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Yes. You can turn off all powerheads and gently spray the polyps with it so there is like a little cloud around them and wait like 3-5 minutes then turn the powerheads back on. Or you can just put it in the water and let them take it out of the water column.

They will eat brine shrimp. It can't be too big. Mine eat mysis shrimp and it they catch a flake they will eat it.
 
I mixed the phyto with some tank water tonight, then target fed everything through a syringe, except it came out too fast and scared my featherduster :p Seems to be a good way of doing it though.

With the polyps, I guess you want a tiny piece of brine or mysis to go inside the centre of the head of each one? Could be tricky! I'll stick to squirting phyto ;)

My yellows do seem a bit better since they've been moved up. My leather hasn't really altered though, despite being practically under a light for 4 days!

I was thinking, maybe because the white lights I have are 'tropical', that they're the wrong colour temp. for the corals, regardless of the wattage? Maybe that's the prob?
 
MarkW19 said:
Can anyone confirm that my yellow polyps should feed on DT's Phyto if I target feed the heads with it? I've tried brineshrimp, but it's just too big so the pieces just float off!

They're capable of eating brine shrimp and even larger foods (mysis for example). I'm not sure why your's aren't trying to capture the brine shrimp you're providing, mine will attempt (and often succeed) in capturing any food items which come in contact with them (to include small pellets and flake food). All the food item has to do is come into contact with one of the tentacles and it is seized.

I suspect your low lighting (33watts of normal output fluorescent?) may be affecting their vigor.
 
Yes its 33w of normal fluorescent, but its only a small tank (just under 10g), and the polyps are now directly under a light, only a couple of inches away from it. I'll try again with the brineshrimp!
 
Well, the yellow polyps have been right at the very top of the tank, directly under a light, for quite a bit now. I've also target fed them with DTs Phyto twice (once a week), and they're still deteriorating :( Theres hardly anything left of them now!
 
Well, my brain coral was doing great, half way up the tank with plenty of light. Its sweepers still come out daily, but only a few of them.

Now, the brown channels are starting to fade, instead of being dark/sharp brown, they're now going paler. The green seems unaffected.

Is there anything I can do? Its in the best position in the tank for the light. I feed DTs to the tank once a week, and the coral has been in the tank for about 6 weeks. All water levels within the recommended ranges.
 
Wish I had an idea what was going on in your tank. :(

How long has it been since you changed your carbon? Do you run a protein skimmer? I am wondering if their is not some serious chemical issues in your tank, but that is just a guess only. What is around the brain? Anything that could be stinging it?
 
I use Seachem matrix carbon, which they say is good for up to 4 months! I believe them, because they've no reason to lie - they'd want to sell more carbon obviously!

Its only been in for a month anyway, but I've changed it today just to be sure.

I dont have a protein skimmer as its only a 10g tank, but good filtration (8kg LR and 2 internal filters, each with PURA pads and carbon).

The brain is on its own, well away from other corals (for their benefit mostly!). Its been looking great until just this last week. The only thing I can think of, apart from chemical warfare as you suggested, is that my lighting isnt enough for it. But, it is fairly high in the tank, directly under a light, and has been looking great.

My other corals all have issues too, even the softies like my leathers, and even polyps! Maybe its because its a freshwater light (although with an actinic)? Its still 33w total though, so particularly for the leather at the very top of my tank, and the polyps, they should be doing fine!

Grr.
 
Yeah the lights really should not be a problem for the corals. Most of the corals you have are low light corals anyways. And the fact that you are supplementing their food as well makes up for the slight lack of lighting.

How often are you changing the water?
 
Well I don't feed much DTs, just the minimum "daily" amount, just once a week. Because most of the corals I have don't "require" the extra feed.

I change 25% of the water every 2 weeks.

I just fed some DTs to my polyps, and they closed up straight away when the food hit them. Is that normal? They're starting to open again now (not that there are many left!).

My brain coral is still very very pale in parts, but doesn't seem to be getting any worse.
 
I just fed some DTs to my polyps, and they closed up straight away when the food hit them. Is that normal?
Yep, that's the feeding process, the polyp closes around the food particle(s) and moves it to it's mouth.
 
Well, my yellow polyps are slowly (very slowly!) but surely coming back. I now have a bunch of 7 strong-looking ones (from about 2), and another 2 pairs. There were initially a LOT, so it'll take some time to get them how they were, but at least they're looking a little bit better.

One of my leathers (branching) was looking great until recently, but it's not opened up for 4 days now, looking all green and sorry for itself. Also, my other toadstool leather seems to be shedding. How often do they do this?
 
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