sun coral

annetate · 04/12/2006, 11:03 AM

i tried posting the coral forum but got no response... so here it is again

last weekend i obtained a yellow sun coral. i aclimated slowly for about a hour and then put it in the tank. since then it has not come out to my knowledge. I've checked at night and in the morning and still havent seen it out. I put food in by it and still nothing? how do you tell if they are dead, is this usual for this type of coral? thanks for the help!

HartfordWhalers · 04/12/2006, 11:05 AM

I got one to. I wa told you have to feed it alot and it wont open for 1 to 2 weeks. mine hasnt opened yet and i got mine on sunday. Give it time and keep feeding it.

annetate · 04/12/2006, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by HartfordWhalers
I got one to. I wa told you have to feed it alot and it wont open for 1 to 2 weeks. mine hasnt opened yet and i got mine on sunday. Give it time and keep feeding it.

how do you feed it if it wont open?

HartfordWhalers · 04/12/2006, 11:11 AM

I was told by some of my friends that it doesnt matter if it doesnt open it can eat the food. Right now im feeding it 1 drop of Kents Phytoplex 1hr before lights go out and 4 drops ofKents Zooplex 30 minutes after lights go out every other day

ewaldm · 04/12/2006, 11:23 AM

You need to feed them meaty foods, krill, mysis shrimp so on. Suggestions I've heard is putting the coral in a bowl of tankwater outside the tank, and feeding tons of krill, mysis, and phytoplankton...use a turkey baster to keep things mixed up...

Also I've heard suggestions to feed at the same time. The coral will get trained to respond. Also I've heard suggestions to feed in the morning before the lights turn on, or at night when the lights are off.

HTH

simonf · 04/12/2006, 11:28 AM

Hi annetate and HartfordWhalers,
Try searching in the LPS forums for sun corals There have been lots of threads on their care and feeding.
Here are two I found:
link 1
link 2

Melev also has some info and some links about sun coals on his site

Also Borneman's 'Aquarium Corals' has some good info about them as does Calfo's 'Book of coral Propagation'

How to tell if the coral is dead:
If you can still see flesh its not dead. Now a particular polyp maybe dead, no flesh inside the coralite, but the corals polyps are relatively independent. They do share some nutrition with neighbors but they all need food.

Hope this helps,
Simon

willyreef · 04/12/2006, 02:33 PM

I just got a orange sun polyp about a week and a half ago and at first it didnt want to open either. But every night before the lights go out i feed with a turkey baster mysis shrimp. I only add a little at first and wait for about 10 minutes and add a little more and wait. After awhile some started to open. Now it seems they open about 60% of the way. I hope they keep going so they will open full real soon. Be patient and keep trying.

Thank you,

Willyreef

seansod · 04/12/2006, 03:14 PM

Mine opened within 3 hours of putting in tank. Anyway, I feed my cytopleez (sp) and mysis shrimp when the polyps are out, I would think that they need to be out for them to eat since their mouth is in the center. When they do feed you will see them actually take in the food. I have to protect them so the fish don't remove the shrimp while they are eating.

Good Luck

Here is a picture the day I put them in the tank

Here you can see the one black sun polyp that was part of the colony.

Here's my BTA

Thanks for looking and Good luck with your sun polyps

Tony

gallivanmk · 04/12/2006, 03:17 PM

I usually feed the tank and then within about 30 minutes the polyps will come out and I can feed them. I feed them cyclop-eeze, squid, mysis, and bloodworms. You just have to keep looking and when you see them open jump on it and feed them. Eventually, they will be trained to open around feeding time. Good luck.

Blazer88 · 04/12/2006, 03:54 PM

I had some issues when I first put my sun coral into my nano. It wasn't opening up during the night so I would pull it out of the tank and place it into a small tupperware container and dissolve a cube of Mysis and let is "soak". I did this three times and it started to open up on its own in the evening. Now it's almost always open and I feed it Mysis with an eye dropper. Best of luck!

little_d · 04/12/2006, 04:07 PM

You don't have to feed them after the lights are off. Feed them during the time that you view the tank most, for us we feed them about 9pm when all the lights are on and they learned to open around the same time since.

HartfordWhalers · 04/12/2006, 06:18 PM

do you think i should try feeding in a bowl first

then let them get used to it and then try feeding at that time

count mackula · 04/12/2006, 08:46 PM

Shoot a tiny bit of some zooplex or cylopseeze at it with a pipet. Wait about 15 minutes and it will open. Then feed it for real.

These corals are a pain. They test my patience. You should eat when I say you eat!

ewaldm · 04/12/2006, 08:58 PM

little_d,

That's an awesome sun coral you have under your name!

04/12/2006, 11:03 AM	#1
annetate Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: west lafayette, IN Posts: 314	sun coral i tried posting the coral forum but got no response... so here it is again last weekend i obtained a yellow sun coral. i aclimated slowly for about a hour and then put it in the tank. since then it has not come out to my knowledge. I've checked at night and in the morning and still havent seen it out. I put food in by it and still nothing? how do you tell if they are dead, is this usual for this type of coral? thanks for the help! __________________ thank you, stacy

04/12/2006, 11:05 AM	#2
HartfordWhalers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cutler Bay Posts: 463	I got one to. I wa told you have to feed it alot and it wont open for 1 to 2 weeks. mine hasnt opened yet and i got mine on sunday. Give it time and keep feeding it. __________________ Truffle Shuffle Current Tank Info: 60g reef w/20 sump, 5g sexy shrimp reef

04/12/2006, 11:11 AM	#4
HartfordWhalers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cutler Bay Posts: 463	I was told by some of my friends that it doesnt matter if it doesnt open it can eat the food. Right now im feeding it 1 drop of Kents Phytoplex 1hr before lights go out and 4 drops ofKents Zooplex 30 minutes after lights go out every other day __________________ Truffle Shuffle Current Tank Info: 60g reef w/20 sump, 5g sexy shrimp reef

04/12/2006, 11:23 AM	#5
ewaldm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Watertown, SD Posts: 217	You need to feed them meaty foods, krill, mysis shrimp so on. Suggestions I've heard is putting the coral in a bowl of tankwater outside the tank, and feeding tons of krill, mysis, and phytoplankton...use a turkey baster to keep things mixed up... Also I've heard suggestions to feed at the same time. The coral will get trained to respond. Also I've heard suggestions to feed in the morning before the lights turn on, or at night when the lights are off. HTH __________________ Michael Ewald Current Tank Info: 35g 110 Watt PCs, BakPak Skimmer converted Refugium, Mostly Soft and LPS Corals, few sps corals

04/12/2006, 06:18 PM	#12
HartfordWhalers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cutler Bay Posts: 463	do you think i should try feeding in a bowl first then let them get used to it and then try feeding at that time __________________ Truffle Shuffle Current Tank Info: 60g reef w/20 sump, 5g sexy shrimp reef

04/12/2006, 11:28 AM	#6
simonf Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Issaquah, Wa Posts: 71	Hi annetate and HartfordWhalers, Try searching in the LPS forums for sun corals There have been lots of threads on their care and feeding. Here are two I found: link 1 link 2 Melev also has some info and some links about sun coals on his site Also Borneman's 'Aquarium Corals' has some good info about them as does Calfo's 'Book of coral Propagation' How to tell if the coral is dead: If you can still see flesh its not dead. Now a particular polyp maybe dead, no flesh inside the coralite, but the corals polyps are relatively independent. They do share some nutrition with neighbors but they all need food. Hope this helps, Simon

04/12/2006, 02:33 PM	#7
willyreef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Albany, N.Y. Posts: 94	I just got a orange sun polyp about a week and a half ago and at first it didnt want to open either. But every night before the lights go out i feed with a turkey baster mysis shrimp. I only add a little at first and wait for about 10 minutes and add a little more and wait. After awhile some started to open. Now it seems they open about 60% of the way. I hope they keep going so they will open full real soon. Be patient and keep trying. Thank you, Willyreef

04/12/2006, 03:14 PM	#8
seansod Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach, Va. Posts: 135	Mine opened within 3 hours of putting in tank. Anyway, I feed my cytopleez (sp) and mysis shrimp when the polyps are out, I would think that they need to be out for them to eat since their mouth is in the center. When they do feed you will see them actually take in the food. I have to protect them so the fish don't remove the shrimp while they are eating. Good Luck Here is a picture the day I put them in the tank Here you can see the one black sun polyp that was part of the colony. Here's my BTA Thanks for looking and Good luck with your sun polyps Tony

04/12/2006, 03:17 PM	#9
gallivanmk Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Charleston, SC Posts: 663	I usually feed the tank and then within about 30 minutes the polyps will come out and I can feed them. I feed them cyclop-eeze, squid, mysis, and bloodworms. You just have to keep looking and when you see them open jump on it and feed them. Eventually, they will be trained to open around feeding time. Good luck.

04/12/2006, 03:54 PM	#10
Blazer88 Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 2,415	I had some issues when I first put my sun coral into my nano. It wasn't opening up during the night so I would pull it out of the tank and place it into a small tupperware container and dissolve a cube of Mysis and let is "soak". I did this three times and it started to open up on its own in the evening. Now it's almost always open and I feed it Mysis with an eye dropper. Best of luck!

04/12/2006, 04:07 PM	#11
little_d Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Sacramento Posts: 662	You don't have to feed them after the lights are off. Feed them during the time that you view the tank most, for us we feed them about 9pm when all the lights are on and they learned to open around the same time since.

04/12/2006, 08:46 PM	#13
count mackula Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Alameda, CA Posts: 33	Shoot a tiny bit of some zooplex or cylopseeze at it with a pipet. Wait about 15 minutes and it will open. Then feed it for real. These corals are a pain. They test my patience. You should eat when I say you eat!

04/12/2006, 08:58 PM	#14
ewaldm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Watertown, SD Posts: 217	little_d, That's an awesome sun coral you have under your name! __________________ Michael Ewald Current Tank Info: 35g 110 Watt PCs, BakPak Skimmer converted Refugium, Mostly Soft and LPS Corals, few sps corals