Goniopora

Goniopora, and the reputation it no longer deserves

For two decades goniopora was called impossible. The colonies reaching the hobby were wild-collected pieces that had spent weeks moving through the supply chain, and they arrived already starved. Most were dying before anyone bought them.

Aquacultured and long-held stock behaves differently. A settled goni is now no harder than a hammer coral. What has not changed is how fast it tells you when the placement is wrong.

A wild colony that arrives already receding rarely improves, whatever you do for it. That is why we hold ours until they are extending and eating before they go on this page. A goni that is already eating and growing in captivity is a different purchase from one that came off a plane last week.

What you will find on this page

Goniopora are sold as flowerpot corals, and the names in this category describe polyp shape and color. The ones we list, depending on stock:

• Long tentacle goniopora: Neon Green Long Tentacle and Rare Long Tentacle Red.
• Micro goniopora: Sunburst Micro.
• Bernardpora: Rainbow Bernardpora, a short-polyped flowerpot coral that the trade often calls short-polyp goniopora. Bernardpora is its own genus now, split from Goniopora, and our listing asks you to care for it as Bernardpora.
• Color names: Cherry Red, Hot Pink, Blue and Green, Pink and Blue, Purple/Green with Pink Eyes, Naked Glitter, Sunny Side Up Ultra, Sunset, Ultra Yellow and Desert Rose.
• Colonies and mini colonies: grown-out pieces, not starter frags.

Like every coral trade name, these describe a look. Nobody governs them, and lighting changes how the color reads. Buy from the photo, and read the listing text for size.

Goniopora or Alveopora? Count the tentacles

The two get mixed up constantly, and the test is simple. Count the tentacles around the mouth of one fully extended polyp you can see clearly. Goniopora has 24. Alveopora has 12. You can usually count them from a good photo.

	Goniopora	Alveopora
Tentacles per polyp	24	12
Polyps	Longer; they sway in the current, so the colony looks like a meadow	Shorter and stiffer; the colony looks like a tight cushion
Light	Roughly 75–200 PAR once settled	Roughly 50–120 PAR
Flow	Medium, turbulent and indirect	Low
Placement	Sand bed or low rock	Lower to middle
Browse	This page	Alveopora

Both want steady water, and both punish a tank that swings.

Goniopora care, in numbers

These come from our Goniopora care guide, with water targets from our listings and the Coral Care Guide.

Parameter	Target
Light	Published ranges run from about 50 to 200 PAR, and ours sit inside that: the care guide says 100–200 once settled. Start a new colony around 75–125 PAR and bring it up gradually
Flow	Medium, turbulent and indirect. Polyps should extend and drift, not bend over
Placement	Sand bed or low rock, raised on a small piece of rubble
Space	The extended polyp field is much wider than the skeleton. Leave room for it
Feeding	High: fine, plankton-sized foods, regularly
Temperature	76–78°F
Salinity	1.025–1.026
Alkalinity	8–9 dKH, steady
Calcium	420–440 ppm
Magnesium	1,300–1,400 ppm
Nitrate and phosphate	Detectable, not zero. Our mixed-reef targets are 5–15 ppm nitrate and 0.03–0.10 ppm phosphate
Aggression	Mild. Not a strong stinger, but the extended polyps reach well past the skeleton. Start with 4–6 inches of clearance
Difficulty	Intermediate. Feeding is the main commitment

Under strong light a goni retracts and stays short. That looks a lot like a flow problem, which is why the next section matters.

Where to put it, and why the sand bed often wins

A goniopora extends its polyps to catch particles out of the water. A directional stream, like a powerhead jet, makes the polyps retract, and they can stay closed for long stretches. On the sand bed or a low ledge, flow tends to be turbulent and indirect, which is what a goni wants. A lot of keepers read a closed goni as a light problem when the real cause is where the pump is pointing.

The sand has one catch. A colony sitting flat can trap detritus underneath it. Set it on a small piece of rubble so water moves under the base.

Pick the spot once. Goniopora resents being moved and shuffled around the tank.

If the polyps come out on one side only, something is hitting the retracted side directly. That is flow almost every time.

Feeding, honestly

Most of a goniopora’s energy still comes from light. Feeding is not the difference between alive and dead. It is the difference between a colony that holds on and one that extends further and splits faster, which is what we see in ours.

The old wild colonies did not fail for lack of target feeding. They failed because they arrived already starved. A conditioned colony that is eating when it ships is starting from a different place.

Match the food to the polyp. Fine particulate foods work: fine pellets, oyster eggs and phytoplankton. Regular feeding of the whole tank is usually enough, and you do not need to feed each polyp. Our colony listings suggest a fine planktonic or powdered coral food two or three times a week.

Two rules. Do not add food while the colony is closed. And after you start, watch whether the polyps stay out longer over the following weeks. That is how you know it is working. Our spot feeding guide covers technique, and Feeding a Reef Tank covers keeping the nutrients in line while you do it.

Alkalinity, and why stable beats pristine

The chemical problem that kills goniopora most often is unstable alkalinity: swings of a couple of points between dosing sessions. The colony answers a swing by pulling in, and a colony that stays pulled in is not catching food.

Our line on this: stable and slightly nutrient-rich beats pristine and swinging, every time. Test alkalinity two to three times a week and keep nitrate and phosphate detectable. The Reef Dosing Explained, How Often to Test and nitrate and phosphate guides go further.

How to pick a healthy goniopora

Look for polyps out on every side of the colony in the photo, not just the top or one flank. Then look at the base. Bare skeleton climbing up from the bottom is what melting looks like, and a colony showing it is one to skip.

Ask how long the colony has been in the seller’s system and whether it is eating. A goni that has been eating in a reef system for months is a safer buy than a fresh import. Ours stay in our systems until they are open and eating.

On a WYSIWYG listing, the photo is the colony that ships, so judge the extension in that photo, not in a picture of a different colony.

What melting looks like, and when it is recoverable

Melting runs in a set order, over one to three weeks:

1. The colony stops extending.
2. The polyps that do extend come out shorter.
3. Skeleton shows at the base.
4. Bare skeleton climbs upward from the base.

If the top two-thirds of the colony is still extending, it usually recovers. Find the parameter that shifted, put it back, and stop handling the coral. Check the alkalinity log first. If alkalinity has been steady, look at light and feeding: move it lower and start feeding before you try anything else. Once bare skeleton is halfway up, it rarely comes back.

If you cannot tell a sulk from a melt, the test is bare skeleton. Closed polyps over intact tissue is a sulk. Tissue pulling back from skeleton is a melt.

Dipping, pests and brown jelly

Dip every new coral, aquacultured or not. Farm-grown coral is not pest-free: acropora-eating flatworms, red bugs, montipora nudibranchs and zoa pox all pass through closed systems.

For brown jelly, the one controlled dip study our guides lean on was done on goniopora. A 1.5% potassium chloride dip killed the ciliates and the corals survived. Hydrogen peroxide at a comparable strength visibly stressed the coral. The method is in How to Dip Corals.

After it arrives

A goniopora arrives with its polyps pulled down into the skeleton. That is normal. Allow 24 to 48 hours for the first extension. Full extension can take a week.

1. Turn the lights off before you open the box.
2. Float the sealed bag 15 to 20 minutes to match temperature. Skip the drip: raising the pH of shipping water slowly turns its harmless ammonium into free ammonia while the coral sits in it.
3. Dip it, rinse it in clean tank water, and lift it by the plug or rock, never by the tissue.
4. Set it low and shaded, in gentle indirect flow, on a small piece of rubble on the sand.
5. Leave the lights off until the next morning, then run them low and bring them up over two to four weeks.
6. Do not feed until the polyps are out.

Our New Coral Not Opening After Shipping article covers what normal looks like for the first week.

Questions we get asked

Is goniopora hard to keep?

A settled, conditioned goni is no harder than a hammer coral. It needs steady alkalinity, flow that does not blast it, and regular feeding. The ones that earned the bad reputation were wild colonies that arrived starved.

Is goniopora good for beginners?

A settled, aquacultured goni is reasonable for someone whose tank is stable and who will feed it. It is not a first coral.

How much light does goniopora need?

Published ranges run from about 50 to 200 PAR, and our care guide runs settled colonies at 100–200. Start a new colony lower, around 75–125, and bring it up gradually. Under strong light a goni retracts and stays short.

What do I feed goniopora, and how often?

Fine particulate foods such as fine pellets, oyster eggs and phytoplankton. Feeding the whole tank is usually enough. Our colony listings suggest two or three times a week. Never feed into a closed colony.

Why won’t my goniopora open?

Start with flow. A directional stream keeps the polyps shut. Then check the alkalinity trend and whether the light has changed recently. A new arrival can take 24 to 48 hours to show anything.

Why is my goniopora only opening on one side?

Flow. Something is hitting the closed side directly. Turn the pump or move the colony so the flow reaches it from several directions.

My goni is receding from the base. Can it be saved?

If the top two-thirds is still extending, usually yes. Find what shifted, put it back and stop moving the coral. Once bare skeleton reaches halfway up, it rarely recovers.

How do I tell goniopora from alveopora?

Count the tentacles on one extended polyp. Goniopora has 24, alveopora has 12.

Sand bed or rock?

Sand bed or low rock. On sand, set it on a small piece of rubble so detritus does not collect under the base.

Is goniopora aggressive?

Mildly. It is not a strong stinger, but the extended polyps cover much more ground than the skeleton and can irritate whatever they touch. Start with 4 to 6 inches of clearance.

How long after shipping before it opens?

First extension in 24 to 48 hours. Full extension can take a week.

What does “conditioned in Key West” mean?

The colony has been living in our systems, under our lights, eating, before it goes in a box. It is a statement about where it has been living, not where it was born. Listings identify the source when we know it.

Do you ship to my state?

Anywhere in the lower 48, UPS Next Day Air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We do not ship anything to Alaska or Hawaii.

How it ships from Key West

Goniopora ships UPS Next Day Air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only, so no box sits in a hub over a weekend. We ship to the lower 48. We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii.

• Shipping charge: $30 for qualifying Florida livestock orders under 6 lb, and $50 elsewhere in the lower 48. The shipping charge is per order.
• Free livestock transportation: on qualifying livestock subtotals of $349 or more. WYSIWYG pieces count toward the $349. Dry goods do not.
• Box & Handling Fee: $10 per livestock box, and it still applies on orders with free livestock transportation. A box carries up to 6 lb of packed livestock. Heavier orders go out in additional boxes, each with its own $10 fee. The fee covers the insulated liner, temperature packs matched to your forecast, and breather bags.
• Weather: if conditions at either end put the animals at risk, we hold the box and contact you.
• Live arrival: if something arrives dead, photograph the animal inside the unopened bag within 4 hours of UPS delivery confirmation and send it with your order number. Details are on our Live Arrival Guarantee page.

Keep reading

• Goniopora care guide
• Spot Feeding Corals
• New Coral Not Opening After Shipping
• Coral Field Guide
• Alveopora · Acans · Hammer corals · All LPS corals · WYSIWYG corals