Got a sun coral yesterday. It came from the lfs. The guy said it had been there three weeks and it was pretty banged up. A large clown didn't like it. One of the offshoots is black, don't know if I should cut it off or what. The thing must have been starving because it wanted to eat when I feed the fish. I feed each head some shrimp. Wouldn't open up very much, just enough to take food in. I have it under a ledge out of the light. Anybody with experience out there? Sure could use some pointers.
Sun Coral
- Thread starter Chubosco
- Start date
I normally bowl feed mine, with the water being still I introduce a little bit of food (zooplex/sinking pellets/brine shrimp combo) to get the to open up. They are used to this routine, so they know that when they get taken out that its dinner time and it now takes little effort for them to open up and feed til they are full. Whole process normally takes about 15-20 minutes.
That is really cool. Mine opened up at the same time today. But they just barely open enough to feed. It is nothing like the pictures in books though. I find it interesting you take it out, why? I know a little too much food goes into the tank when I feed; but, crabs, bristle worms, pods, ect will eat the excess, I hope. Plan to hone my technique, just don't want to remove it, afraid to. Do you do this everyday? The way some shippers say...It is a restricted species, no promise of survival, hard to get to eat, ect. Crap, I'm afraid to touch it again. Maybe I don't understand the bowl technique?
I take mine out just because it is a slower eater than the others, the worms & fish have a tendancy to steal it either before or during the process of eating. I use a bowl below the water line that way it isn't exposed to the air and it is in water that it is accustomed to. Use the same method to return it back to the tank. I do this about 2-3 times a week.
Just order it online. The freeze-dried is nice cause it doesn't take up any room in your frig/freezer. I've used both the frozen and the freeze-dried and haven't noticed any differences. The smaller particles seem a bit easier to target feed to the smaller polyps of the sun corals.Chubosco said:All I have is shrimp and formula one. I can't find cyclpeeze. Asked the lfs about it and just got a blank stare.
I use a turkey baster to target feed the coral.
Another way is to use a syringe attached to some rigid and flexible airline tubing. It makes a very accurate tool for target feeding.
If I put a small amount into the tank about 20mins before I really feed it gives the polyps some time to extend before I feed them. I try to do it about the same time each day, and that's resulted in them starting to extend about the same time each day, while my lights are still on.
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