

Explain please?

[limestro]

I'm excited. Now you will now be promoted to the "Goni-goni Guru" status. I think it would be nice to have a guidline for care so that the person recieving the frag will have a blueprint to success. Thanks for documenting this Minh. I hope this proves to be a success.

~Mike

[GoTakuF1]

Explain please?

Do what I say without questioning, muahahah! This will be the start of the Goniopora Cult!

To answer your question, nothing too special, don't mind spot feeding, don't miss feedings, document the process...etc.

I also forgot to mention, your system must be goniopora-friendly (proper amount of flow/light, no clowns or hosting fish, etc.) so don't thinl I hate you if I pick another tank.

I'm excited. Now you will now be promoted to the "Goni-goni Guru" status. I think it would be nice to have a guidline for care so that the person recieving the frag will have a blueprint to success. Thanks for documenting this Minh. I hope this proves to be a success.

~Mike

Haha, no title please, it's a trap cause then I'll be forced to make a goni-reactor and special goni-additives and sell it to you guys! Seriously, I'm hoping the general guidelines will come along with this next phase in the project. As we gather more data from various tanks, we'll see what really works and what doesn't.

[limestro]

To answer your question, nothing too special, don't mind spot feeding, don't miss feedings, document the process...etc.

A few questions worth answering? What do you feed it? Some Goni's will can take foods upto a certain size. What type of foods do you use to meet this criteria. Lighting; what are the minimum requirements? T5s? Coral placement? Substrate, mid-shelf, or up high? How about flow? Do they like being blasted? Ambient flow? Hopefully I haven't made it harder for you, but made it easier to clarify.

~Mike

[GoTakuF1]

A few questions worth answering? What do you feed it? Some Goni's will can take foods upto a certain size. What type of foods do you use to meet this criteria. Lighting; what are the minimum requirements? T5s? Coral placement? Substrate, mid-shelf, or up high? How about flow? Do they like being blasted? Ambient flow? Hopefully I haven't made it harder for you, but made it easier to clarify.

~Mike

Leave it to Mike to ask all the hard questions, you Zoa-guru you! I'm heading out to dinner now but I'll try to do a concise write up to satisfy your thrist for knowledge when I get back

[mazilla]

i'll try my hand at it. I've already rehabed two petco saves, and i had a super healthy gonipora sp. for 6 months in my tank before i traded it a few months back. pm sent.

[barometer]

You know my tank as well as I do Minh. My clowns don't host a thing and I believe my feeding habits to be quite adequate for these guys, but space is definitely an issue. So I make it your call, Goni-goni Guru

[Bio-Nut]

Hey Minh, you know I am down for a biological assay. Just let me know and I can make ample room for a cutting. LPS seem to be my niche.

I feed just about everything and spot feeding is no problem.

[GoTakuF1]

What do you feed it? Some Goni's will can take foods upto a certain size. What type of foods do you use to meet this criteria.

The misconception amongst hobbyists is that gonioporas need a "dirty tank" to survive and thrive. On the contrary, they are cousins of the SPS, porites, and most people would tell you that SPS need a "clean tank" to do well. So what is it, clean or dirty? Let's scrap those terms all together and think of it in terms of food availability and most tanks, no matter how "clean" or "dirty" just don't have enough food for these specialized corals. Just a quick side note, a "dirty tank" is never a good thing, for any coral as evident in this study DOCs and Coral Health. Likewise a sterile tank is not a good thing either, regardless of coral type.

Ok, how do you make food available? Most gonioporas will readily feed and certain type will feed better than others due to polyp size. Here's a simplified list of "feedability" based on color in order: greens, purples then reds. We'll go into more detail regarding different subspecies and their feeding care at another time. At the moment, I am feeding solely on Coral Frenzy to see if a single commercial food can sustain their health and the results have been positive! Before Coral Frenzy, I was crushing Spectrum pellets into a fine powder and let that powder soak in cod oil/Super Selco. Then I add frozen Cyclops-eeze to the mix and grind that into the consistency of liquid. I believe it's quite true that food size is important to feeding goniopora and a rule of thumb based on experience is: if you can see it floating around in the tank while feeding, the food is too big. There are certain exceptions in the case of "big greenies" that can accept foods as large as whole Cyclops-eeze but that's usually only amongst the mature polyps.

The manner in which you feed is quite important. They must be given a gentle feeding environment with extremely gentle flow or no flow to increase the chance of food particle capture. Secondly, a feeding tool used to spot feed is a must. Without the tool, one can easily foul the tank with excess/wasted food with the frequency of feeding. Third, one has to be very patient and consistent. The "big greenies" need the most food as I believe a large part of their energy budget is from food capture and a smaller portion is from photosynthesis. So one has to be consistent in ensuring they are fed on a schedule (once every other day or three days). Another quick side note, the subspecies with smaller polyps/tentacles like the purples and reds are "hardier" according to hobbyists. I think this is due to the fact that they are more photosynthetic and are closer to their cousin, porites. They still need to be fed to thrive, however.

Well, that's quite a mouthful isn't it? We'll save the other questions for another time, I'm pooped!

[GoTakuF1]

Lighting; what are the minimum requirements? T5s?

I believe light acclimation from low to high or high to low environment is a big factor when introducing a goniopora into a new environment. The super duper neon colored ones (usually green) are generally not in the best condition. An extreme change in lighting condition will cause an expulsion of zooxanthellae and the neon coloration is the result. Luckily, in a stable environment, they're able to regain color quite quickly (I've seen as quickly as a month in g. tenuidens).

Once acclimated to a particular lighting condition, it is rather tolerant of varied lighting conditions. As mentioned previously, I believe certain goniopora are more dependent on light and others are more dependent on food. So it leads me to conclude that "moderate" lighting would be suitable for most goniopora species. Depending on placement and tank depth, systems like PCs/VHOs/T5s/MHs can be used.

[GoTakuF1]

How about flow? Do they like being blasted? Ambient flow?

Second to feeding, I believe flow is the most important aspect in keeping many "difficult" corals. Most of these difficult corals are azooxanthellae or "not fully" photosynthetic (speculation) thus requiring to feed to survive and thrive. Since they are sessile animals, so in the wild the food must come to them and the matter the food comes to them is of utmost importance. It's quite difficult to describe the amount of flow that's required for goniopora. The larger polyped/lengthier tentacled species need soft/gentle laminar flow. However, this flow must not be coming from only one direction. If this is the case, the tentacles are "pulled" in one direct and tissue recession is the result on the opposite side. Crazy turbulent flow blasting away at it (like what I see in many tanks that attempt to keep goniopora) is also detrimental. One can say that the best flow is a gentle, laminar, alternating type of flow and a gyre can accomplish this. Perhaps looking at a video of gonioporas in the wild can convey a better image of the flow requirement: Goniopora Meadows. Notice it's a push and pull motion and although appears to be strong, isn't forceful (or pulling the tentacles a certain way for a long period of time).

Anyways, what does this have to do with it all if you end up turning off the flow to feed it anyways? Good question, the flow in the tank must be just right when not in feeding mode because only then will the polyps extend fully. Without full polyp extension, the coral will not feed, game over. So yes, flow is very important to gonioporas' survival.

[GoTakuF1]

Coral placement? Substrate, mid-shelf, or up high?

Phew, it's a lot of work answering your thoughtful questions, Mike! Well, placement of goniopora is another good topic. I guess it comes down to this, if light and flow requirements from above are met, it doesn't matter where you place it. However, there are a couple of things that one should keep in mind. Be ware of how big they can get when they fully extend, so give plenty of buffer from rocks and other corals. Make sure it's in a place that's easily accessible with your feeding tool. If one is going to place it on the sandbed, make sure the goniopora is mounted on another piece of liverock. This will allow the baby polyps on the bottom to extend and give it buffer to encrust and grow.

[swissfish]

I skip on this one, but I will volunteer on the Elegance project Muuuaaaahhhaaahahaaaa!

[GoTakuF1]

I skip on this one, but I will volunteer on the Elegance project Muuuaaaahhhaaahahaaaa!

Thanks buddy for adding the "Call me the Goni-guru" bit to my signature. I'm always glad we don't have mods that are abusing their powers! Just kidding, do what you want, cracks me up.

I haven't worked up the guts to cut up the elegance since it's my only one but if it buds, you'll be the first one to have a piece.