Sun Coral?

[Rudolf]

I just bought this. It was sold to me as a sun coral. I've not seen one this bright of a yellow color before. Is there anything special about this variety? I just love the bright color.

I fed it a few hours after I placed it in its final spot. It opened up quickly after it first got a taste of shrimp juice. Each of the heads got a small bit. Then i turned the pump back on, and watched them open up even further as they tried to catch bits flying by.

I hope I can keep this guy happy. I have no excuses not to feed him regularly as the tank is in my home office where I work 10-12 hours a day.

 

[Rudolf]

Here is another shot with my slightly out of focus Neon Goby in the background. I think he aproves of the new addition to the tank.

You can also see my zoo's in the lower right. They are pissed off at me today. They all closed up during the weekly water change and are on strike for the day.

 

[akunochi]

Those are way cool!

 

[Rudolf]

Those are way cool!

Thank you! I've been wanting something like this in my tank for a while.

 

[Brie]

Glad they settled in good for you.

 

[Brie]

Oh, forgot to post this. If you want to do some light reading on sun corals, this is a good place to start. http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=195870

 

[lvsuckerfish]

I love sun corals but they got to be a chore to feed. I had some same bright yellow and also I had blacks i gave them all away. very beautifl coral just not for a deep tank when you have to spot feed them lol

 

[Chichas01]

I have a sun coral that I got a couple months ago and it's doing pretty well. Mine loves mysis shrimp. You are probably good target feeding it 2-3 times a week and yeah, you want it in a place the you can more or less access fairly easily. I have a feeling that mine may be eating the pods and shrimp that live in my tank as well. I've read that if the skin starts to receed or disappear between the polyps, you might not be feeding enough.

 

[Rudolf]

I've read that if the skin starts to receed or disappear between the polyps, you might not be feeding enough.

It's not very clear in the photos I posted, but you can see a little bit of bare skeleton on the right. I will take extra care to feed it daily for a while.

Will that part that receeded ever come back?

How will I know that I can go back to once or twice weekly feeding?

In any case, I need to find a better tool to feed it with. I have a syringe, and a turkey baster, but neither works that well. With the syringe, I need to put my entire arm into the tank, and I dont have enough fine control of the turkey baster to not cause the polyps to retract, and I also spew food all over the place. I think I need to find a pipette with bellows.

 

[Chichas01]

If it looks fat and plump, it's happy and being fed. The skin should grow back over time.
I use a turkey baster with a section of hard plastic tubing with airline tubing on each end. One end of the airline tubing crammed into the baster so I can angle it in over the coral.

 

[Calif-Reef]

Cut a two litre soda bottle inhalf and place the top half over your sun coral and than use your turkey baster and squirt into the top of the bottle. The bottle will protect it from the flow while it eats and keep any pesty shrimp from steeling the food while it eats because it is a slow eater
mark

 

[Rudolf]

Cut a two litre soda bottle inhalf and place the top half over your sun coral and than use your turkey baster and squirt into the top of the bottle. The bottle will protect it from the flow while it eats and keep any pesty shrimp from steeling the food while it eats because it is a slow eater
mark

I've read about that trick before, but my 8 galon biocube is a bit too small for that to be a workable solution. I just turn off my pump long enough to feed it one or two shrimp each polyp, then turn the pump back on. The flow pattern is such that lots of food bits get blown right past it. I've seen it catch some bits floating by.

 

[Rudolf]

If it looks fat and plump, it's happy and being fed. The skin should grow back over time.
I use a turkey baster with a section of hard plastic tubing with airline tubing on each end. One end of the airline tubing crammed into the baster so I can angle it in over the coral.

Mine looks a bit skinny. Especially when the polyps are retracted. I'd like to see a photo of one in its retracted state that is considered healthy for comparison.

I will try to rig up my turkey baster like you described. It sounds like a good solution.

 

[Rudolf]

I'd like to see a photo of one in its retracted state that is considered healthy for comparison.

Nevermind, I just spotted one in the link above. Mine is starving for sure.

 

[user 2204]

I've found the easiest way to care for Dendros, Sun corals and Aussie Balanophyllia is to put them into a dedicated tank. That is if you can.

I was using the pop bottle with a turkey baster method for feeding them when I had them in my display tank but seemd that hermits, snails and even the fish would figure out a way to push that pop bottle over. Also if you're like me you sometimes go do other things while feeding your corals. *lol* Pop bottle stayed in the tank for almost 4 hours that time.

Anyways I've been keeping these types of corals for about 3 years now and can say that you'll be able to tell when your corals are not being feed enough. I for one feed mine every other day. Sometimes I feed them every day. *lol*

Cheers,
Alex

 

[duckmans]

great idea

Cut a two litre soda bottle inhalf and place the top half over your sun coral and than use your turkey baster and squirt into the top of the bottle. The bottle will protect it from the flow while it eats and keep any pesty shrimp from steeling the food while it eats because it is a slow eater
mark

Thiis is a great idea because I had one and my fireshrimp use to come and steal food out of it. Mine only lasted about 6 months. take alot of care.

 

[declivis]

Nevermind, I just spotted one in the link above. Mine is starving for sure.

Trust me, that sun is doing great. Starving suncoral is hard to miss. It'll have almost no tissue, and no PE at all.

 

[Brie]

whoops... I didn't realize Chris was still signed in. That was me.

 

[Dutch-1969]

O my, O my, they are just amazing. Tank you for sharing these picture's.

Han

 

[hernluis]

that is such a nice coral