Flower pot trouble

Hey everyone. I was recently at a LFS and saw this beautiful pinkish, carnation flower pot. I immediately fell in love with it, so I decided to take it home. I tested my parameters the other day and everything seems to be super. All my other corals are out and thriving. When I got home, I dipped the new coral in fresh catalina water (as I always do) to loosen debri, etc. When I did this I noticed two bristle worms that fell out, whew. Anyway, I placed it in a nice location with minimal current and it has been about 5-6 hours now and they have not come out. I noticed they were releasing small amounts of white mucusy film. I'm kind of afraid it's in trouble, maybe not happy. Is this normal for flower pots when newly introduced? All my other corals are out, including my bubble coral. It was fully out in the fish store.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

It's likely adjusting to your tank conditions. When placing them in the tank, it is recommended by Julian Sprung that is done upside down until submerged to prevent air from becoming trapped in the skeleton. Additionally, Iron and Manganese supplements are helpful according to him.

These guys are the kings of filthy tanks so ignore what you've read regarding most other corals. Goni's want and need filth. Since it sounds like you have other corals in your tank that would be harmed by filth, you are going to need to target feed it often.

There's some good info on feeding them here. http://www.goniopora.org/

 

They are indeed beautiful, and very hard to keep alive for extended periods of time IME. My wife brought one home and after reading about it, I chastized her for buying something that she knew nothing about (Don't ever do this to your wife). It lived for about a year then it gradually closed up and never came out again... I would target feed it, and read about them from several different sources.

Jim

 

After about 12+ hours of being in my tank, the little guy is starting to finally come out. The little polyps seem to be "peeking out" and some a little extended. I placed the flower near the bottom, so it can maybe be around detritus but I can spot feed it if necessary. I also noticed that some polyps are coming out that were in at the LFS, so maybe it's digging my water quality or light.

 

Yea It'll prob dig your light a plenty. Reefkeeping had an article on them last month: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/nftt/index.php

You gotta feed it. And different species have different needs, see the link above.