The Purple Flowerpot Coralfrom Australia is also called Purple Goniopora Coral. Always adds both amazing color and movement to any reef aquarium. Goniopora have large polyps that can greatly extend themselves, forming long swaying tubes with flower-like tentacles at their tips. They look much like a ball or cluster of potted flowers. Hence the common names like Daisy Coral, Flowerpot Coral, Sunflower Coral, and Ball Coral. Phytoplankton seems to be what half of their diet consists of. With all of the new plankton cultures that can be purchased, this could be a promising help to beautiful flowerpot's. Clownfish will often host Flowerpot Corals if there is no Anemone available.
Difficulty A hardy and easy to care for coral making it a great beginner coral.
Aggressiveness This is a semi aggressive species. Leave a few inches between Gonioporas and other corals.
Water-flow
The Purple Goniopora Coral requires moderate water flow.
Lighting
The Purple Goniopora Coral requires moderate lighting (PAR 100-150). T5's, Metal Halides, or LED's can all grow Purple Goniopora Corals when the proper PAR levels are provided. We recommend a 14-20K color spectrum for best coloration.
Tank Recommendations
We keep our goniopora's under LED lights with an intensity of approximately 100 PAR and feed regularly with phytoplankton. A well-feed live rock/reef environment is what is needed for your Goniopora Coral, along with some fish for organic matter production. Make sure they are anchored down well. With their long heavy tentacles, they can "fall" or be dragged into and onto other corals by the water flow.
Diet and Feeding
In captivity, they may benefit from liquid nutrients like Marine Snow, Phytoplex, and lipid-rich phytoplankton substitutes. Zooplankton will be accepted, but is not the main food source for them in the wild. Phytoplankton seems to be what 1/2 of their diet consists of. With all of the new plankton cultures that can be purchased, this could be a promising help to keeping them alive. It has been suggested that a tank without protein skimmers, that do not take out suspended matter or plankton, may be a clue to helping with the Goniopora's survival
Reproduction
In captivity, propagating the T. peltata is fairly easy through fragmenting.
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