9 to 5 Goniopora and Alveopora Forest - NEW FTS

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

5 hours ago, A.m.P said:

I've seen rainbows go red or orange like an overlit acan, haven't seen purple to red though, that's pretty impressive.

Thanks… I can’t really take credit for it. All the husbandry is due to the tank keepers blue thumb. I just carry/dump water buckets, mix all for reef to dose and look really, really ridiculously handsome. We’ve had it under T5s, a hydra hd 26, and currently it’s under a nanobox duo, and it’s retained the reddish pink color, so I’m wondering if something other than lighting plays a part in its coloring. 
 

3 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

You must be the goni whisperer! I probably lost 1 in 3 of every goni/aveleopora I have bought so far. They are fine for weeks, then one day close up and STN.

I finally figured out that some of them are very sensitive to high light. I start them now in a shaded part of the tank, they appear to expand and grow better there.

Goni’s are tough. Everything can seem fine in the tank, and one just decides life is no longer worth living. We’ve definitely killed our fair share, including my most expensive coral purchase ever. We also had our glitter Goni, that we’d had for a couple years and had gotten to a pretty decent sized colony shrivel up and STN on us. 
 

In my experience, I think alveopora are hardier than goniopora. Genetically speaking, their closer relation to SPS than goni’s, so I believe that leads them to be more tolerant of high levels of light. You may be on to something with goni’s needing time to adjust to bright lighting. 
 

I also think that bernardpora (what most people refer to as short tentacle goni’s, (but they are a completely different species) seem fairly hardy. We only have three or four of them, but we have not lost one yet. We even had a bernardpora recover from getting decimated from coral warfare by a goniopora nearby. 

 

A couple things I think come in to play to have success with goni’s : 

1. Goni’s need to be fed regularly. I’m not sure they can get all their nutrients needed to survive from lighting alone. I don’t think they are quite NPS, but seem benefit from a nutrient rich tank, and regular feedings. 
2. Magnesium I think is an important, and often overlooked factor for goni’s. I think they prefer a mag level of 1300+. 
3. Goni’s seem to attract a lot of pests in the ocean. If it isn’t an aquacultured Goni, I keep a close eye on them, and will dip at the first signs of something bothering them. (In addition to being dipped before they even go in our tanks.)

I’m by no means an expert, but these are my working theories. I’d love input from anyone else that may have noticed trends on goni’s in their tanks. 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

I picked up a few new goni’s for this tank, from a guy on the bigger (but vastly inferior) reefing site. They’re still a little grumpy from shipping, and most haven't fully extended yet but after neglecting this thread for a couple of months, I’m trying to be better about updating it. 

Much like myself, after sipping whiskey on a Friday night, and chasing the tank keeper around the house, this one was fully extended. 

I don’t this thins one has a name, but it’s giving off strong ‘Merica vibes. Might need to name it Ol’ Glory. 

 

And my personal favorite from the bunch is this one. It appears the juvenile polyps are green, and then turn lavender/pink/whitish when full maturity is reached. 

[debbeach13]

Those are all beautiful.

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

My favorite Goni from yesterday was extended a little more today, so I grabbed a macro lens clip on, and under daytime (white) lighting snapped a couple close up shots. I’m always amazed how juvenile polyps will have different coloration than adult polyps. 
 

 

 

[waldoz]

I almost picked up some but I heard they are finicky and ended going with some Acans instead.  Have you had any problems with them at all?

 

[debbeach13]

Great photos! Personally, I think this thread is overdue for a FTS.

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

18 hours ago, waldoz said:

I almost picked up some but I heard they are finicky and ended going with some Acans instead.  Have you had any problems with them at all?

 

Goniopora are very finicky. If you want to try one, I’d really suggest you find one that’s been aquacultured in a local reefers tank, or ORA sells a red (it looks more pink to me) one that they’ve been growing in their tanks for years. They’re hardier, and a little more forgiving. I definitely believe some are almost impossible to keep. I’ve brought a few home, that have died within a couple weeks of being in the tank, while other gonis are thriving. I think the hobby as a whole are still learning how to properly care for these animals. It wasn’t that long ago, when no one could keep them alive, so we’ve come a long way in a short period of time, but still much to learn. If you’re in the Phoenix area (or ever travel here) I’d be happy to frag you a piece of one of our hardier ones to try. 
 

 

17 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Great photos! Personally, I think this thread is overdue for a FTS.

Thanks Deb. You are 100% correct. This thread definitely needs one. However, the tank is still a mess filled with a mishmash of corals that were pruned back from other tanks. I need to deal with that mess before I can take a proper full tank shot. 

[DevilDuck]

I'd like to add that some goni's, especially the brighter colored ones, like to start in shadier low flow areas.

If your goni's polyps are retracted, it maybe because the light is too bright or there is too much flow. Move it and slowly acclimate it to your light and flow.

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

3 hours ago, DevilDuck said:

I'd like to add that some goni's, especially the brighter colored ones, like to start in shadier low flow areas.

If your goni's polyps are retracted, it maybe because the light is too bright or there is too much flow. Move it and slowly acclimate it to your light and flow.

This is a great piece of advice from DevilDuck. Also, I’ve found that sometimes it takes them a few days to really bring their polyps out. So if you start them in low flow and low light, leave them there for a while, while they’re acclimating to your tank. 
 

Before you know it, they’ll be throwing their polyps in the air, and waiving them like they just don’t care. 

[M. Tournesol]

On 2/18/2022 at 2:40 AM, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Goni’s need to be fed regularly. I’m not sure they can get all their nutrients needed to survive from lighting alone. I don’t think they are quite NPS, but seem benefit from a nutrient rich tank, and regular feedings. 

What do you feed your Goni's?

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

18 hours ago, M. Tournesol said:

What do you feed your Goni's?

This is a great question! I feed a variety of things. Reef Roids and Benereef are two fine powders that we use. Surprisingly, most of them can eat chunkier food as well. We also use Brightwell LPS food, the small TDO pellets and even fish eggs regularly. They don’t seem too picky at all about what they’ll accept as food. 
 

Side note : The tank keeper thinks I might be part goniopora, since I’ll eat just about anything put in front of me as well. 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

The tank keeper went to Tucson, to visit her folks this weekend, so I’m on tank, dog and cat duty. I figured what better way to spend my Saturday night, than with a beer and my dear, dear friends at NanoReef? 
 

The tank is still a hodgepodge of frags that aren’t supposed to be in this tank, but I haven’t done much to rid this tank of its coral overflow. I probably just need to round everything up, and take it to the LFS for a meager credit.
 

Today though, I did take advantage of the MP10 being off today, and took some photos of Alveopora Alley. 

 

Unfortunately, as of yet, these don’t come in the same color assortment as gonis, but are simply beautiful. 
 

 

Outside of Acros (she just loves the stick(s), hey oh!), alveoporas are the Tank Keepers favorite coral.
 

 

I enjoy the flow and movement, plus unlike some species of gonis that don’t get along, alveoporas have no problem snuggling up together. It’s really beautiful watching the polyps intertwine with different colors as they dance in the flow. 

 

Here’s a top down photo, showing just how well everyone gets along. 
 

 

We’re still looking for a pink one. We did have one, but over time it’s morphed to being mostly white. I wouldn’t say it’s bleached, just white and lacking of much color. It’s currently under the T5’s in the 80 gallon tank, to see if we can get some color back in it. We do have a Coral Farmers Market coming here in April, so we may go to it and see if there are any for sale. 
 

Only two months left in this contest, I need to get my act together, so I can flex my (yet to be won) NanoReef plaque on the tank keeper. Until then, I suppose I’ll just go back to drinking my beer, and trying to talk myself out of pouring a rocks glass of whiskey.
 

I mean, why do we have two hands if I can’t have booze in both? 

[M. Tournesol]

the more I look at your tank, the more I fall in love with goniopora and alveopora. Not even 1.5 years of reef keeping and I already starting to dream of too many aquariums with to many corals 😅.

[waldoz]

How do these guys handle being shipped I wonder. 🤔

[M. Tournesol]

On 10/4/2021 at 6:49 PM, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

 

9 to 5 Goniopora and Alveopora Forest

 

Current Full Tank Shot:

 

Contest Entry Picture:

 

Equipment:

• Tank : ADA 60F
• Lighting : Nanobox Duo
• Flow : Vortech MP10
• 25w Heater

 

Livestock:

• TBA

 

Highlight Links:

 

• The Tank Keepers bare bottom! 😍

 

•  Check out Seabass trying to convince Spectra to participate in the 9 to 5 Contest!

 

 

Even though I love you current full tank shot, could we have an update (ie, a new full tank photo)?

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

On 3/20/2022 at 1:16 AM, M. Tournesol said:

the more I look at your tank, the more I fall in love with goniopora and alveopora. Not even 1.5 years of reef keeping and I already starting to dream of too many aquariums with to many corals 😅.

That is quite the compliment. Thank you! This happens so much in this hobby. It’s so addicting! 
 

On 3/20/2022 at 9:41 AM, waldoz said:

How do these guys handle being shipped I wonder. 🤔

I’ve never had any problems with DOA on goni’s I’ve had shipped. They will however sometimes die because it’s a Tuesday, or you look at them wrong. I would definitely encourage you to try and find some that have been aquacultured for a while, if you’re interested in giving them a try. 
 

As for as alveopora go, I’ve never actually had any of them shipped, but we did haul some around in a bag of water, inside a cooler for a couple of days while the Tank Keeper and I were on vacation in California. They made it just fine. 
 

21 hours ago, M. Tournesol said:

Even though I love you current full tank shot, could we have an update (ie, a new full tank photo)?

This is a priority for me - I promise, as soon as I can get this thing cleared out and free of frag racks I’ll post a full tank shot. Not only will it help with updating this thread, but more importantly, it’ll make the tank keeper very happy. When she’s happy, it’s very good for *ahem* certain body parts of mine. 

[mitten_reef]

31 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

When she’s happy, it’s very good for *ahem* certain body parts of mine. 

so when she's happy, she likes to cook, and your belly is full.  OK got it!  🤣 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

8 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

so when she's happy, she likes to cook, and your belly is full.  OK got it!  🤣 

Yes. That’s precisely what it is. You’re so smart Mr. Mittens! 
 

Story time… 
 

Being the extreme romantic that I am, I told her on what must’ve been our third or fourth date, that it didn’t take much to keep me around and in a good mood. I’m a really simple creature, and that she didn’t need to over complicate things... A particular part of my body needs to be full, and another needs to be empty. If the part that’s supposed to be full, gets empty, or the part that’s supposed to be empty gets backed up, the chances of me getting grumpy multiply exponentially. It’s really in everyone’s best interest if they’re both looked after regularly.  

 

Looking back on it, I can’t believe she didn’t fall in love with me right then and there. I mean, talk about transparency and honesty. Isn’t that what all women Tank Keepers want?! 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

I realized this morning, I haven’t really posted much about bernardpora, so I snapped a couple quick pictures of our largest one.

 

About a year ago, this bernardpora got smoked by a Goni near it. It’s since made a full recovery, but it led me down the path to learn why it happened, because I was under the impression that goni’s would get along with each other. It was sold (and most bernardporas are) as a short tentacle/polyp goniopora, which isn’t accurate. They are totally different species, all though their care requirements are similar. The easiest way to tell them apart, is to annoy them so they closeup, so you can get a look at the skeleton. Bernardpora will encrust, while goniopora will build its base as it grows. 
 

This guy is about 3-3 1/2 inches across. 
 

 

 Notice the longer tentacles? Those are its feeders, and it’s currently my spirit coral, because it’s looking for its next meal. Here’s a little closer shot of its feeders. 


 

 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

The tank keeper has had a long week, and decided she was going to go to bed early tonight. That left me with nothing better to do than to drink a beer, watch tank tv, and spend a little time on my favorite site on all of the interwebz (No, not PornHub, you heathens! This one. I swear.) 
 

Most of the gonis are looking very happy this evening, so I snapped a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure. 
 

 

Neither of these are extravagantly colored, but I think they’re both beautiful pieces. I especially like the one below. I think it’s beauty is really subtle, but undeniably there. 

 

Not much to report on this tank - it’s still filled with frags, that I don’t need. A LFS here that deals in a lot of used equipment, got in a used 140 gallon tank with terrific dimensions. It’s 72” L x 30” W x 15” H, set up as a Peninsula. I’m trying to talk the tank keeper in to letting us get it, and upgrade our 80 gallon tank. I’m sure they’d take our overgrowth/frags for store credit to offset the cost of some, if not all of it.
 

I sure could use my friends at NanoReef to help me with talking the tank keeper in to it. Please feel free to leave words of encouragement, or demands for a new (and let’s be honest, extraordinarily entertaining) tank thread involving a six foot, shallow peninsula tank from yours truly. 
 

I am not beneath begging the tank keeper, but I really believe in the power of persuasion from my friends here at NanoReef. After all, it worked for us getting in to the 365 contest, after I was told repeatedly no. Please don’t let me down, NanoReefers. Together, we CAN do this! 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve cleared out a bunch of frags out of this tank. I’m hoping to have it completely empty of frags by this weekend, so I can post a long anticipated full  frontal nudity tank shot. 
 

In the mean time, check out this alveopora I came across! 
 

 

This is easily the craziest colored alveopora I’ve ever seen. It has much smaller polyps than all of the other Alveoporas we have, so it’ll be interesting to see if the polyps grow in time, or if it’s a different/less common species seen in this trade. 
 

[debbeach13]

That coral is beautiful. Can't wait to see the tank. 

[Merthynia]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:59 PM, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve cleared out a bunch of frags out of this tank. I’m hoping to have it completely empty of frags by this weekend, so I can post a long anticipated full  frontal nudity tank shot. 
 

In the mean time, check out this alveopora I came across! 
 

 

This is easily the craziest colored alveopora I’ve ever seen. It has much smaller polyps than all of the other Alveoporas we have, so it’ll be interesting to see if the polyps grow in time, or if it’s a different/less common species seen in this trade. 
 

You're really inspiring me to try and find an alveopora again. This particular one is absolutely stunning!! They aren't a coral I see around here very often though sadly. The one I had before was so beautiful waving in the current and grew like crazy.

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

11 hours ago, Merthynia said:

You're really inspiring me to try and find an alveopora again. This particular one is absolutely stunning!! They aren't a coral I see around here very often though sadly. The one I had before was so beautiful waving in the current and grew like crazy.

Thank you! You should definitely add one (or more!) to your tank. They way they dance in the flow is mesmerizing. Outside of SPS, they’re probably the tank keepers favorite coral. 
 

Also, I witnessed something I’d never seen before, after a water change on this tank. I saw a bunch of micro brittle starfish hanging out on top of a rock. 

 

There were two different sections with 3-4 of them just sprawled out on the rock, instead of tucked in to their crevices. 
 

What happened next, I can only describe as NC17. I called the tank keeper over, so she too could witness two male star fish spawning (or as I like to call it, mostly to annoy the tank keeper, “busting a nut”). I couldn’t get a good picture of it, but it looked very similar to a rock flower busting a nut spawning.  I speculate that the females climbed on top of the rock, so they could be in the water column for a better chance of catching the spawn and having babies. We don’t run any filtration (other than rock) on this tank, so the MBS baby batter isn’t escaping this tank. 
 

Also, a quick corner shot of a bunch of unhappy gonis from the water change. 
 

 

Notice the *ahem* cloudy water. Thanks a lot Micro Brittle Starfish. Now I’m going to have even more mouths to feed. 

[joshthebox]

7 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Thank you! You should definitely add one (or more!) to your tank. They way they dance in the flow is mesmerizing. Outside of SPS, they’re probably the tank keepers favorite coral. 
 

Also, I witnessed something I’d never seen before, after a water change on this tank. I saw a bunch of micro brittle starfish hanging out on top of a rock. 

 

There were two different sections with 3-4 of them just sprawled out on the rock, instead of tucked in to their crevices. 
 

What happened next, I can only describe as NC17. I called the tank keeper over, so she too could witness two male star fish spawning (or as I like to call it, mostly to annoy the tank keeper, “busting a nut”). I couldn’t get a good picture of it, but it looked very similar to a rock flower busting a nut spawning.  I speculate that the females climbed on top of the rock, so they could be in the water column for a better chance of catching the spawn and having babies. We don’t run any filtration (other than rock) on this tank, so the MBS baby batter isn’t escaping this tank. 
 

Also, a quick corner shot of a bunch of unhappy gonis from the water change. 
 

 

Notice the *ahem* cloudy water. Thanks a lot Micro Brittle Starfish. Now I’m going to have even more mouths to feed. 

Haha that has happened to me before, it is quite interesting to say the least! I also find they spawn after a waterchange, maybe due to temperature changes.