is Gonapora a flower pot?

[DEADFISH1]

it's been almost 6 month's now so I just wanted to let everyone who was concerned know that my green Gonapora is doing great, we did have a couple of moments were it wasn't looking so good, so I just moved it around until I found it a place that it is happy in, it's on the sand bead in an area that is some what low in current.
lately it's been fully extended with no bare spots, I'm still crossing fingers.
wish me luck for another 6 month's.

 

[DEADFISH1]

gee, thanks for all your support, I take it that owning a Gonapora is not politically correct on this board, is being successful not politically correct as well?
or maybe it's my name "DEADFISH", is it not politically correct?

nobody likes me, boo hoo hoo, I guess I smell too much like a dead fish boo hoo hoo.......

I really don't even care, I'm just razing.....

 

[Ralphyhp]

I found this old post and i said again flower pots corals are good corals to keept in captivity. Why my flower pots didnt die, i have them for about two years. They are budding about 30 or more babies flower pots. The babies are doing very well on my tank. I gave someones to a friend and they are doing well to.

 

[esmithiii]

I'm not sure that I agree, if everyone did that in the beginning, the only thing we would probably be keeping would be Fish and maybe live rock, there has to be a few adventurers out there, the whole reefing world has been built on trial & error, that's my opinion, and not entended to flame anyone.

This coral has been tried unsuccessfully by hobbiests much more experienced than you and I. "Trial and error" that ends up killing a particular species over and over again is what is likely to get future importation of corals and fish banned. If anything, we should take people who are successful (like ralphyhp) and document what they are doing, which species they are successfull with and what their tank conditions are and then build on that.

Buying a coral that you know nothing about and then slowly killing it over a year and telling everyone that it is doing great in the mean time only causes more people who are less educated to do the same thing. It only causes the situation to get worse, not better. It would be better if you had followed naesco's advice as harsh as it may sound. (Am I really agreeing w/ naesco!?)

This is not a flame. We all have an effect of the future of this hobby. I for one think sustainable harvests of both fish and coral is necessary, at least in the short term, for this hobby's survival. My response is not so much directed at any one person but at us all. I have killed my share of corals, mostly captive propogated. In the last year, that is all that I have killed.

it's been almost 6 month's now so I just wanted to let everyone who was concerned know that my green Gonapora is doing great, we did have a couple of moments were it wasn't looking so good, so I just moved it around until I found it a place that it is happy in, it's on the sand bead in an area that is some what low in current.
lately it's been fully extended with no bare spots, I'm still crossing fingers.
wish me luck for another 6 month's

As you may have read, these corals seem to do well for most for 6 months to a year and then suddenly die. Don't pat yourself on the back quite yet. Let us know how it is going in another 18 months.

Ernie

 

[Ralphyhp]

Ernie I'm with you. You are absolutly write. We have to preserve species not to kill them. They looks better in the ocean where they belongs, but a Flower pot coral in a LFS have more posibilities to die, many of this guys just one to sell and dont care about water quality, lighting,ect. The perfect choice is dont buy no more flower pots. Ralphyhp.

 

[O P Ing]

Another coral sometimes called Flowerpot is the Alveopora. These have 12 tentacles instead of the Gonioporas 24 tentacles...

hi.
Classification of coral is a real mess, but the distinction between Alveo and Gonio is not by merely counting the tentacles. Both genus have both 12 and 24 tentacles varieties. According to the old-school, Porites is more closely related to Gonio than Alveo (skeletally speaking). But from outside appearance, it does not seem to be the case.

It may sounds paradoxical that a coral so abundant and common to some part of IndoPacific is so difficult to keep in artifical reef environment. But IMHO, it is similar to some orchid that adopted to some specific parameter that is difficult for us to reproduce. Maybe it is the case for Gonio too.

 

[MFisher]

My tank suffers from nearly terminal neglect but the goniopora I bought about 4 years ago is still with me. Ive said this before but I'll repeat it because if you are like me you won't do a search for it. I have a non-branching, long tentacled, green goni. IME it needs just enought flow to make the tentacles wave. It enjoys as much light as you can give it (44 icecap over a 55 gal in my case). They also enjoy FEEDING. Not dinky planktonic stuff but food stuff (like krill or brine shrimp) close to the diameter of the skeletal theca. They don't grab food well so ALL pumps need to be shut off fro about ten minutes. Direct the food at it with a baster etc. and let it engluf the particles.

With that said, my goniopora has been looking pretty s****y lately. I haven't been keeping up on maintainance and feeding of my tank and my goniopora, and other tank inhabitants, have suffered. the goniopora no longer extends its polyps six inches they barely come out of the theca and the tissue between the polyps has receded to skeleton in many cases. Today I fed it for the first time in many months and the darned things polyps are sticking out two inches!! I don't know if it will make it but I have a hunch it will. I'll keep in touch.

In the meantime feed your gonis. They're tougher than their urban legend dictates (anything is easy to keep if given the proper living conditions)

 

[esmithiii]

In the meantime feed your gonis. They're tougher than their urban legend dictates (anything is easy to keep if given the proper living conditions)

I think the issue is that we don't know what the "proper living conditions" are. Just because a handfull of people have a modicum of success with a few specimines (out of the many that die) does not mean that inexperienced reefers should be rushing out to try this beautiful but delicate species.

IMO this species should be left to the more experienced (more than me at least) and more capable aquarists until we know more about how to keep them alive.

 

[fishrfab]

I am new to this, my tank has been up only 10 mos. I have a beautiful flowerpot in my 55 gal. I started with a freshwater tank of 4 years and felt it was time to move on to different things.
My flower is in moderate flow moderate lighting and is fed microvert, I add mysis shrimp for some of my other babies, maybe the flower is getting some. I have only had mine for 7 mos. but have had no problems with him, although I am having a prob. with nitrates at the moment for about a month.
I do believe if a person is to have these beautiful things, knowledge is the best thing to have (before) you buy it. at least a couple of mos. of study.
I have learned that the hard way myself.
Trial and error isn't well liked but is a fact. Everyone (including me) looks for boards like these to stop making mistakes. I hope I can learn from all of you too, and if I can help I will do my best

 

[MartinE]

I agree with Ernie on this one some corals are still beyond our present capabilities to take care of. If pros with many years of experience are still not keeping it alive then a newcomer is likely not to have any luck either.