red chili sponge

[keving]

Hi
Have had a red chili sponge in my tank for a few days now but it is just acting limp, any one else got one or has experience of one, any advice would be great.
Thanks:)

[killi]

first i think you will have this thread moved but here gos this coral does best in a cave or a overhang it need strong water flow for pol ext have you looked at it when lights out try moveing to the darkest part of your tank mine open up when fed phyto and cly peez good look

[ChrisBFish]

If you mean a chili coral (not a sponge) then, as above - they often seem to prefer being upside down in a cave or sheltered place. They're not photosynthetic, so you do need to provide food for them - ours seems to do particularly well with cyclopeeze and oyster eggs. Phyto particles are a bit small compared to the chili's polyps, so although it itself probably isn't a food, it will help to feed the creatures in the tank which contribute to the zooplankton that the chili will eat.

We found that ours tends to get algae growing on the part that's in reasonable light, so this may need cleaning off to enable it to keep opening up properly.

I don't know if you've checked on it at night; that's certainly when ours opens up mostly. It has occasionally come out during the day, but usually starts coming out at night a couple of hours after lights out - and quickest if the room is in darkness too.

HTH.

Chris

[The Wizard.]

Ihave mine in the sump, sheltered by some chaeto he is out most of the time :D
good filter feeder in the sump and seems well happy down there
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r17/Grandwizard_01/ChillispongeinSump.jpg