Goniopora

[Paulc]

I just wanted to share some of my experiences with Gonipora sp.

I have two Perc Clowns that have hosted in the coral and initially I was worried that they may harm it as it's polyps would initially recede back into the skeleton. After a week the coral got used to their attentions and the fish would swim through the extended polyps as if it were an anenome. The fish often clear the base of the coral from sand and other debris and I think they now provide a useful service to the coral.

 

In addition the coral has been budding continuously. The second of the two photos shows two offspring that I have placed away from the parent colony as the Clown fish tend to pick on them if left close to the mother colony. There is one more out of of the picture at the rear of the tank. At night it is possible to see that 6 more buds are being formed on the original colony.

 

The tank has suffered from increased levels of nutrients recently many of my turbo snails have fallen off LR and landed upside down in inaccessible locations. Their deaths have caused diatom algea blooms and some cyano but these do not appear to have affected the health of my corals. Hopefully these nutrients will help feed the Goniopora and it's offspring

[Paulc]

Pic 1

[Paulc]

Pic 2

[tinyreef]

very nice!

 

are the snails' deaths coinciding with the gonio's budding or are they differently/independently timed events?

 

have you seen improvement or decline with the added nutrients? (sometimes there's a fine line between added nutrients and soup :x )

 

that's a good point about the clowns doing housekeeping. i've always thought corals (at least some of them) need some kind of cleaners just like fish do. whether it's a guest (like a clown, shrimp, or crab) or a station to station cleaner, kinda like a pollinating bee.

 

keep us informed!

[Paulc]

There might be link between the excess nutrients and increased budding in the parent colony but I don't think the death of the snails is caused by anything the Goniopora is releasing into the main body of water ( I hope). At the moment I'm down to 1 snail, but I do have 3 red legged hermits as part of the clean up crew. I don't intend to add any more snails until things have stabilised.

 

Funnily enough growth of macro algae seems to be slowing down ??? go figure that one out ?

[gregb]

The stimulation by the clowns could cause the goni to bud off.

[Withers]

go with more hermits, and less snails, they cause more problems than they solve

 

P.S. i love you avatar, LOL!

[Paulc]

You could be right Greg, the Goniopora could be reacting to the atention of the Clown fish. I know that it took them ~3 months to start hosting in the coral.

[Paulc]

go with more hermits, and less snails, they cause more problems than they solve

 

 

I agree totally.... I have just the one snail now and don't plan on getting any more

 

 

I think that avatar is cool too