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Sun coral again


non-photosynt

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non-photosynt

Sun coral in nano-tanks - who is eating excess of food (list, please)? How much mysis cubes do you feed them?

 

Please, respond: I continue to keep my Tubastrea in separate container with full water change, 4xweek, because my 10g and 6g NC will be not able to bear such load of nutrients (2 cubes, every 3rd day). So tired.

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Sun coral in nano-tanks - who is eating excess of food (list, please)? How much mysis cubes do you feed them?

 

Please, respond: I continue to keep my Tubastrea in separate container with full water change, 4xweek, because my 10g and 6g NC will be not able to bear such load of nutrients (2 cubes, every 3rd day). So tired.

I am still new to the whole nano-reef game;I just recently purchased my sun coral;but so far my parameters haven't changed after a few feedings and a water change.I feed my sun coral cyclopeze and so far there eating fine.What other type of livestock and setup do you have in your 10.

 

My Tank set up:

10 AGA

Coralife 28 watt Aqualight

2 Maxi-Jets (1- 400; 1-600)

AC 70 Fuge (Live Sand,Live Rock,Cheat and Other Macro Algae)

Coralife 9x2 watt Mini-Aqualight (for fuge)

20 pounds Live Rock

20 pound Live Sand

 

Live Stock:

Sun Coral

Yellow Clown Goby

Fire Shrimp

6 Snails (2 Margaritas,2 Bumble Bees, 2 Nerites)

Micro Bristle Stars ( came with Macro)

post-20396-1151583069_thumb.jpg

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non-photosynt

How much do you feed?

 

My intencity of feeding - 2 mysis cubes in the water:

Water changed after feeding:

 

10g back-up tank (I know it needs more light and powerhead):

 

Active moving eaters here: clownfish, 4 astrea snails, serpent star, hitchakers: ~20 amphypods (1/2" long), 2-3 bristle worms, 1/2" crab, micro-bristle stars 3-4, 1/2" different snails and slugs 5-6.

Others: corals, feather dusters and turnicates.

I tried to feed 2 turkey basters of the water with mysis in this tank - ammonia and nitrites rise and red slime algae appears on the glass.

 

6g Nano-Cube, display tank:

 

Active eaters: cleaner wrasse, 1 astrea snail, 4 nassarius snails, 1/4"-1/3" isopods (these seems are feeding exclusively on chili coral, orange tree spong and bryozoan).e

Others use mostly fine matter.

Again, feeding 1 turkey baster or the mysis-saturated water from sun coral tank raised ammonia, nitrites and created greasy film on the surface of water.

 

Melev's Reef website posted article about Tubastrea feeding, but in 280 gal with a lot of eaters.

 

Forgive the mess, please: can't use existing attachments, added again.

 

 

 

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You could remove the sun polyps to a smaller plastic container to be fed. Mine got used to it very quickly. You can let a cube melt in there--try it once or twice a week and don't feed any other way---they will "get it" and you won't have to worry about all the extra food. My problem is the cleaner shrimp who attacks the polyps if I put 'em back too soon! You may not want to keep doing that, but it works just fine.

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Is it mandatory that these guys have to be target fed? Or could you just feed it when your feed your fish

I target feed mine a chunk of cyclopeze, which is probably the same as one cube of other frozen food. my shrimp hangs out around the same spot in the ledge/cave I have my Sun Coral, my yellow clown goby picks up some of the extras also.

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non-photosynt

Thanks for the replies!

 

mvite: How long (minutes) are you feeding in container? I give it around 1 hr, in the winter water became cold very fast - this is why I keep it all the time in small container with heater and water movement.

 

ntec: No, it's just most resonable for maintaining water quality and feeding each polyp. The problem is in amount of food this guys are eating - my two predatory fish (6" and 5" long, in another tank) are eating the similar amount of seafood; twice daily, not twice a week - to be truthfull.

Uneaten and spitted off food need to be removed or, as most keepers managed it to be, eaten by other aquarium habitants. Mine are not able to process it yet.

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They start to "learn" about the feeding when you do it separately and I really only have them in there for about an hour. Maybe you can put the container inside of a styro fish box without a lid while you feed in winter. I don't feed too often--once or twice a week--max. I keep them in an area of fairly brisk current and they open just to grab some stuff in suspension in the tank sometimes. Once they start to get put in the container--they start to get used to the ritual. It's easy and there's no worry about fouling the water---I am a freak about that!

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I like this thread...I also spot feed my sun coral. I have a monster turkey baster and i take a shot glass of tank water mix one cube of brine shrimp untill its thawed. I then suck it up and feed. Normally though its hard to get them to open at first so i normall feed them a bit of cyclopeze about 5-10 mins before when im feeding the rest of my coral.

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Well, looks like I'm joining in on this thread. I came home today to a surprise from my wonderful girlfriend - a nice "piece of the reef" rock with several various frags on it. One of them is a sun coral.

 

What do you guys think of a sun coral in a 5.5gal? I dunno much about them (aside from the fact that they're nonphotosynthetic and must be fed) because I was never planning on getting one... Removing it every time I want to feed it does not appeal to me at all, so it's either I find a way to maintain it in my tank without screwing up my parameters, or I find a way to get rid of it.

 

I have cyclopeeze and DT's phytoplankton.

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Well, looks like I'm joining in on this thread. I came home today to a surprise from my wonderful girlfriend - a nice "piece of the reef" rock with several various frags on it. One of them is a sun coral.

 

What do you guys think of a sun coral in a 5.5gal? I dunno much about them (aside from the fact that they're nonphotosynthetic and must be fed) because I was never planning on getting one... Removing it every time I want to feed it does not appeal to me at all, so it's either I find a way to maintain it in my tank without screwing up my parameters, or I find a way to get rid of it.

 

I have cyclopeeze and DT's phytoplankton.

 

I think you will be fine, for one you said your colony is small so at first you won't have as many polyps to feed.My tank setup is mentioned above,which is 10 AGA.

My parameters hasn't changed since I purchased mine. My Sun Coral Colony is a little larger than a baseball;my routine is 2 days cyclopeeze only,1 day cyclopeeze and mysis;with 2 water changes in that same week(20% total for the week=2 gallons)

I hope this might help you out,

Good Luck! :D

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non-photosynt

Anybody knows now to frag Tabstrea, without risk to mother colony? I searched the web, no luck. Toying with idea that smaller colony can be more safe.

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Anybody knows now to frag Tabstrea, without risk to mother colony? I searched the web, no luck. Toying with idea that smaller colony can be more safe.

How big is your colony, because I would say mine is baseball size, and like I wrote in other post about sun coral; my feeding schedule as of late is (2 days cyclopeeze, 1 day cyclopeeze and mysis).Also my waterchanges is (2) 10 % per week,but broken up in between feedings.Also I think my refugium + water movement + clean up crew + goby = the reason my parameters are staying in check.What does your clean consist of and have you thought about adding a refugium to take away some of the nitrates in your tank?I know erverybody worries about keeping parameters in check, because of the feedings;I know I do, today I will probably add to my clean up crew by picking up a couple of nassarius snails, because I have read they also like uneaten food, decaying organics and fish waste.Anyway back to your fragging question this was posted on another sit, but maybe this will help.

 

You will need a form of cutting tool I have and used my scalpel set which I got from a hardware store it has about 50 different cutting blades I found that the flat scraper and the serrated blade worked well . Now this may not be they absolute best but I read alot of different ways and chose this:

 

Use a bucket or container dip into tank put sunpolyp rock into container remove with enough water to cover.

 

Wear gloves and Safteyglasses look at rock and find the easiest polyps to cut/break off without damaging it or anyone else.

 

Take your weapon and cut/chip away the rock under the polyp remember the rock dont try shaving the polyp off it wont work.

 

crazy glue your new frag to a rock!

Good Luck! :D

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non-photosynt

Great info on fragging! I thought so - that shaving off will not work.

My colony has live leathery tissue with opening/closing hole in the middle, rock is only at bottom. Any idea, what it could be - part of Tubastrea or another creature?

 

Size of my colony - colony (-es, looks like 2 separate colonies with leathery live substance in between) is quite big and growing new polyps. See picture in the first post: heater is 6" long.

 

My tanks don't have refugiums, but 10g has chaeto inside and 6g - Xenia for nutrients export. Both have good water parameters until too much nutrients added - then ammonia and nitrites grow up.

 

Thanks for the ideas - I really have to change aquascaping to make a lot of space for Sun coral and access to it, as well as add some shrimp, maybe. 10g will be reduced to 5g, and there are not enough place for another fish. Or, other way - when new 90g finishes cycling, put Tubastrea there. One concern - will sharp-nosed puffer (valentini puffer) pick it?

 

Are nassarius snails better than astrea snails? I have both, but didn't know their specifics.

 

How it was at beginning: New growth:

 

Leathery tissue in the middle: Top view 2 month ago:

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