Identify this flowerpot coral

[reefkeeper1]

Somebody's been hyping up this pricey new species in the Chinese market, claiming it's a breeze to care for and breed. I'm talking "easy care, easy reproduce" - sounds too good to be true. Then I saw this guy boasting about his own, saying it went from 30 heads to 100 heads... I'm not buying it. Honestly, I'm having trouble telling it apart from your run-of-the-mill red-morph flowerpot coral. Can someone please enlighten me? I feel like I'm missing something. Sorry for the poor image quality.

[felinxo]

What's got you stumped with this red gonipora?

[axonify]

I believe he's inquiring about the rarity of the species in question.

[felinxo]

Gonipora's pretty common over here

[craftyx]

Yeah, I see them around, not really my thing though.

[_jester9]

You pretty much answered your own question, it's a red gonipora. Honestly, I don't think there's much to differentiate goniporas with similar growth patterns, except for their colors. Yours is red, so that's likely what it is. There are a few vendors in the states who sell "named" variants, but let's be real, it's just a red gonipora until someone gives it a fancy name and starts selling frags.

[reefkeeper1]

Yeah, I see them around, not really my thing though.

So basically I've got this info that it's just a red morph of Gonipora, and it's still pretty tough to keep alive in captivity, right? No difference in survival rate compared to the common green ones.

I just get the feeling this guy is overselling or flat out lying when he says it's "easy care" and "easy to reproduce" like it's some kind of zoa or something.

[felinxo]

I've had no issues with mine, got multiple colonies thriving. Good flow, stable water, decent lighting, and regular feeding - seems to be the key for me.

[coral_1]

All tank-raised gonipora are less finicky than their wild counterparts, in my experience.

[felinxo]

All tank-raised gonipora are less finicky than their wild counterparts, in my experience.

I've had great success with maricultured colonies, they're doing just fine. Aquacultured species, in general, are less problematic compared to wild ones.