Goniopora
I have recently (about a week and some) brought a Goniopora. (I learned a little too late that it is one of the hardest corals to raise and me being a novice, didn't know how hard it was to raise.)
<do be sure not to repeat the mistake... please buy a good reference book before you buy another coral. Eric Borneman's Aquarium Corals is an excellent reference>
It has been opening about a half a inch then retracting again. Is there something wrong with it?
<normal polyp cycles... corals do not extend polyps at all times>
and if so what can I do to help it open? Thank You
<too much to cover here in the media of e-mail. Know that this coral needs to be kept on a bed of fine sand (never on rock! it will die in time there). It also needs to be kept in a fishless refugium with seagrasses or heavy macroalgae IMO. Please research so much more about this coral in our WetWebMedia.com archives and beyond. Best regards, Anthony>

Goniopora
Hi!
<hello>
  I purchased a Flower Pot Coral (Goniopora, Green when it's closed, green ends on beige tentacles when it's open) about 2 weeks ago. It took 3 days to acclimate and has since opened fully during the day and so far seems to be doing well. I have it located  toward the top of my 120G tank and in mild water flow. I add Seachem supplements as well as Phytoplankton but have not directly fed this coral. I know it has a poor reputation for survival in captivity and will learn from the experience.
<I would not purchase this animal again. Only in rare cases does this coral survive in captivity. they seem to do great at first, but slowly the tentacles keep getting smaller and smaller until it no longer opens>
Recently, the last two days,  I have noticed what appears like little wisps of smoke coming off a number of the polyps. The wisps separate from the polyp and float to the top of my tank and get carried off to the sump and I assume are caught by the pre-filter in the sump. These wisps don't appear to be a problem for the fish or the other corals in the tank. Can you help with any information on what these wisps are?
< It sounds like mucus because of the smoke color) building up. Then the coral is shedding it. MikeH>
I have posted the question on the forum but have not as yet received a good answer. Your help would be appreciated. Many thanks.

Goniopora Regrowth Question
>Will flowerpot corals rebuild themselves when damaged in certain areas?
>>Actually, I'm not certain, but I would surmise that in nature this would certainly be possible, so it should also be in the aquarium.  One of the things that we've learned with them is that they most definitely need to be directly fed, this will go a long way towards helping them rebuild/regrow/regenerate.  If this is due to bacterial infection, then there are other issues that need to be addressed, but I do know that many invertebrates are treated with broad spectrum antibiotics (specifically Spectrogram) at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.  Marina