Flower pot coral of some kind

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Anyone keeping this coral? Really cute flowers but I seem to be in doubt cos something strange happened 2 weeks ago...The polyps just went on strike for 8 days and set my panic stations on. Day after day, all I can see is a "botak" coral and then on the 9th day, it came back out again...just like that.

I really have no idea what's going on. My conditions are all stable and other corals and inverts do not have any tell tale signs of an impending disaster. In fact, life goes on very normal for the rest of the inhabitants. Anyone having similar experience with this coral? Could it be a phase that flower pots go through?...but 8 days?

Phew...that was a close call with death. ...or so I thought.

[Achilles Tang]

Nice avelopora you got there.

They are closely related to Goniopora.

Hope it lasts long in your tank.... as they are similar to Gonios in feeding requirements eg. plankton etc.

Something must have disturbed it enough to shrink for 8 days... is it being stung by another coral nearby? Is any fish disturbing it? Is your water condition ok?

[B|uEc@rpEt]

Hi SH...

I have that coral too..it stays 'active' unless i shift its position.

At night, when the coral polyps retracts...u may wanna check for any rotting parts.

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Hmm...so its a avelopora. Thanks.

Tank only have a royal gamma, damsel & yellow nose goby. Don't think they are the culprits as they have been with the coral since introduction. No stinging corals near it...mainly brains and other SPS well away from range. Maybe the water quality but all other corals are very good. Then again we never know it could be sensitive to a specific chemical in it to which the others are not. Just happy that its alright now.

Hope it lasts long in your tank

Hope so too. Slightly more than 1 year old only.

AT, will you be planning on keeping Gonios in your tank?

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Hi Bluecarpet,

Yup, did that too Its a complete mystery to me...

How is yours faring so far? Do you feed it?

[Achilles Tang]

Actually, I have 2 gonios now in my tank... I adopted one from Jeremy who gave up the hobby and one that I couldn't resist. I also have an avelo.

They are one of the more lovely corals that I like.

I am hoping that with my live phytoplankton and live rotifers, golden pearls and BBS, I can give these hard to keep corals a 'bigger than fighting chance' to survive.

I strongly urge reefers here to follow likewise as these corals do have specific needs and a poor track record if you do not provide the conditions it prefers.

[Tanzy]

We have no idea what the requirements for goniopora are and since they don't do well in captivity, it is best to avoid them totally.