green flower pot question

[JKDMan]

i just picked up a greenflower pot at my lfs and was hopin for some tips for the care of this coral its in a 54 gal with 2x96 pc for lighting....thx

 

[RobertoVespucci]

#1 Take it back.

#2 Get a refund.


Goniopora don't do so well in captivity. Most of the people that have had one grow (not just waste away over 2-3 years) are very experienced and admit to being quite lucky. Seriously, you've just bought an invertabrate mandarin.


If you insist on keeping it, you may want a bit more light, so you can put it in the sand on the bottom of your tank. They like to be fed, they like their water rather clean, but not pristine, and they like low speed alternating high flow. But seriously, take it back.

 

[JKDMan]

i do insist on keeping it since it is a quie impressive specimen, and its funny that you say its an invertabrate mandrin ,cause i have a psychadellic mandarin goby

[/quote]

 

[RobertoVespucci]

and its funny that you say its an invertabrate mandrin ,cause i have a psychadellic mandarin goby

Good. That way you can carpool them both back to the store, because those with both slowly starve to death and die in your tank. One month after setup is way too soon for either of those, and 54g is certainly too small for the fish. But, if you don't care about that, I hear they both make really cool skimmate.

 

[JKDMan]

idk why you say that they will starve to death or why the 54 gal is to small for the goby hes only a few inches long , i know a month is pretty soon to put them in there but my water parameters are good . and the mandarin eats copepods and the flowerpot eats phytoplankton. and while the flower pot is a new addition the goby is not and he seems quite happy in my tank. and if 54 gal is indeed to small its not really a issue since im upgrading to a 180 gal around the begining of next year...thx for the input tho

have you ever kept either the goby or a flowerpot ?

 

[RobertoVespucci]

Nope, because I read before I buy.

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=88859&highlight=mandarin


http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=90429&highlight=goniopora


For starters.

 

[bleedingthought]

JKDMan, here's an article: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/10/aafeature2/ on gonioporas.

I also have not read much about success with the species either. Usually they will perish within months or few years.

Here are a few more links:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gonioporapix.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/poritididfaqs.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dendrofaqs1.htm

Wetwebmedia.com is an awesome database and reef resources website! You can find info on virtually everything on there! Any time you have a question or concern about a certain species, hit them up. They will also have plenty of info on mandarins.

The problem with your mandarin, in my opinion, is not necessarily the size of your tank, but the maturity. If you wish to not take it back, my suggestion is that you make sure your tank is loaded with pods, which you should consider a refugium that is thriving with them and providing it to your display. Also, plenty of live rock is needed.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[JKDMan]

ya as far as my goby goes i made piles of small peices of live rock so the pods can thrive in there w/o being scavenged for in the pile........and as far as the goniopra im going to keep it ,watch it closley and if it seems to becom unhappy in my tank ill prolly return it or give it to my buddy with a more established tank to take care of,but i do want to try to keep it if posible. i think i have made a food it seems to like from dts live phytoplankton and cyclopeeze mix .thx for the links i found another good site is goniopora.org ,lots of good info there

54gl reef/10gal sump/180w pc

 

[linderaberry]

JKDMan, how about a follow-up? How is your mandarinfish doing? What is he eating?

I adore mandarins and I would like to have one even if it had to be the only fish in the tank. Since they stress out easily in the presense of too much movement by other fish in the tank (and, maybe, even movement of people approaching or passing the tank frequently!) I suppose that might be the only way I could keep one.