Goniopora issues

JeanR

Well-Known Member
BRS Member
Hello
I've been reefing now for about 4 yrs with reasonable success. I've really taken to goniopora and now have about 18 of them in my 120g mixed reef (along with all sorts of SPS and LPS). Over the last week I've noticed some on my gonis are not happy and I've lost 3 to RTN over the last five days. One day the goni looks fine, the next day it closes up, the third or fourth day it is completely dead. I've lost a large ORA red goni colony, a common purple goni colony and a third frag. My tank parameters look good (Alk, Ca, Mg) and all my other LPS/SPS look fine. I have no idea what's going on so thought I would ask you guys while I do a bunch of water changes and hope for the best.
Thanks!
Jean
 
How long have the Goni that are dying been in your system? A lot of wild caught Goni will not make it last 5-6 month... Where they within close proximity of each other where an infection may spread to another? Try dipping some of the ones that are dying on you in some disinfectant. Also, try feeding some amino acids if you don’t already.
 
Thanks, both! No brown jelly, the tissue just sloughs off after a day or two of being closed. I have tried iodine dips and hydrogen peroxide dips, neither are stopping the issue. I haven't tried melafix, any reason to think it would be better? These are not new gonis - the red and purple are well known established aquacultured lines, as is the third (it's actually one of the two I got from you about a year ago, Pablo, and had been doing great) with all grown by me from small frags for over a year.

I did introduce two wild gonis in the last few months. One is totally fine, the other is mostly closed but has been for a while and I suspect is not adapting well to aquarium life.
 
Melafix is a antibacterial but made from tree extracts. It’s recommended for most infections on fish and tissue loss in corals. It’s not that expensive and usually you can get it at petco or petsmart , even some lfs. There’s no guarantee’s but worth a shot.
 
I’ll replace the one you lost, pm me with the details... I would try some amino acids maybe they are missing something in their food chain or feeding some meaty foods to the fish. All the Goni I have are pretty photosynthetic, I only feed acro power and every now and then reef roid, britewell aminos broadcasting the whole tank.
 
I am not an expert by any means but I love Gonies and have few for the last 3-4 years. I had similar issue like you about a couple of years ago when I lost a couple of purple and red. At that time, I learned that they emit toxins in the tank creating a chai reaction. Goni's toxin is quite potent. I ran fresh carbon every week for a month or so and did 40-50% water changes every week which helped to stop it. I still have 3 Gonies that survived from that episode and doing well so far. It might take 3-4 weeks for them to open up. Also, please check your nitrates, they don't like them to be too high. I did not use any dip thinking that which might further irritate the corals.

Good luck!
 
I am not an expert by any means but I love Gonies and have few for the last 3-4 years. I had similar issue like you about a couple of years ago when I lost a couple of purple and red. At that time, I learned that they emit toxins in the tank creating a chai reaction. Goni's toxin is quite potent. I ran fresh carbon every week for a month or so and did 40-50% water changes every week which helped to stop it. I still have 3 Gonies that survived from that episode and doing well so far. It might take 3-4 weeks for them to open up. Also, please check your nitrates, they don't like them to be too high. I did not use any dip thinking that which might further irritate the corals.

Good luck!
I wonder this is the reason why I just lost a small acro colony near the gonies. The acro was healthy and growing but I moved the gonies near it recently.
 
Gonipora can do that to sps.
gonipora toxin is one of the earliest toxins from coral that have been studied. It is very potent and it is harmful to human as well. Fragging gonipora can likely to expose you to the toxin. Also they keep putting out toxins in the water to suppress other coral growth and even kill them.
Regardless how beautiful they are, they should be left in the ocean, just my opinion.
 
When I frag every year on gonis, I run a big bag of carbon and I also run fuge light 24/7. The gonis I have had for years, they are hanging with nems, torches, no issues. I also have very large leathers, so I'm used to the oh crap shedding!!!!! Run carbon. Other than that no issues here. I truly believe whatever is in my tank they love, they grow like weeds.
 
It seems like many lps and leather are less affected by gonipora toxins and it may due to that they produce similar toxins as well.
 
Acro. I think your right on that one. Maybe defenses are the same also. Weird. Someone please study this. Lol
 
Oh and by cutting up gonis, which are soft, not hard as rocks, you can see if worms or nasties burrowed in. Did you cut it open? Anya over at gallery aquatics did a great vid. Go watch her fragging and discussing the bases. Very informative.
 
People asked how toxic is gonipora toxin to human, here is an estimate:
The lethal dose of this toxin to mice is average 0.4 mg/kg via blood stream.
Roughly translated to a lethal dose of about 2 mg to kill a 140 lb human.
A grain of rice is 25 mg, so the size of less than 1/10 of a grain of rice of toxin can kill a human.
 
Dong, you are getting me worried now. I like Goniporas for their dynamic/ wavy tentacles that are cool to look at. I have three Goniporas. I haven't had any issues. I never bother them (or frag them). I have a mixed reef. I am able to keep SPSs but they never grow (like they grow in your tanks). I do run carbon but don't change it as often as I should. Do yo think I don't get much growth for my SPS/acros because of Goniporas (toxins)? I don't keep any other corals near them but I don't nearly as much growth as you. Wondering if I should replace them with frogspawn or torches to get similar look. Any tips?
 
Gonipora does suppress acropora growth, since they put out very small amount of toxins in the water all the time, running carbon 24/7 may help. Gonipora toxin is water soluble, so skimmer alone may not be enough to remove it from water. That is where carbon comes in handy.

There were observations that different types of goni go to chemical war fair to each other, for example the long polyps ones against short polyps one. But this is juat an observation with out solid scientific evidence.
 
No, dont get rid of them, you nuts. I have seen no issues with stunted growth of anything, acros millis, nothing. Long or short tenticles, they sting like any other coral, just not each other. That's quite clear as I have them all touching and no stinging, no issues, no toxins. As with anything, people write articles, is it true or their opinion. If the gonis are thriving please don't get rid of them, they like your tank. I do a water change every 6months maybe. Run tank with skimmer and huge fuge. Very rarely do I add carbon unless leathers in heavy shed. A red with wild caught pink goni in pic. No issues. Makes ya wonder.
 

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