Flower Pot Coral

[Crawdaddy2003]

I have a flower pot coral that isn't what it once was. When I first got my tank it was opening up all the way, it was full of color, and a clownfish had claimed it as its own, and it stayed like that for well over a month. Now, for the past couple months it is hardly opening up and its color is nearly all gone too. It still opens a tiny bit and looks healthy. Another coral (I don't know what this one is) is doing the same thing. Everything else in the tank is perfectly healthy, all the inverts are doing fine, purple coraline algae is growing everywhere... Any suggestions to get the corals back to their full glory? It's a 55 gallon tank with 260 W Coralife light

 

[FishQueen1]

flower pots rarely live more then a year from what i have read . you may want to check your phosphate , this may cause it not to open .other then that i cant be much of a help , i have lost a few and have learned to leave them be .

 

[Opcn]

Never buy goniporas, they live less than 1/200th of the time. There is no real consensus to why they do so poorly, but some people have success, most fail, obviously, your not one of those suceeding. There is nothing wrong with that, just avoid them in the future.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Do we even know what this coral is yet? I dont think so. The common name "Flower pot coral" is used for a variety of corals, ones ive seen include Duncanapsomia ap., Star Polyps and Turbastrea sp.

Can you get a better identification for us Crawdaddy? What colour is it? Try and explain its shape/colour/polyps/body structure if you can.

Also, its useful for you to know what your water parameters are so you can gauge just how well your water is doing. Do you know Calcium and Alkalinity? You can buy master test kits (cheaper than buyingthem individually) from ebay or other stores, or, alternatively, your LFS (local fish store) might help test your parameters free, or for a small cover fee.

We need to know more info, before we can really help you out.
Ben.

 

[Adrinal]

Highly suggest giving it to an expert in your club!!!

You need to target feed most of the alviporia and gonaporia (spelling). $10 says you have a greenish one right? Transshippers LOVE to fill orders with these hard to keep corals and they are the hardest of them all. There is a guy outside of Chicago who is now having luck with keeping these. But he is one dedicated nut


Any store who sells these without the same warnings you might get for say... a great white shark... should be chastised.

goni typically starve over 9 months. They have a lot of flesh and so can "survive" for quite some time without food.

 

[Crawdaddy2003]

Thanks for the replys. I have the "Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit" by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and all the water parameters that it tests for are good (pH, NH3, NH4, NO2, NO3). I have some nice before and after photos of it I'd love to show you guys, but I have no idea how to post them... Right now it's a very light greenish-yellow color but before it went bad it had brown on the tips of each polyp. If anyone can tell me how to post pictures, I assure you that they could describe it much better than I can.

Thanks everyone

 

[Mr Miagi]

To post a picture you first need an account at an online Photo Host such as Photobucket: http/photobucket.com/

Create a free acount, and upload some pictures using the functions found there.

After the pictures have finished being uploaded, you should have a few "tags" underneath the image.

Copy and paste the "Img" tag into a new post or topic and your away! Cant wait to see the coral!

 

[Crawdaddy2003]

Here is the coral

Before: http/i97.photobucket.com/albums/l235/Cra...03/DSC00243.jpg

After: http/i97.photobucket.com/albums/l235/Cra...03/DSC00351.jpg
http/i97.photobucket.com/albums/l235/Cra...03/DSC00353.jpg

Any way to get it back to its full glory? It is placed in a low/medium current zone more at the top of the tank.

 

[MoonTang]

Try placing it lower and feeding it phytoplankton once a week.

I have one thats been in my tank for 8 months now and i have it buried in the sand. It's still very healthy and expands 5-8inches but the color did change a little.

 

[DarrenUnwin]

Crawdaddy2003,

Just shows how great (and worrying this hobby is), I have one show in the below pic which was yellow all over and is now turning to an orange colour and I too thought some thing was wrong with it. It still look healthy and extends out all the time but I would much prefer the yellow one I purchased last year. Just goes to show you cant control nature

 

[SkiFletch]

Both of those two specemins are expelling their zooxanthellae and bleaching. Usually a sign that the coral is not faring well. With no zooxanthellae it will struggle to gather the nutrients it needs. The coral will need to be target fed with phytoplankton, cyclopeeze, or some similar if it is to survive. IMO, its got ~3 months left before it is no more . Very rarely can goniopora recover from a full bleaching event like that

 

[DarrenUnwin]

Hi Skifletch

Dont want to steal the thread here as this is great info if a little worrying but just one very quick question.

Does bleaching mean it will loose its color? When I bought the coral it was a yellow\white colour and has chnaged to an orange colour. I thought (maybe wrongly) that the bleaching would turn it the other way, which would mean it was belached wen I bought it. Hope that makes sense

Many thanks for the reply.

 

[SkiFletch]

Bleaching means that the coral expells its zooxanthellae and changes colors to that of the animal instead of the zoo symbiont. It varies from coral to coral as to what the color change happens to be as each coral has its own natural color. Some corals get yellow or white looking while others actually flouresce when they "bleach." In the wild corals derive their energy typically from symbiotic zooxanthellae and eating food with their nematocysts/mouths/polyps. When stressed, they'll expell the zoos and need to rely on direct feeding or else they will perish.

 

[Crawdaddy2003]

With the direct feeding, will they eventually get all their zoo's back or do I have to direct feed for the rest of the corals life (or until my patience runs out)?

 

[SkiFletch]

With the direct feeding, will they eventually get all their zoo's back or do I have to direct feed for the rest of the corals life (or until my patience runs out)?

Impossible to say for sure. A vast majority of the time though, bleached goniopora have difficulty re-growing their zooxanthellae. If you dont see a noticeable change towards coloring back up within a couple months, its probably fair to say that the zoos are a lost cause.