Is this normal for a goni?

[anabechara]

Hello all!
Today I noticed that the skeleton of my goni is kinda "swollen". Is this normal?

She extends nicely throughout the day and retracts partially when the light goes out at night.

Attached a pic for reference.

Thank you for your help!

 

[nothing_fancy]

It's possible that something was walking around on it or bothering it. Ive seen this happen when a crab or a shrimp or something has gotten on it. No cause for alarm if this has happened within the last 24 hours.

 

[anabechara]

It's possible that something was walking around on it or bothering it. Ive seen this happen when a crab or a shrimp or something has gotten on it. No cause for alarm if this has happened within the last 24 hours.

Got it! She does get a lot of visitors... and my clowns have started to host on her which she doesn't like despite them having an anemone as well...
Thank you for your reply!

 

[Lavey29]

Maybe skeletal growth occurring? If it's acting normal for a goni then I wouldn't be concerned.

 

[anabechara]

Maybe skeletal growth occurring? If it's acting normal for a goni then I wouldn't be concerned.

She is acting normal otherwise... opening up as usual and catching mysis every day!

 

[vetteguy53081]

She is acting normal otherwise... opening up as usual and catching mysis every day!

Not skeletal or irritation. They do this when stressed and I have one that is the biggest and fullest I ever had and a simple tweak was change on water flow. I added three small pump with two on pulse mode. What do these pumps do - They deliver nutrients to the coral as well as keep waste off of it which is the Highest stressors for them. Goni is a coral that will challenge the most experienced hobbyist and can be great one day and wither the next. Goni are photosynthetic corals and gain of their nutritional needs from light for color and energy. Inadequate light will cause them to change color and even shrink. If there is a change in lighting you will have a basis for determining issue. Additionally, water flow has a similar effect as too much flow will kill some of its cells and can start a reaction with others in the tank.
If you start to see your Goni as in your pic starting to receed , its likely from light intensity being too high and same applies to too much flow. If you had a powerhead blowing right at this flowerpot from short range, it may have killed off some of the tissue which caused a domino effect to the rest of the coral piece.
Goni does best in low to medium flow, with some random flow as mentioned above. This will allow a waving motion which helps keep the coral clean and brings food past the colony. If you see its' tentacles thrashing around, there is probably too much flow and reocation to a more calm section of the tank would be best.
Lack of food is a big issue with these coral and there are two types of food you can give them . . . . . Amino acids are one as they play a major role in building proteins as well as other biological functions which corals regularly take in for growth and color. The second type of food is planktonic plankton such as reef chili and reef roids.
Keep an eye on Phosphates as they dont tolerate high levels well

 

[anabechara]

Not skeletal or irritation. They do this when stressed and I have one that is the biggest and fullest I ever had and a simple tweak was change on water flow. I added three small pump with two on pulse mode. What do these pumps do - They deliver nutrients to the coral as well as keep waste off of it which is the Highest stressors for them. Goni is a coral that will challenge the most experienced hobbyist and can be great one day and wither the next. Goni are photosynthetic corals and gain of their nutritional needs from light for color and energy. Inadequate light will cause them to change color and even shrink. If there is a change in lighting you will have a basis for determining issue. Additionally, water flow has a similar effect as too much flow will kill some of its cells and can start a reaction with others in the tank.
If you start to see your Goni as in your pic starting to receed , its likely from light intensity being too high and same applies to too much flow. If you had a powerhead blowing right at this flowerpot from short range, it may have killed off some of the tissue which caused a domino effect to the rest of the coral piece.
Goni does best in low to medium flow, with some random flow as mentioned above. This will allow a waving motion which helps keep the coral clean and brings food past the colony. If you see its' tentacles thrashing around, there is probably too much flow and reocation to a more calm section of the tank would be best.
Lack of food is a big issue with these coral and there are two types of food you can give them . . . . . Amino acids are one as they play a major role in building proteins as well as other biological functions which corals regularly take in for growth and color. The second type of food is planktonic plankton such as reef chili and reef roids.
Keep an eye on Phosphates as they dont tolerate high levels well

View attachment 2968399

Thank you!
The goni is in a spot where the flow is low medium to low, it was such a task to find that spot for me, but once I found it she started to opened up really nicely.
The biggest stressor for her are the cleaning crew and one of my clowns. The hermits and the snails love to go stand on her, and she doesn't like it at all... and lately my male clown has been trying to make her his house and he has been "hosting" her a lot and she doesn't like that either...
I feed her Red Sea Reef energy plus once a week and Aquavitro Fuel another time per week. (All my other 4 corals seem to love that as well)

I haven't been able to figure out the phosphate levels... I have the Salifer test kit and it is always 0 to 0.03... but I am never sure, so the Hanna tester is on the way for a more accurate testing.

Could you share which small pumps you added to your tank?
And your goni looks amazing!

 

[CoralB]

Yes in my experience this is normal . Mine close up at night and are out full during the day when the light is on . There are times when a snail or urchin brush up against it that makes them close up a bit . Other than that it’s normal

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you!
The goni is in a spot where the flow is low medium to low, it was such a task to find that spot for me, but once I found it she started to opened up really nicely.
The biggest stressor for her are the cleaning crew and one of my clowns. The hermits and the snails love to go stand on her, and she doesn't like it at all... and lately my male clown has been trying to make her his house and he has been "hosting" her a lot and she doesn't like that either...
I feed her Red Sea Reef energy plus once a week and Aquavitro Fuel another time per week. (All my other 4 corals seem to love that as well)

I haven't been able to figure out the phosphate levels... I have the Salifer test kit and it is always 0 to 0.03... but I am never sure, so the Hanna tester is on the way for a more accurate testing.

Could you share which small pumps you added to your tank?
And your goni looks amazing!

I added a koralia nano and aqamai controllable
Seachem fuel is what I use