Identification of this coral.

[Brunei]

Can some1 identify this coral for me pls.

Is it normal for it to swell to this size?

The polyps (hands) are longer and slimmer when at the LFS....

After 1 day in my tank directly below the MH, it become like this..

Whats the light requirement for this type of coral? High? Low? Moderate?

What about water movement?

Pls some kind soul, thanks for your inputs....

[Brunei]

Pls some1, care to explain?

[Qxnviolet]

Hrmz, my yellow jewel became like that once for no reason...was so afraid that it would explode. But well, it got back to normal within a day....not really sure why it does that too. Oh, i guess its some type of gonio

[iantoh]

hi there bro brunei,

thats a goniopora species. i cant quite tell which species though, but its definitely not a stokesii. the swelling activity is nothing to worry about, as its normal, and in fact, a sign of good health, as gonioporas are able to direct uptake nutrients and organics from the water column, so it feeds in a way by absorbing water to inflate itself.

yours looks like a short tentacle species, that is swelling up its main tissue area to lengthen itself, so it might be an indication of insufficient lightings, so you could try moving it to a higher lit area too.

check out these pretty good articles on gonios:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2/view

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen20.html

http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/1197/1197_3.html

cheers,

ian

[PerculaClownfish]

seems like a goniopora to me~

[Brunei]

Hi Ian Bro,

All these while, i thought the coral was a Daisy as told by the LFS guy. So it's a Goniopora... How hard are these corals to keep?

Also, when it was at the LFS, the tentacles are slender and the base does not swell so much. It's already at the most optimum location of the tank, which is directly under the MH (150W) besides my 2 croceas...

Thx Ian for your inputs... I'll see how it goes in the next couple of days...

thx bro.

[Brunei]

This anemone has been with me for 1 year plus already.

Had itself shreaded 2 times by the powerhead untill i almost wanted to throw it away... But now, it's in full glory again...

[Brunei]

Another pic.

[iantoh]

hi there bro brunei,

in the more recent pics you posted, the gonioporas seem kinda bleached. with their long tentacles (all gonios have 24 tentacles on each stem extension), im guessing they are gonio norfolkensis, but im not so sure about that.

like LPS corals such as the hammer or frogspawns, sometimes you see them in LFS looking rather dull in colour, rather than their usual bright flourescent green. this is because the coral has dispelled the bulk of its symbiotic algae (zooallanthae). this happens when the corals have been kept in bad lighting conditions for a while, or exposed to too bright lightings. the loss of zooallanthae is what causes the dull colouration as the zooallanthae are the organisms which create the actinic flourescence.

it might take a while to recover, but give it time, and in good water and light conditions, it should. the "swelling" of gonios is generally taken to be a good sign, so thats a thumbs up, though perhaps you might like to try observing how it reacts in a position of lesser flow and weaker lights, as gonioporas are usually found in rather turbid waters in the ocean, so they dont, on the whole, receive so much light.

check out this pretty cool reefslide. it shows you a slideshow of pictures detailing the recovery of a bleached photosynthetic coral.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/...lides/index.php

cheers bro,

ian

[Brunei]

Some pics of my Goniopora Corals...

[Brunei]

Another pic...

[Brunei]

And another pic...

[Brunei]

Another pic again...

[Brunei]

Last pic...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I read from the internet, Gonios are rather difficult corals to keep in a closed-system. Most never exceed 1 yr in captivity even with pristine water qualities.

Would like some opinions from the bros here who have kept this challenging corals b4. Some pics would be nice. Nonetheless, Gonios are such beautiful corals when they are fully opened and the swaying of the tentacles on a mild current is breathtaking....

[Brunei]

Ian Bro,

If u happen to read this thread, pls share some experience with me.

Just wondering, what do u feed your Gonios?

Me using Aquapharm 5-in-1 coral food suitable for clams, filter-feeders etc. Duno if suitable for Gonios or not. I use a medical syringe to target feed them. Also duno if got really ingest those planktonic food or not.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any other bros who keep Gonios, post some nice eye-candy pics of your Gonios.

[iantoh]

Dear bro brunei,

excised tissue of wild goniopora colonies, that is, cut sampled tissue of living wild gonios, have shown a high gut content of phytoplankton, suggesting that gonioporas consume alot of phyto, so id suggest feeding phyto to your system. the 5 in 1 coral food youre feeding is a good option, though if im not mistaken, thats a cryo-preserved phyto plankton mix, meaning that its dead, so though it still provides nutrition if the gonio feeds on it, uneaten stuff that isnt skimmed out will decay and contribute to increasing nutrient in your system.

i used to feed live phyto, nannochloropsis sp., at a rate of between 30 to 50ml per day for my previous 2.7ft x 1 ft x 1 ft closed system (no sump). thats alot of phyto, so i obviously had nutrient problems, and diatoms growing everywhere, which in a sense was good as free floating diatoms and diatom spores constitute a large proportion of oceanic plankton which i think the gonios benefit from as well, just that it uglifies the tank, so i had to clean almost daily. but this was when i was in uni, from 2004-2005, so i could afford the time, now though, cannot already, so ive since let my gonios go in favour of an sps system.

i think a DSB might be useful in cultivating in-tank bacterial and planktonic foods which might benefit gonios as well, because in the wild, gonios are often found in phyto rich waters that are often less than pristine, so lots of detritus and phyto floating around might be good for it.

all that said, nobody really knows what it is that truely sustains gonioporas, as ive only known RC's ken&jerry to have kept gonios past two years, and even though mine were growing with new buds, thats only one year odd. generally, gonios are able to tahan for quite a long time before they just degenerate.

try to provide good but not to bright lightings. HO-T5s, or MH bulbs with the corals placed lower down, should be a good bet, as photosynthesis contributes to their carbon budget, so lights are important. supposedly, iron and manganese are trace elements important to the health of gonios as well, so adding some miracle mud somewhere in your system to help supplement both these minerals might be useful. I happen to have some spare that you can have if you like, so just tell me about it ya. not sure if youre posting all this from brunei or locally.

also, seeing as gonios are LPS, and are calcifying, it is also crucial that adequate alkalinity and calcium levels are maintained, so that the coral's ECF layer within its tissue may readily obtain ca and alk for skeletal growth, so do try to maintain appropriate levels for that ya.

slow velocity but dispersed and adequate flow should aid gas/nutrients/heat/ and wastes exchange for the corals too i think.

well... thats about all i know for gonios. judging by the pics, your gonios seem to be doing pretty well, so with regards to flow and position within the tank, everything looks good. just try to observe or take more close up pics of the side areas of the coral near the base (at the bottom ends) of the coral to monitor the colony's health, because it looks like theres not much polyp extension from that area, which could be an indicator that somethings amiss, because gonios, when they waste away, they do so from the sides upwards.

oh... cool little gonio bud there too!! hope you get more buddings in the future, and youll be sure then that youre doing something right!

cheers bro, hope my two cents helps in some way ya.

ian

[FuEl]

There was a thread somewhere in RC (I think) that mentioned something about gonioporas benefiting from tang poop.

[chrisyew]

BTW, is jewel also a type of gonio?

[Brunei]

Bro Chris,

My LFS sold me the Gonios as Jewel Coral. Not so sure also. Hope some bros can clarify from the pics i posted... (Can some 1 identify the species of Gonios?) I believe Jewel is a species of Gonios (Porites family). Not so sure....

[iantoh]

hi guys,

gonioporas are commonly called flower pot or jewel corals.

as for species, i can only make a guess that its either a goniopora norfolkensis or goniopora columna.

[Brunei]

Bro Ian,

Thanks for such comprehensive paragraph of your advise/suggestions. Ok firstly,what i dislike about my tank is that i am not using a sump. I'm using a Canister filter. But i did add some medias such as phosphate remover (I have terrible algae growing on the walls),

PUR2 by aquapharm, Activated carbon, some ceramic rings. In fact, my tank has been setup only since end of Dec 2005. So still a tank at it's infancy. So far, Ammonia, Nitrite are zero wherelse Nitrate is detectable.

By the way, i'm in Brunei now. (thx for offering the supplements) I tink i'm gona buy the Instant Mud by Aquapharm and load into the canister. I also tried feeding Golden pearls from Aquaz. hardly can see the polyps grab the food particle. Alright then, thx Ian Bro. will update again soon. Cheers.

[chrisyew]

hi guys,

gonioporas are commonly called flower pot or jewel corals.

as for species, i can only make a guess that its either a goniopora norfolkensis or goniopora columna.

Thanks Ian and Brunei for the clarification of jewel.

[Brunei]

Ian Bro,

My Gonios not doing well today

Barely opening up when halides are on.

Checked for nitrates. It was very very high.

Changed 1/5 of total tank water already.

How does nitrates affects Gonios? sensitive?

Thx in advance bro..

[Qxnviolet]

Erm, where did you place your gonio? Right on top? Maybe you can try place it in the direction of a powerhead, might help. My red gonio refused to open up nicely till i put it at a place wheres there moderate current flow. GD luck!

[iantoh]

Hi bro brunei,

to be honest , i dont know how nitrates affect gonioporas in particular, as ive never really experienced very high nitrates in my tanks (most likely due to the fact that i always only keep a few fish, as the low bioload thing has been drummed into me from years of wetwebmedia). sorry...

but nitrates do affect all corals, so if youre able to, try to change more water and observe the effect it has on the coral? are all your goniopora colonies behaving in the same way? if they do, then it isnt a localised problem like alleopathy from another species of coral in an area or something (unless your tank is very small), so its probably something to do with the water, and quite likely, as you suspect, the nitrate levels could be the cause . gonios may be found in nutrient rich waters and tide or crest pools but by nutrient rich waters in the ocean, this refers to high phytoplankton and dissolved organics count, as opposed to what we commonly think of as high nutrients, which is high nitrates, phosphates, etc. as the ocean cleans itself really well. and where phytoplankton is abundant, it makes sense too that nitrate levels will be good as the phyto will consume nitrates in growth and reproduction, so try lowering the nitrate levels and see how it goes bro? hope it all goes well for you ya.

i think you might need to pinpoint the source of your nitrate issue though, because making a big water change now may lower nitrate levels now, but if the source remains, it will quickly come back. whats your bioload like? hows your skimmer doing? and hows flow within the tank?

cheers,

ian