sun coral

[shauny]

Are some sun coral a s**t to get to come out and feed?
Had mine just over a week now and he wont come out, he
half comes out when i feed him but thats it and i wouldnt call it coming
out it just puffs up.

[shonky]

My frag took over a week to fully come out
then it was after the lights were out
now three weeks on it's out most of the time

where abouts in the tank is it?
do you feed it regularly ?

try moving it into some shade and feeding it directly

[Fungia]

What do you feed it? Some foods are getting a response than others.

Cyclopeeze is very good and is widely used to get them and other corals to open up. :)


Jeff.

[shauny]

i feed it a mix of mysis and cyclopeeze and it in the shadiest part of the tank.
been feeding it every other day cos its about the size of a tennis ball.

[shauny]

it just puffs up and kinda feeds

[shonky]

are you sure it's a sun coral

what colour is it

[shauny]

its a sun coral alrite, take a look
http://www.virginmediaphotos.co.uk/album/4934612

[shonky]

try swiching off the pumps and placing the top half of a 2lt plastic bottle over the top of it ,then squirt you feed mix into it so it hangs around it

if that does'nt work give it away to someone who lives nearby:whistling: :wave:

[poohpouri]

Hi i put cyclopeeze in leave tank for 10 mins then turn all water movement off my sun coral then takes 10-30 mins to open fully then feed it frozen and turn water movement on 20 mins

[sky1ine]

Hi, could you give us your water parameters? Thats always the first place to start - even if its just to rule that possibility out.

I have a fair few tubastraea colonys now, i find the best things for triggering them to open, is either cyclopeeze, or red plankton, they go nuts for that stuff.

As to why its not opening, its a bit of a open ended question, there could be too much or too little flow where its sited. Could be water quality, it could still be settling in (one of mine took nearly a week to decided to open up properly)

One thing i will mention is, it doesn't in any way shape or form have to be in a shaded area. Light isn't important to them, but that doesn't mean they should be put in a cave or shaded area. Put the coral where its easiest for you to feed it properly.

Yours will either be a coccinea, or faulkneri, they don't like too much flow in my experience, i'd try moving it about a little bit, to see if you get a better reaction.

Other than that, keep feeding (or trying) its all you can do, but don't sacrifice your water quality in giving the food.

I'd suggest having a read through this article by evilervin - it has all you need to know in it.

link (http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=195870)

Hope that helps.
Marc

p.s if you get chance and your tank can take it, try feeding some white fish, like cod etc.... they love that stuff too, and it sticks to there tenticles like supreglue.

[evilervin]

Hi Shauny,

I hope you dont mind, but I though I'd post your picture from the supplied link:

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2007Q2/014476621f6afc1feb16a8461e3a756932fbb87092995c5782 926d0d.jpg

Just adding to Marc's post;
The yellow ‘bobbly’ bits coming through the coenosarc (the tissue covering the coral), is a possible indication that something is amiss with your water parameters (check NO2, NO3 and PO4) or the coral has undergone a ‘rushed’ acclimatation.

Is the extension (puffed-up-ness) shown in the picture, as much as it currently puffs up? or do the tentacles poke out enough for you to manually stick food to them?

Even if a mere 3-4mm of tentacle tips are showing, you will be able to ‘stick’ food to them, coaxing the coral to at least ingest some food, which will build up the corals ‘strength’ allowing it to ‘sort itself out’.

Ignoring the ‘bobbles’;
It is quite common for sun corals to fail to fully expand within the first week following acclimatation to new surroundings…. Some (unlucky) specimens take a few weeks to expand following a stressfully acclimatation.

Keep coaxing the coral to open every day (if water parameters allow) with cyclopeeze, and if you are not seeing an improvement by the weekend, grab yourself an Amino acid supplement that contains Cystine, Glutamic acid or Glycine (May be listed as Glutathione – a combination of all three). I personally use (I think Marc does to) Seachem reef plus, which contains Glutamate which I believe is a combination of glutamic acid and glycine, and will aid polyp expansion (keep coaxing with cyclopeeze as well).

Just in case you are wondering how aminos trigger expansion, its all due to the corals natural feeding response. In the wild, as Im sure you’ve read, Tubastraea sp feed on zooplankton. These organisms are naturally ‘leaky’ when it comes to amino acids and it is these ‘leaking’ AA’s which trigger the coral to enter a feeding state.

HTH:)
Roger

[evilervin]

BTW, it’s a brilliantly shaped piece, and should look amazing when fully expanded:wub: