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FAQs about Poritid Coral Feeding/Nutrition
Related Articles: Poritid Corals,
Related FAQs: Poritids 1, Poritids
2, Poritids 3,
Poritid Identification, Poritid
Behavior, Poritid Compatibility,
Poritid Selection, Poritid Systems,
Poritid Health, Poritid
Reproduction/Propagation, Stony/True
Coral, Coral System Set-Up,
Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral
Identification, Stony Coral Selection,
Coral Placement, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition,
Disease/Health, Propagation,
Growing Reef Corals, Stony
Coral Behavior, Got to make
sure each polyp is individually fed... Yikes! | 
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coral help... Goniopora fdg.
04/27/09
Hello,
I am hoping to get some help with coral.
I recently came across WWM, and also found Sara Mavinkurve's website
ASIRA.
On her site, Sara lists the Goniopora, and says recent breakthroughs
make it possible to keep them in captivity. She then goes on to provide
a link to a webpage that defines the feeding methods require. The
problem is that this page is no longer active.
<Oh geez, I'm so sorry... that the link is bunk, but even more so that
such a great site no longer exists.>
I recently lost 2 of Goniopora. They were sold to me with assurances of
how easy they were to care for. I feel terrible about losing them and am
desperate to learn how to care for them.
So, I am wondering if Sara is still a member of WWM, and if so, if she
would be able to provide me the feeding info that was discovered, which
is not listed on her website.
<Indeed, I am! And I will help you as much as I can. What are you doing
currently for target feeding? I suggest you start hatching brine shrimp
asap. Fresh, live, baby brine is a great food for them. In the mean time
you could start with frozen baby brine shrimp from your LFS. Rotifers,
oyster eggs, and other small, meaty foods are also good. But putting
these in the tank is usually not enough. You will have to feed the
corals under a "dome" of some sort or another (creature keepers work
well). Also, I hope you have a DSB and/or refugium and feed DT's
phytoplankton. This will increase your invert populations... these
critters, in term, produce larvae and such that can also feed the
corals.>
Or is there anyone at WWM who knows and could answer this question for
me?
I do want to have them in my aquarium but I am determined not to risk
them without specific knowledge.
<Very wise, much appreciated...>
Please advise.
Thanks.
William Hernandez
<Thank you for writing, I will have to remove that link, provide more
specific information on the site,
Sara M.>
Re: coral help 4/27/09
Thank you, Sara.
Currently I'm not doing anything, as the 2 I had died (very depressing).
<If it eases your pain at all, they are relatively abundant and fast
growing in the wild...>
I used to do targeted feeding, but only with phytofeest
<Oh no... that wouldn't work. Phytofeast, despite what it says on the
bottle is not really "live" phytoplankton (it might be live at the time
it is bottled and it might have a few live cells, but not so
significant). Thus, it might help somewhat with your invert populations,
though not as much as with DTs (IMO/experience)... but the coral almost
always need more than this. I say "almost always" because there is this
one LFS owner/manager here in Fresno who has kept Goniopora alive and
growing for years. It baffles me that he does not target feed the corals
at all. When asked, he says he believes it's because he read somewhere
that if you "cut open a Goniopora" all you find is phytoplankton. So he
doses DTs with a heavy hand. I know, this is starting to sound like a
commercial for DT's, but I am a big believer in it and I don't see
anything else this guy does that's so different than other aquarists who
fail with these corals.>
and with the normal tank flow. I see now that the poor things probably
starved. I'd been told by my LFS that normal tanking feeding was enough
(not true).
<It's very rare for aquarists to keep these corals alive without forget
feeding them. Again, the only cases I know of, where people kept them
alive without target feeding, is in systems where live phytoplankton is
added quite generously.>
I won't be getting one immediately, but as soon as I'm ready to get one
I'll let you know how it goes.
<Thanks.>
Thanks for the advise, and the website. It's good to have that
information out there.
Will.
<De nada,
Sara M.>
Goniopora gut contents 1/8/08
Dear Bob,
I came up with
your name through Googling Goniopora. I would like to know how long
ingested zooplankton stays in Goniopora’s gut after feeding.
<Mmm,
depending... on hunger, temperature, the type of food... a few days...
2,3,4>
If you know the answer, could you please let me know?
Thanks,
Sofia
<Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/poritidfdgfaqs.htm
Bob Fenner>
Re: Condylactis passiflora, intra species contention?, and now
Goniopora ID, feeding, sys. 7/13/07
Thanks very
much for your enlightening response ;-)
Have actually spent
literally years reading WetWebMedia FAQs and articles, was merely
struggling a bit with this one, in any case have re-tackled the
Alkalinity/Hardness/Ca issue and think I'm pretty much across the
concepts (if I'm not , then I suspect I never will be). Have tested
my water (PH 8.2, Salinity 1.025, Nitrates >60ppm, no
Nitrites or
Ammonia, Temp 24C, Ca 340ppm, dKH 12.5), and doesn't seem too bad.
Regarding the possible Condy contention below , should I move one of
them out if I can get the chance ( if they come out of the holes
they have burrowed into to)?
<Yes, I would>
Confession Time:
The background here is that a not so "funny thing happened the other
day", Bear in mind , I haven't devoted a lot of time to the hobby
over the last year, and my memory isn't so good, as a result I have
made a rather disastrous mistake:
I was in the LFS to buy a
Sarcophyton I have had my eye on for a few weeks, and while I was
there they had a beautiful large Goniopora (WAIT!, WAIT! please,
stay with me.....just a bit longer) and they only wanted $55 AUD for
it . I said to the "Expert" in charge of their marine section "Isn't
that the one that has the really dismal survival rate in
captivity?", ." Oh no, says Expert, these are quite easy and this
one has been doing really well " .
<Mmm, not so... this Genus IS
the most used historically... but also has the survival value adverb
you suggest>
I wander the shop some more with my two year old son
distracting me heavily thinking "....or is that the other one
beginning with" Go", gogi.., gopi..something...?, and suddenly
remember "That's it! Gorgonian!, the Sea fan, it must be that one
that I was thinking of that I decided never to own.
<Mmm, well,
some of those/these hexacorals are not aquarium-hardy at all
either...>
Bought said victim, took home
looked at
notes/bookmarks again , placed head in hands and came to realisation
that am probably developing Alzheimer's.
<I can't seem to
remember...>
After sobbing a bit decided to do right thing and
return it for a credit note, but ....LFS won't take it back, and
don't have any friends that do Marine.
I feel like such an idiot!
I only didn't mention this before because it's so embarrassing, Now
I am stuck with it, and desperately don't want to be responsible for
killing it, it is a beautifully healthy specimen. Have spent a full
week of hours per day researching ways to keep it alive (hampered by
the fact that I can't decide if it is a stokesi, columna or lobata
(Even though I majored in Animal Ecology at Uni 17 years ago ...
<See my cursory review of "The World Trade in Coral" posted on
WWM... species, even higher tax. ID's of Scleractinia are not easy>
like I said, my brain appears to have fallen out). It is
Hemispherical Colony on a single coned shaped column (looks like
they skeleton has basically grown out and up in a circular fashion),
Polyps are long and brown with green tipped tentacles (attached
pictures, - the leather is has now been moved away from the Goni and
I will keep a close eye on the Condy's although they don't seem
inclined to move again, clown hasn't approached it) What do you
think it might be?
<Am looking... Columns too long for the
first... tentacles not shaped like the second... I make this out to
be the most common aquarium species, G. stokesi>
Now if you are
still reading , here's my questions : I have a bag of Seachem
Oolitic Aragonite , that I bought for several reasons , one because
my Nitrates keep creeping too fast (about 20-40ppm per week in 100
litre tank)
<The high/er NO3 is actually of use, advised for this
genus...>
to be explained by my tiny stock (two small/medium
fish) and stingy feeding rates and frequent (weekly) water changes,
that I suspect that the 3 year old crushed shell substrate may be
harbouring to much bound organic matter (even though I vacuum it
vigorously) so I want to replace it.
<I would NOT do this... but
possibly add to...>
Two because I was originally thinking to use
it to help stabilise Alkalinity and add Ca , and Three because I am
hoping/Praying I can foster some microfauna to help feed the Goni
(do these 3 arguments sound plausible?).
<Is, though a much
larger system, and really a separate, tied-in refugium with DSB,
lighting... is STRONGLY advised>
Given that the water parameters
above don't seem too bad for Ca and KH considering that I have never
measured or attempted to alter either in 3 years , should I leave
the Aragonite out in case it messes with the balance? (no.. I can't
fit a refugium to this tank (wife/children etc) ).
<I would leave
in for the very organic component you mention...>
In terms of
Feeding it , I am attempting a mix of Hikari rotifer, baby shrimp
and algae glass scraping, and recently purchased some frozen blocks
of Spirulina, octopus, mussel, and shrimp mush to try as well
(having trouble getting Cyclop-eeze, do you think the freeze dried
would be ok or should I only go for the frozen if I can get it?).
<All are suitable if small enough to fit into individual polyps... I
would develop a routine of "covering" the colony temporarily,
immersing the polyps with food... while having mechanical filtration
suspended during these minutes... to assure each are fed...>
If I
can impose on your patience just a little longer... some Goni
questions that I have read conflicting arguments on :
1. Do they
tolerate nitrate well or not, have read conflicting assertions, I am
guessing my typical reading of around 40ppm may still be a bit high
for it?
<This genus lives in quite "polluted" waters... including
VERY high NO3 concentration>
2. Are baby shrimp small
enough/suitable for it? (these look about the same size as a
rotifer), should I try and culture some green water (phytoplankton)
maybe?
<Mmm, don't eat phytoplankton to any appreciable degree...
meaty food items need to be "mouth size"... or smaller>
3. Is it
abnormal for it to close into a swollen ball for about 4 hours after
the lights go out, it only seems to look really happy during the day
( have read they should be out day and night), it is only under 2 x
18W at the moment and seems quite happy and I am about to add 75W
6500K for it, do you think it might actually not like the brighter
light ( it WAS under Halides in the shop)
<Not atypical behavior
in both cases>
4. The LFS was feeding it JBL Koralle Fluid and
claims it loves it, all the stock I can find on Melbourne shelves is
out of date by a least 6 months!, most of the Red sea and Seachem
alternatives I can find here all list about 0.0003mg/g of copper in
them,
<Not to worry re this preservative trace>
(except for
Red Sea Coral Trace that I can't get any specs on at all and Marine
trace that just says the elements but no concentrations) and I am
worried this may accumulate and hurt my feather dusters and corals,
even though it isn't much, do you think Seachem Reef
Trace(0.0003mg/g Cu) or Reef Plus(0.001Mg.g Cu) might be a good
product for my Goni even with the copper?
<Yes... no worries.
Some small amount of copper is actually necessary... a
"micro-nutrient">
I have to keep this guy alive in this tank for
around 10 months somehow until I can get my new 5 foot reef system
up and running (house being built at the moment) with refugium,
Thalassia etc.
<I'd move it last...>
I will keep researching ,
but would appreciate any pearls of wisdom you could impart (besides
" Research before you buy" and."... keep reading" already know those
ones ;-) )
Cheers,
Rama
<Heeee! BobF> |  
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Living Overseas And Searching For Good “Non-Refrigerated” Coral Foods –
06/28/07
I have somewhat run into a problem with feeding the
coral.
<<Oh? What genera/species?>>
I am currently living in S.
Korea, and quality items are few and far between.
<<I see>>
This
being my first SW set-up outside the US, I've had to order equipment
from the States.
<<Lucky we have the Internet these days, eh?…wish it
had been around during “my” overseas tours>>
I have been reading on
your site continuously with no avail.
<<Okay>>
My question for
you: Is there any dry coral food that is actually good?
<<There
is…and I will elaborate shortly>>
All the reviews from everyone make
dry invert/coral food a bad idea.
<<Opinions differ>>
Since I
cannot get shipped "live" items, makes this even more difficult. So my
choices are finding a quality dry food, un-refrigerated liquid (which
from what I read is a bottle of crap),
<<For the most part, yes, I
agree>>
or trying to find something on the Korean market (fingers
crossed). Currently all I have now is a few small feather dusters on the
LR, and a medium size piece of Alveopora (Branch) Coral (along with two
small clowns). What suggestions for food do you have, and what path
should I take?
<<Well John, there are a few manufactured products I
think can be useful/will fit your criteria and I will go over these in a
moment. But what you need here is an in-line plankton-generating
refugium. This would be your best and most economic source of “coral
food”…along with the other benefits such a system provides (lots of info
re to be found here and among the links in blue:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/refugium.htm). There are several refugium
methodologies you could employ, but I think a reverse-daylight vegetable
refugium with DSB would work just dandy here. As for
dry/non-refrigerated packaged products… I like and use Polyp Lab
Reef-Roids. This is a “fine dry powder” product that seems to illicit
good feeding responses in my SPS dominated reef system. You can find
this product here
(http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=783&osCsid=b5a1cb93cf978ad7d489575f88b0d8f1)…the
owner of the site (Scott) is a friend of mine, you can tell him I
referred you if you like. For corals AND fishes requiring larger food
items, the saltwater variety of Sweetwater Zooplankton is a good choice.
This is a very good vacuum-packed “wet” product that does not require
refrigeration until opened. A third item that will benefit both fishes
and corals is freeze-dried Cyclop-Eeze. The use of these products in
unison should give you pretty good “coverage”…especially if you employ
the refugium as well. And if you should ever find yourself with animals
that need/require Phytoplankton, the ESV spray-dried product would suit
your circumstance>>
Thanks!
John
<<Ah, one last thought…I have
found that placing a few “shrimp pellets” in some tank water and waiting
a few minutes to let them crumble/dissolve also provides some
nourishment/may fill another niche in the reef food chain. Good luck
with your search. Eric Russell>>
Flower pot coral
Dear Crew,
<cheers, my friend>
I have
a 80 gallon traditional with 90 lbs of Fiji LR., 1 inch crushed
coral
<please be careful with coarse gravel at this depth... can
be dangerous in time if neglected. Finer sand would be better and
deeper here (over 3" if you want denitrification), or any sand at
1/2 or less would be safer. At 1" coarse, you should siphon or stir
a couple times monthly. Be faithful and employ very strong water
flow in the tank too>
Lighting is P.C. at 4 watts per gallon(12
Hrs). Filtration is a Fluval 304 and bio-wheel (300 gph). (2)
power heads Water temp fluctuates between 79-80 degrees.
nitrite/nitrates 0.0 ph 8.4 salinity 1.022-23. Current occupants
(1) large yellow tang, (1) Coral beauty (1) red lipped
Blenny. Various cleaner and peppermint shrimp, coral banded, etc
40-50 hermits (blue and red) 25 Astrea snails... Phew, sorry to bore
you with that but I was afraid leaving anything out would provide to
many variables for you to accurately answer my question.
<Very
good and all fine...>
My flower pot (Goniopora lobata ) ( the
green one not the purple) is mid level with medium to light flow.
<this species (G. stokesii) is a free-living coral and really must
be kept on a fine sand bottom. Most will die if kept on rock>
It
has been in my tank for 6 months. It has recently only "deployed"
the tentacles on the upper half of the "dome" never fully deploying
as it used to.
<alas... yours is right on time for a starving
Goniopora...typical>
I am feeding Phytoplex 3 times a week (1
Tablespoon). Do you know what it could be?
<the polyp cycles
on/near hard rock haven't helped... but your animal is simply
starving. Most studies say that bottled phyto is not even remotely
small enough for phyto feeders such as this Gonio. And that is
assuming that you whisk every portion fed in an electric blender
before feeding to reduce particle size. Product also needs to be
less than 6 months old (with a born on date... not a bogus
expiration date). The bottled phyto also needs to be bought and kept
refrigerated the entire time. Most people fail o the electric
blender part. Phyto straight from a bottle without this protocol is
about as useless as a rotting hamburger in the tank. Both will grow
copepods and neither will keep your Gonio alive. My best advice is
to get this coral into a macro dense fie sand refugium. They can
fare very well here. I had a colony of almost a dozen of these
Gonios in such a display for about 5 years and they produced buds
for many years on a monthly basis. I used seagrasses for natural
plankton and epiphytic material>
I'll send a 61 kb photo so you
don't have to use your imagination :) I love your site! Thank you.
Steve
<best regards, Anthony Calfo> | 
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Flower Pot Coral II
Dear Crew,
As you remember, I wrote
concerning my G. Stokesii (thanks for the correction). I wrote Kent and
awaited a response. The response is in and I value your opinion as much
and possibly more (your helping the amateurs, he is selling a product).
Please do not take offense to my quotation of expert as I am unfamiliar
with your staffs qualifications.
<No problem. If you are interested,
there is a page on the crew, who we are, what we look like, what we do,
etc.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/wwmcrew.htm>
I
simply didn't want some smug response from them saying "who this guy, we
are the pro's"
<No, I am the Pro, Steven Pro to be exact. :)>
You
seem to overqualified to say the least and I am interested in your
response. By the way, they asked If I am skimming. I said yes 4 hours
per day venturi style. Effective today I have 3 inches of aragonite live
sand and the stokesii are on the bottom. Thanks Steve-
HERE IS THE
OFFICIAL RESPONSE FROM KENT
Hello,
Thanks very much for your
inquiry; I'll do my best to try and clear up some confusion. Goniopora,
in general, has a poor track record for survival in captivity, and the
reasons for this aren't very clear to even the most experienced
hobbyists and professionals in the industry. There are many factors,
however, that are often observed and/or theorized to have an influence
on the survival rate. Certainly, water temperature, nitrogenous waste
concentrations, light characteristics, water flow, dissolved oxygen
concentration, nutrient input, and presence of toxins excreted by nearby
corals and other cnidarians play roles in the relative survival rate of
Goniopora. I will, at this point, say that I am not aware that any
specific studies have been performed on "bottled phytoplankton" and the
size of the species included as they pertain to the feeding habits of
Goniopora. Our product, Phytoplex, contains three species of
phytoplankton in a size range of 2-15 microns, and our ChromaPlex
contains two species with a size range of 5-25 microns. The recognized
lower limit on size of phytoplankton as noted by Marine Biologists and
Oceanographers is 2 microns; therefore I find it difficult to believe
that Goniopora, which feed not only on phytoplankton (all 2 microns and
larger), but also on zooplankton (also 2 microns and larger) are not
able to feed on organisms present in our products. In other words, the
insinuation or claim that the phytoplankton in Phytoplex are too large
for Goniopora doesn't hold water. Corals and other organisms that feed
on the smallest classes of plankton, femto- and picoplankton, at
0.02-0.2 microns and 0.2-2.0 microns, respectively, often use a visible
mucous to aid in the capture of such small particles; Goniopora do not
display that characteristic. Note that the femtoplankton class is
composed wholly of virioplankton (virus'), and picoplankton is composed
of bacterioplankton. Again, I believe that an individual would be
hard-pressed to locate a study performed on Goniopora citing their
feeding schemes, but perhaps I'm just not reading enough these days.
Now, allow me to say that if the coral isn't getting the amount of
nutrients it needs (i.e. the coral is simply not capturing enough of the
plankton to meet its nutritional requirements) in order to survive and
thrive, that's another matter, more easily solved. You didn't mention
that you have a protein skimmer on this aquarium, did you omit that
information or is the tank skimmer-less?
Kindest regards,
Cris
Brightwell
Marine Scientist
Kent Marine, Inc.
www.kentmarine.com
<While I know of no studies involving
Phytoplankton and Goniopora, Dr. Rob Toonen did perform a study on
bottled Phytoplankton products. You should be able to easily find this
on the net. The basics are what Anthony gave you in the last email. To
be useful, it must be fresh, refrigerated, and whisked to ensure proper
particle size. While their live Phytoplankton is probably of the sizes
he quoted, Dr. Toonen's study showed that all of these products have a
tendency to clump, making them worthless. They must be used up in less
than six months, refrigerated the entire time (wholesale, retail, and
your home), and need to be blended for a few minutes to minimize
clumping. Do read the article for yourself, though. -Steven Pro>
The Scoop on Poop- corals feeding directly on nitrogenous matter
I was recently researching things over on RC and found this:
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/archive/84/2002/11/1/99557
for the abstract: An aquarist has found that Goniopora greedily devour
tang fecal matter as well as goo left on an algae clip from a piece of
Nori. he's going to experiment with target feeding it waste from his
skimmer (disgusting, but given what he's observed so far...), just a
drop or two. Given how notoriously difficult these corals are to keep, I
thought someone out there might be able to use this info. PF
<Michael, thank you my friend... once again you have demonstrated that
you really know your Sh*t. Best regards, Anthony> Goniopora
coral
Anthony, Thank you so much for responding. I can't believe
you respond to so many people! I hope it all comes back to you.
<its
a labor of love, my friend>
What is your book called, and where can I
buy it?
<My last book is called "Book of Coral Propagation" (can get
direct from readingtrees.com, Amazon.com or here on wetwebmedia.com by
following link on the home page for our new book "Reef
Invertebrates" (BOCP1 box is on the same order form)>
I'm going to
do everything possible to save and keep my Goniopora.
<that is
awesome to hear! It truly is a beautiful coral. Do consider keeping it
in a colony in a Seagrass refugium or dedicated display. That will work
best IMO>
I am >monitoring my water quality constantly, and it all
seems perfect. My concern now if feeding it. Can you please just inform
me what I should get, and how to make sure it is being fed.
<as
mentioned in the last message, there is little or not organismal
feeding. No catch up to be played with this coral. They need deep sand
beds and refugiums that are old and mature>
Also all the supplements
that will help him?
<none are known to work although the bottled
phyto folks would like you to believe otherwise. If anything, try the
bottled phyto or better yet, start your own live phyto reactor and 24/7
drip>
If you lived near Boston I would have taken the Goniopora to
you to save it.:-)
<dude... I was just in Boston 3 weeks ago giving a
lecture for the Boston Reefers Club meeting at a U. Mass hall. Do seek
support/advice from local reefers in the club. Attend their meetings
too... a great club with some sweet tanks :)! See their forum here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=869e765f2b7a6c35acbc35c11092eb1c&forumid=116 >
Thanks! Martin PS: I can offer you website development if you ever need
a favor back.
<thanks kindly. Be chatting soon. Anthony>
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