F-f-f-fungia...

[WhiteRat]

Okay, I got some sun polyps a while back and have been slooooooowly teaching them that the bright light is not a bad thing.

 

All of a sudden it occurred to me that I've got another coral that doesn't look its finest until o-dark-thirty, my fungia.

 

Can a similar sort of feeding/training be used to get my fungia used to inflating during the daytime? Anyone have any experienced doing this? Mine's a real late-nighter, usually doesn't open until well after 11...

 

I think I'm gonna dump a li'l mysis on him tomorrow afternoon to see if I can coax him out.

 

Anyone with any thoughts on the matter, please let me know.

 

Ratty

Ratty's Reef

[Acoustic]

Your fungia is not happy. It has been my experience that when fungia's are unhappy they either go super inflato or wither to a skeleton. Maybe it is in a high current area. They like low current.

[WhiteRat]

Acoustic,

 

If it wasn't happy...Why does it only do it at that time of night, when the lights are out? The current in my tank isn't timed to change after dark, it's steady...And the fungia is in a shaltered, low-to-no current area.

 

I'm not naysaying you, it's my first fungia and the book-larnin' ain't that handy on them that I've found, I'm just curious because the problem you suggest doesn't seem to match the situation.

 

Any other thoughts?

[Acoustic]

What is it's coloration? Did you get it and it looks kinda white or pale yellow or pale green?

 

It could be suffering from light shock. Maybe your system is really bright compared to where the coral came from. If so, it needs to be shaded until it gets normal coloration.

[WhiteRat]

But it's under the same make of bulb, exactly, and it was in a 12" deep tank at the store, and if anything it's an inch or two further from the bulb in my tank, with more shade.

 

Its color hasn't changed from what it was in the store, sort of purplish-pink edges and a bright yellow center.

 

This is really puzzling the snot out of me.

 

No, wait, that's my damn allergies.

 

It occurs to me I've only seen it inflated like that twice. Maybe I just missed seeing one of the crabs wrestling food out of its mouth or something? Would that do it? I have some mildly aggro mithrax.

 

More info:

 

175w Coralife MH 10,000K

2x55w Coralife actinics

Marine environment

76-77 degrees

No measurable ammonia, nitrates or nitrites

Adding the prescribed dose of Seachem red and Seachem blue twice/week

Tank gets fed 1 capful of Marine Snow twice a week at the same time as the Seachem

At the same time I add frozen mysis on Tuesday, and a mix of chopped frozen mussels, squid, shrimp on Friday (hey, it's the weekend) in each case about a 2/3" cube of whichever, half fed through a long pipette to my LPS, the rest allowed to just blow around for a bit until it gets caught by something or settles and the crabs eat it

Tank has a pretty sensitive auto-top-off and salinity is remarkably stable, IMHO

 

Anthelia

Zoos

Yellow Photosynthetic Gorgonian

Purple non-Photosynthetic Gorgonian

Red Epizoanthids

Purple Tonga Rhodactis

Assorted Discosoma

Lots of chicken-liver sponges

Orange ball sponge

Red encrusting sponge

Hammer coral

Sarcophyton spp

Sun polyps

The problem Fungia

Pair of <3" Tridacna Crocea

Assorted inverts including a coco-worm

Misc. macroalgae, mostly penny Halimeda and a Penicillus

Two Purple Firefish

 

Ratty

Ratty's Reef

[Acoustic]

I can't figure out why.

[WhiteRat]

Well...I appreciate the input. I'm gonna keep an eye on it and see if it does that regularly, or if maybe I just caught it a few times after it was badgered by crabs or something. If I see it doing it again I'll move it someplace even shadier and see if I can't rig an anti-crab shroud from plastic mesh to keep them off of it.

 

Ratty