This year’s IMAC (International Marine Aquarium
Conference) held at the Crown Plaza hotel in Chicago was hugely
successful – lots of people and exhibits. However, what
captured my interest in particular was a lecture by John Kelly
on how to be successful with Goniopora sp.,and LED
(light emitting diodes) light fixtures. These fixtures may be
the next significant technological development to come to our
hobby. I have included a scan of the new company’s
product information sheet. The manufacturer is sending one to
Sanjay Joshi and Dana Riddle, who will test them and report
back to us.

John Kelley has had significant success with various species
of Goniopora, and in his talk outlined what it takes to achieve
success with this animal – usually referred to by
hobbyists as the flowerpot coral. I have asked him to send me
an article on his technique. Some of the points that he made
are:

• They require moderate light and water flow.
• They need to be acclimated slowly to light and water
  motion conditions.
• They need to be placed where their tissue (polyps) have
  plenty of expansion room.
• Most importantly, they must be fed. He feeds his crushed
  cyclopeeze, by first stimulating a feeding response, only to
  return in a few minutes with more phytoplankton when the
  animal is ready. He feeds his every three days.

I received this message yesterday,

Terry,

I hate to bother, but saw your posting on using a Chaetodon ulietensis to cure your Majano Anemone
problem and had to ask your advice.  As you can see from
attached photos, I have an outbreak of these beasties that have
taken over in areas of my tank.  I was wondering if you’ve
had any updates with the success of using the Butterfly to chow
on the Majano.  I’m leery for the sake that my tank
consists mostly of Mushrooms and other soft polyps.  I’ve
used Joes Juice in the past, and it works well, but I’ve never
been able to fully eliminate the problem (they come back with a
vengeance within a few weeks).  Are there any water
quality issues that may encourage these pests.  I’ve put
in some Peppermint Shrimp which keep Aiptasia at bay
quite nicely, unfortunately they don’t do the same for the Majano! 🙂  

Best Regards,

Ken

There are a number of butterfly fish that will eat
Manjano sp., like raccoon and threadfin butterfly fish,
but none are reef safe. That being said, I think that the
double saddleback butterfly (Chaetodon ulietensis) is
the safest. The Waikiki Aquarium in Hawaii has had one in one
of their reef tanks for many years. My experience has been
excellent too, but there is no way of knowing what any
individual fish might take a likening to. One thing is certain,
the Manjano sp anemone must be eliminated or held in
check in some way. They are a very invasive species and will
destroy any reef tank if left alone. I should also point out
that any butterfly fish that eats these invasive anemones can
only eliminate those that it can reach. In the included
photograph of Ken’s reef tank Majanos are plainly
visible.