sun coral II

[spongebob lover]

well, I ordered on line and when i got it, i aclimated it for about 3 hours, after that, i put him right in front of my tank so i could feed him right away, it didn't open at all (i assumed it was still stressed, so i only fed a little cyclo peeze).
The coral looked kind of beat up and has some sort of white stuff on the rock/sponge (i don't know if its fungus or just glue , but it's not on the coral )
After a while and for my bad luck, i saw my emerald crab trying to eat the stuff that the coral was on (it looks like a sponge to me ) and the coral, but i scared the crab and it went away (i haven't seen it trying to eat it again) and yes i've been getting up in the middle of the night to make sure he doesn't eat it and planning on catching it.
i see that the tubes are like if they were chewed up and when i tried feeding cyclo peeze , it seemed like the mouth opens but the hole looks empty and i have not seen any polyps.

is there anything i can do?

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Tubastrea commonly will not open its polyps for days or even weeks from starvation or mishandling in transit. The well-established and accepted "trick" to getting them to open is to take some thawed juice from frozen meaty foods (even a tiny amount of canned tuna juice)... just 1 or 2 ml, and add it to the tank the same time every day like clockwork for some days or a couple of weeks. This will train this zooplankton feeding coral to systematically extend its polyp sagain in time. Only after you actually see the polyps responding to the daily juice should you try to feed the meaty foods.

 

[spongebob lover]

Thank you Anthony, i was starting to worry about not seeing the polyps open.
I'll start doing the tuna juice tonight .

 

[dabears26]

brine shrimp juice or frozen shreimp will also work (Kid tested and mother approved)lol...

 

[spongebob lover]

Thank you dabears .
my lights just shut off so i'm gonna try the canned tuna juice in 30 mins from now since it's the only thing i have available.
I still can't believe that i'm using canned tuna juice, so i'm exited to see the reaction .

 

[spongebob lover]

hey i just saw something.

i have 2 kinds of tuna cans, i have one that says tuna in vegetable oil and the other one in water?
which one should i use ?

 

[MikeS]

I'd use the one in water....

MikeS

 

[NaH2O]

Gabby - have you read the other threads on these corals? I can link you to the soda bottle feeder if you haven't. Good luck with the coral.

 

[spongebob lover]

hehe well i ended up using the water type of juice tuna, thank you Mike.
Nikki, yes i already made 2 bottle feeders and i really like how they work , so thank you for the link you posted on the other thread.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

doh... sorry about that! Yes, tuna in water. Oil is...er, BAD for aquatic life forms in aquaria. It's a gas exchange thing

 

[spongebob lover]

lol that's the first time i get a ..doh from you, Anthony ... it's awesome .
i thought the oil was suppose to make it tastier .. i used the water one, so i guess i don't have to worry.
it seemed to really like the flavour last night while i was doing it some of the polyps came out , so thank you very much dood.
I'm learning as much as i can from you .

 

[Anthony Calfo]

ah, good to hear you got a response from the coral so quickly!

 

[spongebob lover]

yes i was really happy about it.

 

[MarineTeng]

After a while and for my bad luck, i saw my emerald crab trying to eat the stuff that the coral was on (it looks like a sponge to me ) and the coral, but i scared the crab and it went away (i haven't seen it trying to eat it again) and yes i've been getting up in the middle of the night to make sure he doesn't eat it and planning on catching it.

if you don't want him anymore i'll take him, the crab

 

[Casperson]

Now, After the tuna juice, begin peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. This will really extend those polyps! Make sure it's the super crunch peanut butter!

Ya know guys, this is why my wife gets P.O'd at me alot with this hobby.
She thinks I'm nuts!:razz:

Tom

 

[spongebob lover]

if you don't want him anymore i'll take him, the crab

Thank you Andrew for the interest , but i put the crab in a happy place.

Now, After the tuna juice, begin peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. This will really extend those polyps! Make sure it's the super crunch peanut butter!

lol !! sure dood and may be i'll add some coffee to wake the coral up :lol: