Sun Coral

[Cjay22]

I have Got the chance of a sun coral are the easy to keep
Thanks Darren

[Rob Martin]

Hi Darren,
Read the article on this forum "Tubeastrea-all you wanted to know" by Evilervin,it's well,all you need to know.They do require lots of regular feeding to thrive,no special light requirements.Well worth it tho' IMO.
Rob.

[Cjay22]

Thanks for the quick reply Rob i should be alright with one,so i will collect it in a couple of days
All the best Darren

[Rob Martin]

You won't regret it Darren,they are beautiful when fully extended to feed.
Rob.

[evilervin]

I have Got the chance of a sun coral are the easy to keep
Easy... yes(ish), if their healthly, their hardy. keep it fed, keep it happy.

Gog

[gregg]

go for it get one with fat looking polyps keep it fed and you cant go wrong

[Cjay22]

Thanks for all the Help:)
Darren

[Cjay22]

Collecting it today:D
Darren

[Cjay22]

Hi,picked up the sun coral and it is feeding great,i also had another one gave me(free) with only about eight healthy heads on it(the rest look dead)which are feeding,will these spread or is there there anything else i can do?
Thanks Darren

[The Escaped Ape]

Hi,picked up the sun coral and it is feeding great,i also had another one gave me(free) with only about eight healthy heads on it(the rest look dead)which are feeding,will these spread or is there there anything else i can do?
Thanks Darren


Darren, they'll spread, bit by bit. Don't worry about not being able to feed the smallest heads at first as they receive some nutrition from the fully feeding heads (or at least so the great coral expert Eric Borneman told me on RC when I asked the same question a couple of years ago!). Just make sure you feed regularly (2-3 times a week maybe).

If you have any problems feeding it (current/food being stolen by other tank inhabitants) try putting a cut off lemonade bottle (top half!) over the coral when feeding (which would be easiest with a pipette or something similar).

[evilervin]

Ape, do you know if Mr Borneman was referring to the small polyps receiving sustenance, by feeding off the “back-up” energy reserves of nitrogen and phosphorous stored within the skeletons pores, or was he saying that the coral shares “proper” nutrients via gastro-vascular canals?


Gog

[The Escaped Ape]

Ape, do you know if Mr Borneman was referring to the small polyps receiving sustenance, by feeding off the “back-up” energy reserves of nitrogen and phosphorous stored within the skeletons pores, or was he saying that the coral shares “proper” nutrients via gastro-vascular canals?


Gog


Gulp. You just went beyond my limited knowledge. Not sure to be honest. I do seem to remember him saying it wasn't because of a shared gastro-vascular canal (well, I remember "stomach", but he probably didn't use that word :o ) but can't remember what the real reason was. Actually not sure we got in that far, as I think he might have been in the "trying to answer every question posed to him on RC and finding he had time for short answers" phase.

Sorry not to be more help...

[Cjay22]

Cheers for your help
All the best Darren