Tubastrea (sun coral) Help

[snehls]

I got a small sun coral frag yesterday and I was curious how long it takes before it will open its polyps for feeding either during the day or at night. The LFS had just received it the day prior, so I'm sure it hadn't had much time to get used to their tank or recover from its journey to the LFS.

 

I think I generally understand how to feed it, but I don't want to be squirting large amounts of food in that the coral isn't terribly interested in eating.

 

Also, does placement really matter with this coral, can I put it on the substrate and be ok?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Sushi]

placement on substrate is ok, whether it gets light or not does not matter. sun coral is impartial to light and will not be affected by it.

 

in my experiences, i have found that sun-coral comes out most oftenly during the evening hours (when the lights turn off).

 

for feeding, i suggest you squirt a small amount of some sort of "mixed" meaty food (brine/mysis/cyclopeeze/etc) over the polyps just so it gets a sense of the "smell" of the food. once it catches the presence of food in the water column, it should only be a matter of 3-5 minutes for the polyps to become extended. at this point, i begin feeding by using a baster/pipette squirting little amounts of food at each of the tentacles... whatever isn't caught by the coral is consumed by the fish. but i have to say, that suncoral is a voracious eater, im not sure if it's possible for it to "overeat" but i know for certain that if food is around, it WILL eat it!

 

after about 2 weeks of carefully nurturing the coral (feeding every 1-2 days), you can back off on feedings, once established in your tank i would say you don't need to feed every day, it should thrive on feedings twice a week (3-4 days). but keep in mind, with more regular feedings the more often the polyps will be extended, so it's just a matter of convenience for you... but as long as it's fed, it will stay alive and healthy.

[DongShenYin]

Don't forget the trick of cutting a 2 liter soda bottle in half and putting the top over the tubastrea to contain the food.

[snehls]

if I put a 2L top over it, do I just squirt the food in there and leave it for like 5-10 minutes?

[Sushi]

whichever method works best for you... i find it most easy to simply squirt at the polyps w/a baster. just gota keep ur hand in there for a couple extra seconds to fend off the cleaner shrimp.

[snehls]

I guess my concern is that all that food the coral doesn't eat will get away. I only have two fish and they can't get it all.

 

I was thinking I could do the 2L technique for about 2 weeks till it figures out teh whole drill, then just start using teh baster and squirting individual polyps. Sound good?

[Sushi]

yep, that sounds good... whichever method u find most convenient for the tank would be the best way to approach the issue of feeding. if ur afraid that u might overfeed, simply feed the tubastrea less food but increase in frequently of feedings.

[skimmate]

i have a fairly large colony of the tubas in my 125g, they're awesome. They do good in low light and i only recommend target feeding if you see 'em dying, and if you feed your tank at the same time everyday they will open up as soon as they smell the food. just be patient, it took me a couple of days before they start opening up.

[snehls]

So I tried the 1L bottle (don't have a 2L bottle) method tonight and a good number of the polyps came out. My Emerald was able to lift up the bottle top and get under it, but I helped him decide that wasn't such a good idea.

 

The tentacles were pretty small, but its something. They were definitely extended out.

 

I'll keep with it, thanks to everyone.

[DongShenYin]

Cool! Post pics when you can please.

[sadsak]

mine is great and i dont feed it ..he must just be happy......

[Reefer Addict]

It took my coral about 1-2 weeks to fully expand.

 

I initially drop in about 2-3 mysis shrimps at a time to feed my blood shrimp and royal gramma. I do this two or three times until I see them stop feeding. It serves two purposes. First, it fills up their bellies so they are less likely to bug the sun coral when it is his time to feed. Secondly, the sun coral begins to extend when it gets a whiff of the newly introduced shrimp.

 

I then feed the coral (with a turkey baster) a mixture of cyclopeeze and mysis shrimp making sure that each polyp gets a meal. Usually they take two feedings at one sitting. Hungry little buggers! I also make sure not to overfeed in order to keep the water from fouling up. Sounds tedious but gets easier when you do it a few times.

 

Here is a picture of my 'bad boy".

[Sushi]

nice acan!

 

has your sun coral always looked like that or did it "grow" into that? as in, have you seen polyp count increase?

[Reefer Addict]

Big time growth spurt! Initially they were three seperate colonies. I think you can tell if you look closely at the piece. Curently, there are 100+ polyps.

 

If you can believe it, the polyps actually expands more at night time.