Sun coral

[Istrom]

Hey everyone,
I got a sun coral recently, and I know they are non photosynthetic so I put the colony back in the shade. The only issue is that there's not a whole lot of flow, and it's not very accessible. This makes feeding difficult. How much light can they handle? Will it hurt the colony if I put it (still in the sandbed) in a higher light area? I just want to make sure that the colony doesn't starve.

 

[Gregcoyote]

They are nocturnal and usually deploy for feeding at night in the wild. They will have to be fed individually from now on to prosper. They are beautiful, but a pain to keep fed IMO. I would keep them out of direct light if possible.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/12/corals


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[Sniperhank]

Darkness and decent flow. Each polyp needs fed as Greg said. A total pain...the issues in my tank started when I tried to keep a small one. Opps...

 

[SeanMonster]

I have three colonies. One is shaded. One is midway in the tank. The third is in the top third. I feed a couple times a week after I add coral frenzy (about an hour after the lights go off. I find that the fish are less apt to steal food from them.


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[Gregcoyote]

I just hate that filter feeder food. It's liquid phosphate in a bottle. That's my main reason for not keeping azooxanthellate type creatures.
I suggest being very specific towards feeding just the polyps that need it. As too much of that stuff will tax your filtration.


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[Sand dollar]

I have one on my sand bed in full lighting. In my limited experience it prefers flow over shade. When it first arrived I would pull it out daily(try around the same time) and put it in a container with a lot of food. Took a while so you have to be persistent (over a month but I missed some days because that's just a lot of time, may go faster if you are more consistent). Now it opens most days around the same time and I have a cut water bottle I place over it after target feeding the polyps so the fish don't steal the food before it eats. This is another reason it's out front because I need room to fit the bottle over it. I really basically feed my NPSs now and the fish get the leftovers. And it can eat pretty large pieces, you would be surprised.


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[Gregcoyote]

That's sounds like a very good approach to me.



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[mr_X]

melosu58 has had a sun coral colony for a long time and has never fed it directly. I prefer to make sure all polyps get meaty foods, so if i keep them, I keep them in reach.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Are they just grabbing fish food in his system? They had to have something to eat.


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[mr_X]

I don't know...i don't think he broadcasts much their way.....but you know corals do absorb nutrients through their flesh, right? this could possibly be what's happening here.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I don't think that's enough for a colony to survive. They must be snagging tidbits.


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[dylan p]

I would assume he just posts the food in front of a power head. That's how everyone I know feeds corals. Most untouched food should end up in the protein skimmer or filter sock anyway. I feel like spot feeding is what leads to over feeding as you have to give each polyp food individually. In the wild they just pick up floating particles in the water so I think shoving food in their mouths is unnecessary


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[melosu58]

Every once in a while I would feed by squirting some phyto plantonkton at the heads but once every few weeks. Some times they would catch some of the food I would feed the fish with. Defiitely woud not feed several times a week.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Thanks, that's what I assumed.


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[Waynage01]

I use a turkey baster and feed my 2 colonies twice a week. I wouldn't say that every polyp gets food from my target feeding but both colonies seem to be doing really well. I love the sun coral and think that the time spent on feeding is well worth the effort


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[Istrom]

Yeah, I just got my feeding method down I use a mix of plankton, small chopped scallops, and mysis shrimp in a baster as well.