Gonopora?

[Anonymous]

I have been offered a really spectacular gonopora but have heard that they are really difficult to keep. I have tons of lighting (MH and T5) and good flow, very little livestock and a really stable large system.. I tried searching but came up with poor results, does anyone have any experience with these and any advice on keeping them succesfully...?

 

[Meloco14]

I have had a goniopora that my brother bought for almost 2 years now. Up until a few months ago it always looked very healthy. But beginning a few months ago the tissue has started receding away from the edges of the stoney base. I would say that about 50% of the base is now dead skeleton. Nothing had changed in my tank to cause this that I know of. I can only assume that it is because these corals just don't get enough food in our tanks. Some people have better success with them though. I have heard that this is one coral that does well in a little "dirtier" water. That is, water with higher nitrates. Not sure if that is a proven fact though. I did a google search and found goniopora.org. I didnt look through it thoroughly but you might want to check there for more info.

 

[Len]

I think the best advice is not to try and keep these. There's a good article in www.advancedquarist.com about their care (will link below) but it's still my experience that the vast majority are unsustainable in captivity.

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