Encrusting Gonipora, also known as Encrusting Flowerpot Coral, are a close cousin of the more common and well known longer tentacled variety. They grow by encrusting over the rockwork rather than by building a raised skeletal structure. They tend to have shorter tentacles than the non-encrusting type, but each tentacle still displays the classic 24 polyps that are common to all types of Gonipora. They come in a wide variety of colours, with red being the most common. The daisy-like tips of their tentacles are often a different colour than the tentacles themselves but there is a high degree of colour variation with the species. As is the case with all LPS corals, care should be taken to ensure that they are given room to grow because their long sweeper tentacles can damage nearby corals.
Encrusting Gonipora are native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean, especially the waters surrounding the Philippines and Indonesia. They are found on reef slopes as deep as 30 meters. In a home aquarium they are generally placed in the middle third of the tank on an exposed piece of rockwork. They will then slowly encrust, generally upwards towards the light, as well as grow new tentacles. Generally it is advisable to add them to a mature tank.
This type of Gonipora prefers moderate to high levels of light and moderate levels of waterflow. If the lighting is too intense the tentacles will often remain retracted which interferes with feeding. Water flow should be sufficient to prevent detritus from building up on the coral but not so intense that the polyps remain retracted.
Encrusting Gonipora are moderately photosynthetic and do contain zooxanthellae but it is generally accepted by most hobbyists that they require supplemental feeding in order to remain healthy long term. Feeding Encrusting Gonipora can be somewhat difficult, which can make them harder to keep than other LPS corals. One method is to turn off the flow completely and feed each polyp a food such as Reef Roids using a pipette.
Because they encrust, rather than branch, fragging Encrusting Gonipora can be somewhat challenging. It generally involves breaking off a piece of live rock that is encrusted by the coal and placing that piece of rock on a frag plug, which is not something that all hobbyists wish to do.
While they can be somewhat difficult to keep due to their feeding needs, Encrusting Gonipora do make a unique addition to a home aquarium, although they are not recommended for beginners.
