Another Goni help post!

mr.lordacan · Dec 30, 2023

Hi all,

I’ve had this Goni for ~10 months now. When I first purchased it, it was relatively small. However, over the past 10 months it seems to be getting smaller and I can’t figure out the cause. I was wondering if someone could provide some insight. (You’ll notice I am going through a bubble algae infestation.. currently getting a handle on that).

Tank: 40B, ~1.8 years old.
Light: (2) AI Prime 16hd
PAR: 110
Nitrates: 11.4 (stable between 10-12ppm)
PO4: 0.11 ppm (currently use phosgaurd over the past year to combat leaching from dry rock).
Ca: 440
Mg: 1320
Alk: 9
Salinity: 1.025
PH: 8

Dosing:
AFR: 15mL day
Phyto daily
AB+ daily
Reef roids: 1x/week target feed
Fish feeding: brine shrimp 1x/day and mysis 1x/day

The location it’s in now I would consider low flow. I had kept it in medium flow for a few months and that didn’t seem to be doing the Goni justice. I moved it to low flow about 2 weeks ago. Nothing happens overnight, so I’ve been monitoring. I can’t say it looks like it’s getting smaller in this low flow, so I’m keeping it where it is for now. Currently, Im not expecting it to last another 3-4 months….

Just not sure what else I can be doing to give my Goni the upper hand.

It hasn’t been in contact with any LPS that would sting.

Any thoughts or advice for keeping a Goni? I’ve read they can be finicky in aquariums (based on older posts). All other LPS seem to be thriving and growing new heads

Miami Reef · Dec 30, 2023

I can’t help with this, but i just want to say wow. You are following the exact Goni advice that seems to give the highest success rate: lower light, daily feedings, higher nutrients.

If you are struggling with goniopora after 10 months, then I don’t have a chance in my tank.

Sincerely, the guy who made this thread with my goniopora struggling after 10 months after purchasing: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-anyone-successful-with-gonis-with-filter-socks.1022155/

ryanjohn1 · Dec 30, 2023

Everyone looses coral. Sometimes we don’t know y.

1ocean · Dec 30, 2023

I learned from guy years ago that they need manganese..yes the spelling is right, don't get confused with MG,,,There are a few products out there that have it in it or you can get as a stand alone supplement. He told me get the stand alone kind. I have been using Aquaforest product. It is called MN, MANGANUM...200 ml bottle runs around 20 bucks. Directions say 1ml per 27 gallons water daily or test water to find out daily need. I do 10 ml a week and my gonis are happy in my 300..

Mr. Mojo Rising · Dec 30, 2023

in my tank, my 5 goni's are under medium light and medium flow. I don't feed reef roids, don't add mangonese. I have metal hallides with OR3 bars, and very strong flow in my tank, I change the water once a week, and they do well, my oldest is 4 year old.

I'm sorry I have no words of wisdom for you, your tank looks gorgeous, no idea why they would not thrive in your tank.

mr.lordacan · Dec 30, 2023

1ocean said:
I learned from guy years ago that they need manganese..yes the spelling is right, don't get confused with MG,,,There are a few products out there that have it in it or you can get as a stand alone supplement. He told me get the stand alone kind. I have been using Aquaforest product. It is called MN, MANGANUM...200 ml bottle runs around 20 bucks. Directions say 1ml per 27 gallons water daily or test water to find out daily need. I do 10 ml a week and my gonis are happy in my 300..

Thanks 1Ocean, I haven’t looked at manganese levels but will get a test kit to see where I’m at. I also am going to contact the LFS that sold me the Goni to get their thoughts. Wondering if this is something they do as well, because they keep a lot of amazing goni on sale/display. Thanks!

mr.lordacan · Dec 30, 2023

Mr. Mojo Rising said:
in my tank, my 5 goni's are under medium light and medium flow. I don't feed reef roids, don't add mangonese. I have metal hallides with OR3 bars, and very strong flow in my tank, I change the water once a week, and they do well, my oldest is 4 year old.

I'm sorry I have no words of wisdom for you, your tank looks gorgeous, no idea why they would not thrive in your tank.

Thanks mojo, appreciate it! Hopefully it pulls through haha

mr.lordacan · Dec 30, 2023

Miami Reef said:
I can’t help with this, but i just want to say wow. You are following the exact Goni advice that seems to give the highest success rate: lower light, daily feedings, higher nutrients.

If you are struggling with goniopora after 10 months, then I don’t have a chance in my tank.

Sincerely, the guy who made this thread with my goniopora struggling after 10 months after purchasing: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-anyone-successful-with-gonis-with-filter-socks.1022155/

Thanks Miami, someone else mentioned manganese so I’m going to look into that. I’ll update the post if I see any changes! First step is going to be ordering a test kit (one more thing to test for I guess lol)

Miami Reef · Dec 30, 2023

mr.lordacan said:
Thanks Miami, someone else mentioned manganese so I’m going to look into that. I’ll update the post if I see any changes! First step is going to be ordering a test kit (one more thing to test for I guess lol)

There aren’t home manganese test kits for our use.

ICP is an opinion, but it won’t be very accurate either. The best solution (IMO) is to experiment dosing it around NSW levels once or twice a week since manganese depletes rapidly.

Pistondog · Dec 30, 2023

If you have macro, it can deplete manganese daily.
I dose it daily, icp always comes back zero.

Miami Reef · Dec 30, 2023

If you buy this manganese product:

Here is the recipe for it.

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Let's suppose your target is 165 ng/L, which is a typical ocean value (it varies a lot). Triton uses a set point 10x higher.

100 gallons is 379 liters.

So a NSW value of 165 ng/L x 379 L = 62,535 ng (0.063 mg) in your tank.

From the stock recipe above:

Manganese(II) chloride tetrahydrate is 28% manganese by weight.
Here's a recipe:

Dissolve 1 gram (which contains 280 mg actual manganese) in 2.8 L fresh water. Manganese = 280 mg/2.8 L = 100 mg/l.

Thus you want 0.063 mg/100 mg/L = 0.00063 L or 0.6 mL added to the 100 gallon tank to match typical NSW levels.

IF you used manganese gluconate (about 12.4% manganese by weight) you would need to use about twice as much.