Noob mistake #2, purchase of a flower pot coral

I was warned by local fish store about this purchase but I did not know the true extent till I got home and did some reasearch. It was fairly cheap and very attractive. It seems to be doing well where I placed it. It's at the bottom of the tank on a rock to make it stable and keep it off the sand. The basic water parameters are good. I am going to have the water tested for calcium and magnesium later today as well. The temp is at a 77.5 to 78.5 . Small fluctuation during a 24 hour period. I have some phytoplankton fine food that I am going to try to feed it today in the evening. It looks good now , it's been in the tank for 36 hours approximately. The only other issue I have noticed right now is the pepermint shrimp comes out and picks at it a little which sends it retracting its tentacles until he leaves. I hope he is just doing something beneficial to it like cleaning it and not damaging it. It's my first coral. I know it may not last long now after learning about it but I want to do my best to learn to keep it going. Right now it looks good . Here is a photo. Any advice about it or the stupid shrimp would be helpful .I have read the threads that I can find on here about this coral and have gotten some good info.I also know now the notorious bad reputation these have for staying alive in captivity.

Thanks

Is that goniopora? I can't see too well on my phone. But if it is, they have a bad rep with some because they require every polyp to be hand fed every day, thus difficult by consumed time, not by actual difficulty. They do tend to be lower light and low-medium flow, but some prefer fast flow.

Yes sir it is a goniopora ,I was warned but not to the extent I found out about after i got home from buying it. You just pointed out something I did not read, the fact that each polyp has to be hand fed . I was reading about a liter bottle being cut at the bottom then slipped over the entire coral and then feeding it through the bottle, thus keeping the food around the coral to enable it to have the time to eat. I hear it is a slow feeding coral as well.

I will be collecting information all day. Going to the fish store to see if I can get some of the food I have been reading about that they prefer. Then tonight in the evening making an attempt at feeding it. I read that in the early evening is when they are more apt to feed in the wild.

Good for you for researching it! You are correct. The best feeding method is to cut a two liter in half and let it eat with the pumps off for a while. Good luck with it!!

+1 on goniporia. It isnt a requirement to feed daily, but if you choose to.... go ahead. They are very good @ 1/2 to 3/4 in tank by high flow. Mine is right by the mp40 and does well. Keep it clear from others as it will sting. Clowns tend to low these corals to death, so good luck!

Ok , I have a clown fish, the only fish in the tank,He is not interested in it so far. The shrimp is, but the fish store tells me the shrimp won't hurt it. I have been reading about it but when I talked to the guy a the fish store he said I did not need to feed the flower pot because it was photosynthetic . I know that's true to an extent but I have read to much online that tells me to feed it some food that will get through it's membrane and that it should be in contact with the polyps for a while because its a slow eater. I have some phytoplankton powder that I am going to try feeding it. I am going to try the two liter bottle thing. I guess you shut the pumps off, then place the bottle bottom over the entire coral. Then administer the food after mixing it with some tank water, through the top of the bottle with a turkey baster. I'm going to try not tout to much in and let it sit over the coral for about 15 minutes or so. I hope I do not disturb it and make it retract it's polyps because I assume they need to be extended.

If your talking a about cleaner shrimp, they tend to clean everything that comes into my tank too. They act like they have never been fed when feeding time comes. Phyto is great for your small inverts such as amphipods and copepods but i have not seen any positives for the coral themselves. I see alot use marine snow, but just keep your mag and cal in check and you will see big leaps in the corals. I personally, if i were to feed, would use blended limpits for a food vs a liquid. It is completely preference on what you do and what results you want

Mario, if I may, I will disagree that they do need fed. If you will, Coral & Reef USA, 2012 Vol. 1, page 107 under the article "New Era in Goniopora Husbandry", Justin Credabel states "...have found iron to be helpful for raising Goniopora...", "To enhance your ability to keep Goniopora, I recommend direct feeding. The other inhabitants of the tank, including the fish, must be fed first as they were readily steal food from Goniopora. All pumps in the tank should be turned off before feeding the corals; this prevents the food from being swept away by the current. Once the water is relatively still, I use a pipette to directly feed the individual polyps of each Goniopora and wait about 15 to 20 minutes before turning the pumps back on. I end the session by squirting of any residual food from the coral with the pipette. If left on, the food will smother the corals flesh beneath it causing tissue death."

And also, refer to page 105: "Theories abound surrounding the causes and cures, from soft coral toxin poisoning to mystery diseases (Toonen, 1999.). It is now believed that most of these animals starved to death and that if kept in the proper conditions, they can in fact live in aquaria for years and years."

I have three different varieties of goniopora in my tank (green but very different species than yours, red and blue/purple). I do feed them coral foods (cyclopeez/reefroids). I squirt phyto in the tank but realy for other purposes (clams, feather dusters). I am of the opinion that these corals won't thrive on photosynthesis alone - and if that's the only source of food - they will begin to decline.

Its funny because one of the 1st corals I have bought was also a goniopora and I have had that for over a year now and its still thriving. (if you want to see pics - I have a thread in the tank showcase section). I also have a thread specifically on gonioporas in the LPS section at reefcentral.

Probably the best article I've read on gonioporas is below

Feature Article: The Successful Aquarium Culture of Goniopora Species — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

Thanks for the quote. Is this what you do in growing your gonipora? Ive had mine for 8 months now, and the tank feeds it as what would happen in the wild. Everything will grow if you feed it everyday, can you imagine if you had a completely socked tank and you did that to all your coral? Goodbye water quality.
I really wanna know who will feed a 300 polyp coral by hand a day? You will have an hour invested in just 1 coral....... But if your a professional, is suppose you have time to take care of just that. Ive got a couple of months left to make that quota on 1 yr and they die, so ill keep you posted!

I reread the whole thing and I don't recall seeing feeding daily being required, but I want to say I saw it somewhere...

So suppose that daily isn't required, but I gather from that article that they should be fed regularly, which to me means 1-2 times weekly. But if you've had success, then by all means, continue doing what you're doing, I just remembered reading that awhile ago and thought I would share.