FLOWER POT CORAL

[ptjoe]

With reading pros/cons online re: flower pot corals; What makes a flower pot coral difficult to maintain in a reef setup?

[d3rryc]

Do you mean goniopora? I've seen "flower pot" applied to a couple of different things. When in doubt, attach a pic - I've yet to see someone post a picture of a coral that Ace couldn't id. ;)

[ErikH]

Flower pot are gonioporas. Clowns can host in them and kill them, and fish could nip at them. Make sure you feed it.

[wwarriner]

I haven't had any issues with my yellow goniopora "flower pot" coral. Its probably the healthiest looking coral I own. But, I also do 20% water changes once a week.

[ptjoe]

Yes, Goniopora.

[Ashlar]

For gonipora, generally, we either don't provide the foods that they need, or if we do, we can't keep the density of foods they need in our tanks without fouling the water. I've seen some live for quite a while in mature, well fed tanks, but none longer than 18-24 months.

I've seen some alveopora live longer, but that was with a phyto drip..

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=111624

[Bill S]

Bigbird is the gonoporia king. I killed the only one I've ever owned. Years ago, when a LFS employee told me they were easy...

[tate1]

In the past we were told told that ours wouldn't last more than a year. Funny thing is that it did end up dying...We never took the skeleton out (just moved it around in the tank) and within a few months, the whole think came back. It looks better and healthier than ever. Not sure what we did differently, but what ever it was...it worked. It's on it's 2nd life now...and going on over two years. They are really neat corals.

[lhoy]

Goniopora are found in muddy, turbid water like that in lagoons with slow water currents. Think about the typically reef tank. Water storming like crazy, trying to keep water pure, and anything but a typical lagoon environment. Steve's tank was dedicated to these so if you really want to have the best chance, try to recreate a lagoon habitat.

If you have a typical reef tank, maybe place it in a corner where detritus builds up and current is lower. That will help it more than setting it on rock where the tissue can be damaged and the current is usually pounding away on it keeping it closed.

Lee

[Kyle46N]

Very tough to keep alive because of the necessary food. Like already mentioned, they come from lagoons with very nutrient rich water. Hard to duplicate that in a tank. Unfortunately most gonioporra just eventually starve to death.

[caferacermike]

As was mentioned above but wanted to add that this is the same reason most Elegance corals do not live well in "reef" tanks.