is this a type of coral?

[rncarter]

I have these stuff on my LR that initially I though was dead coral but I just took a close look at it and it seems to have some living organisms on it. I felt it and is kind of slimy .

 

[joy13]

Looks like a polyp that is really po'ed.

 

[mr_X]

not sure yet, but it appears to be some sun polyps that are in pretty bad shape. take a look at them with a flashlight at night and see if any tentacles are extended. if so, feed them meaty foods and they will recover.

 

[rncarter]

They do have tentacles

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If they're sun polyps, they NEED to be fed to survive. Unlike other corals, they get no energy from light.

 

[rncarter]

How do I feed them?

 

[needmorecowbell]

Target feed. Someone will probably explain this in a lot more detail.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

As needmorecowbell mentioned, briefly, yes... target feed them. They want meaty foods like chopped mysis shrimp, clams, etc. One method is to stop the pumps/powerheads in your tank to reduce the flow and suck up some of the chopped up food in a turkey baster. Then just "baste" the coral with the food. Wait maybe five minutes or so, then turn back on the pumps. Make sure you do this when the polyp's tentacles are extended.

Another way of doing it, which works well if you have greedy shrimp or crabs that like to steal the food away from the coral, is to cut the bottom 3/4 or so off a 1 liter pop bottle. Use the top part of the bottle and put it over the coral, with the screw top part at the top. Then squirt your food into the bottle. Your greedy shrimp/crabs can't get to the food, and your coral can bath in food until you decide it's had enough and remove the bottle.