View Full Version : Sun Coral problems???
I recently bought this sun coral and it is slightly receeded, I have been feeding it and it is now coming out much more than when I got it but for some reason it remains this shape. Its as if the actual tentacles of the polyps are unable to expand but the body at the base simply fills up instead.
Is this likely to remain this way? Anyone have any ideas whats causing it?
It still feeds but obviously it is not in optimum capture conditions.
Cheers
http://img2.putfile.com/main/9/24710201071.jpg
Have a word with Ben about his feeding cup Chris, I had the sam problem since I got one off him it has made a full recovery, problem with sunsthey need feeding every day and it can be pain in the arse
Carl
Have a word with Ben about his feeding cup Chris, I had the sam problem since I got one off him it has made a full recovery, problem with sunsthey need feeding every day and it can be pain in the arse
Carl
I am feeding it with a pop bottle Carl, its not so much getting the food to it as it is getting the polyps to keep hold of it. They have very small tentacles (cue schoolboy giggles) and they don't seem to expand too much at all
I am feeding it with a pop bottle Carl, its not so much getting the food to it as it is getting the polyps to keep hold of it. They have very small tentacles (cue schoolboy giggles) and they don't seem to expand too much at all
Hi Chris Have you treid coral fenzy,cyclopeze or Plankton to get the polyps out first, I find this helps a lot M8
Carl
Hi Carl, thats what I am doing, I expend them with Cyclopeez and then feed frozen marine mix. They were doing well but I seem to have hit a brick wall in getting the actual heads to fully open.
Everything Right there Chris, It does sound like a brick wall Situation, the only other thing I could suggest is a fish agrovating it M8, which I know the answer is no as I saw what stock you have in there on MFUK M8. I know this may sound stupid try moving it to a different position when I transfered to the new set mine started to do the same so I moved into a different position and slightly higher flow,.
Carl
Sun corals need highley enriched food in my experience, or they slowly wither away. You need to be enriching your food ideally. I use Seachem reefplus, and soak all my food for at least 12 hours before feeding, and mine (i have four full colonys) thrive.
You don't really need any gimmiky cups or other feeding 'impliments unless fish or shrimp are bothering the corals although i do admit, in certain circumstances they can help.
If it helps, i took on a rescue case a lil while back, that had zero tentacle expansion, full polyp expansion, but no tentacles to be seen on any heads, after feeding it up lots, every polyp has full tentacles displayed at feeding time now. You may well find the coral is just very hungry.
Try enriching your food, and feeding other foods, such as mysis, cyclopeeze, finely chopped krill, any white fish like cod. They like a varied diet. My favorite food to get mine expanded is red plankton - they go crazy for it, and it gives some good food for baby polyps to eat aswell.
How often do you feed it?
HTH
Marc
Hi Marc, When I first got it I placed it in my sump and kept it in a suspended mix of cyclopese and brine shrimp. I bubbled a small airsone in the neck of the pop bottle to keep it constantly agitated. It took almost 2 days (food released and replaced twice a day) before it started to lose that stretched tight look and I could just see the tips of the tentacles expanding.
After about a week I had finally got it to accept cyclopeez and marine mix making sure each head took at least on larger piece. I have since been feeding it twice a day with the same mix and now when I put cyclopeez in the tank it does extend within a couple of minutes. At this stage I Target feed it with the marine mix and all the polyps seem to take a piece and slowly pull it into the mouth. At no stage have I ever seen it fully extended, it always has the fat body tiny head look about it. I was hoping after the amount of food it had taken it would be faring better, I keep detritus from between the polyps on a twice daily basis and no fish really bother it apart from the occasional perching of my hawkfish which does not even make it contract. I don't care how much time and effort it takes, I knew what it needed before purchasing I just really wanted to know I wasn't doing anything wrong.
Hi Tog,
Do have high PO4 at the moment? or have hair algae, which may give a false low reading? If yes to either; do a partial water change and run lots of PO4 remover.
Also, what temp are you running the tank at? temp of 27+ can cause expansion issues.
If PO4 and / or NO3 levels aren’t elevated and the corals is sited in moderate flow, chances are it just needs some quality food (also assuming that fish aren’t nipping the polyps or shrimp aren’t pestering them).
Finely chopped / ‘whizzed’ fresh white fish (cod, haddock etc) would be my personal food of choice here;
1, White fish sticks to the tentacles like no other food (especially useful is this situation)
2, Cod and Haddock etc are high in phosphorus, which is very important when feeding sun corals (will also help replenish the coral ‘back-up’ energy supply).
3, Cod and haddock etc are high in the 3 amino acids that promote growth and polyp expansion; Glycine, Glutamic acid and Cystine.
I would also second Skyl1nes recommendation for Red Plankton… fantastic stuff and makes for a great ‘side dish’ to use with the fresh fish.
HTH:)
Roger
Hi PO4 is at somewhere between 0 and 0.25. I do have some filamentious algae but it came to my system already on the rock (bought from two seperate mature systems) and it is localised in small patches (around 5 in total) and is not spreading
The temp is between 25 and 26 maintained with fans.
I am a fisherman so regularly have fresh bass mackerel etc would this be OK or is oily fish out?
Thanks for the very consise answers, I will give them a go.
Hi
I am a fisherman so regularly have fresh bass mackerel etc would this be OK or is oily fish out?I wouldn't use oil fish, too polluting.
Chose one of the following, all are high in what the sun coral needs...
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2007Q2/RH_UR_NUT_FISH.jpg
Been a fishermen, Pollock would be an easy get, plus you would have an exuse to go fishing more.
HTH
Roger
Thanks Roger, I will go to morrisons in the morning and get a bit of each, Will mince it together and see what happens.
Hi Tog
No need to buy a bit of each (unless you want to), any one of the above would be fine.
How I prepare the fish:
Skin and bone the fish (if it isn’t already).
Roughly chop.
Whiz it with a hand blender (or similar), until the pieces are less then half the average size of the oral discs. (its hard to tell the size of the fish when its mush in a blender, so just add a wee bit to a glass of water, stir it around and the pieces will separate)
Add a bit (half tsp for example) to a glass / tub of tank water, then feed with a turkey baster.
With the remainder, I separate single days ration (following days food) and put the rest in a covered ice cube trays.HTH
Roger
We have these localy in the water and I was going to put a colony in my Tank but after reading this thread I think I will pass. It seems like they require a level of care that I could never keep up with. Thanks guys for this great thread, it gave me a real insight into what is needed too keep them alive. BTW strange thing is that in the wild I can't see how they are getting as much food as they seem to use in captivity, but then again I don't night dive so I have no idea if they are getting a Ton of food at night.
Hi Robby
Sorry for the delayed reply, I only just saw your post.
We have these localy in the water Where do you live?? I’m guessing not the UK.
If you are from the UK, what you’ve properly seen in are waters isn’t Tubastraea sp, but one of the following species; Balanophyllia regia, Leptopsammia pruvoti, Eguchipsammia cornucopia, Dendrophyllia cornigera or a member of the genus Enallopsammia.
My money would by on one of the following (if you live in the UK of course):
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2007Q2/de_UR_RH.jpg
Dendrophyllia cornigera (Lamarck, 1816)
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2007Q2/le_UR_RH.jpg
Leptopsammia pruvoti (Lacaze-Duthiers, 1897)
strange thing is that in the wild I can't see how they are getting as much food as they seem to use in captivity In the wild Tubastraea sp mainly feed heavily on two types of zooplankton; meroplankton and holoplankton. Meroplankton consists of animals that are planktonic during larval and or reproductive stages, such as; fish, molluscs, shrimps, corals etc. Holoplankton is made up of animals that spend there entire life cycle as plankton; copepods, amphipods, krill, etc.
The reefs themselves are capable of ‘producing’ huge quantities of zooplankton, as well as being ‘delivered’ to the coral from other reefs, habitats and seas via ocean and local currents.
The nutrients packed into these animals, far succumbs that of the majority of foods a reefer offers his or her sun corals, especially the nutrients in meroplankton.
but then again I don't night dive so I have no idea if they are getting a Ton of food at night Reef based zooplankton concentrations can multiple 10 fold in dusk to dawn hours.
HTH:)
Roger
PS sorry for a crap expanation... Ive got a banging headache
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