yellow colony polyp or sun polyp

[vsnsofadrgn]

hey all, just wondering about the care of the yellow colony polyp (liveaquaria.com) or the sun polyp (lfs).... would i need to suppliment feeding (liveaquaria says i would http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=675), or is lighting enough?? lfs has some on a rock pretty cheap and thought i would check here.... TIA.

[ntswift]

The sun polyps require spot feeding. They are supposed to be moderate to difficult to take care of. They look really cool though. I'd go with the yellow colony polyp because they are easier to take care of. HTH

[vsnsofadrgn]

thanks for the reply. the lfs is calling them yellow sun polyps, but on liveaquaria, they are yellow colony polyps (they look exactly like the ones on liveaquaria.com). so i can get them and suppliment once or twice a week? if so thats sweet cuz theyre only 10 bucks, whoo hoo!!

well i went ahead and got them, here is a pic after aclimating 3+hours...

[lando]

Those are yellow polyps, no to be confussed with the sun coral. Yellow polyps do not require any special feedings, just light left-overs at tank feeding time.

[ntswift]

Lando is right, those arent sun polyps. However you did get your self some yellow colony polyps for a pretty good deal! My lfs wont sell any if they are that small. They still will try to sell them for $40 and will keep that price that way until they grow to a lot more. You wont have to feed them anything like Lando said. I never feed any of my polyps anything just for them. I add cyclopeeze for my clam and for my other corals. The polyps just get whatever is floating around.

[vsnsofadrgn]

well, i picked the small one out, just incase it didnt work out. the guy at the lfs tryed to talk me into a bigger and more expensive one, but i told him it was my first one and id be back if it worked out.....

thanks for letting me know not to suppliment they are doing well so thats good. yay!!! i am welcoming myself to the addiction of corals, hehe.

[FishFrik]

I wanted to buy a small frag for $5 but i've heard they spread really quickly and could harm other corals in ur tank, just a FYI

[melosu58]

Here are the sun polyps. They do require target feedings

[vsnsofadrgn]

ooohh, those are very pretty....

[abnmojo]

I had a colony of the yellow polyps a few years ago, before my Emperor angel decided he liked to eat them.

Anyway, I did have to spot feed them brine once a week or so. My lighting was not quite stong enough for them at the time so that may be why they only seemed to be doing well if they got some brine. They didn't really even eat the brine, but mostly just the little bits of stuff in the juice, every now and then one would snag a whole brine shrimp. They did grow like crazy when I was doing this for them.

[Hara]

Yellow polyps are the "bad weed" of my reef. They spread very quickly and are as invasive as crabgrass. I do not spot feed anything in my tank.

[Feron]

What qualifies as 'spreads quickly' for these things?
I've had a chunk of rock with them for about 3 weeks and I'm not seeing them spread too much at all....
Now, my small white feather dusters...totally dfft story.. they grow like weeds and I'm constantly plucking them off things.. (thought they were cool till they spread like wild fire)

[Fluff]

Well, like all corals they need to establish themselves first. That could take weeks. But once they start to spread, look out. I have them littering my tank as well. I even have them growing behind my liverock in the dark. They do become a nuisance after awhile if the tank conditions are favorable. They remind me of aptasia in their behavior. They've managed to kill off some of the pink pom xenya in my tank and I didn't think anything could hurt that stuff. They also irritate my leathers if they get to close. They seem fine with other polyps though.

[vsnsofadrgn]

thanks for the warning fluff, i guess im too excited, as they are my 1st coral.... ive had them about a week now and they come out every time the lights turn on.... this makes me happy (sorry if im a dork, lol)....

[aamick1971]

my hermit crabs ate my yellow poly i even seen this happen so please be cauous with this.

[AMANIQU77]

Originally Posted by Hara

Yellow polyps are the "bad weed" of my reef. They spread very quickly and are as invasive as crabgrass. I do not spot feed anything in my tank.

BTW, Hara, that big red colt coral...is that similar to a Carnation coral? Where do you get a red colt?

[melosu58]

I`m not speaking for Mrs Hara but they range to a very dark pink (almost Red) to a light pink. Here is mine

[AMANIQU77]

Thank you. That's awesome. How hard is it to take care of a colt coral? And where can you find the pink and red kind?

Which is more difficult to take care of, Red Colt or Carnation?

[melosu58]

Carnations are definitely harder. They dont require as much light but you have to target feed the carnation and keep large amounts of plankton in your tank which could foul up your water. All the colt needs is some good light and good water params. I have both. I wish I had not gotten the carnation. That is mine in my avatar.

[zuzecawi]

It should be noted that sun polyps and carnation corals are both non photosynthetic, low light, low water flow corals. They usually require deep caves with slow circulation to really thrive, and it helps to take a jar with food in it, invert it over them, and then shake it gently so that the food can float around and be eaten. This method was recommended by Anthony Calfo, and I found it to be very effective. It keeps you from fouling your entire tank with constant feeding, and it certainly benefited the non photosynthetic corals. Another possiblilty, if you're bent on carnations or non photosynthetic gorgonians (which I am) is to make a phytoplankton reactor, and have a constant slow drip of phyto in your tank. This as well as the addition of rotifers, freshly hatched artemia, and cyclopz-eeze (sp?) will greatly benefit all your corals and clams. Carnations growing upside down in a cave are just too cool. Colt corals are much more practical to most people though. Carnations usually don't live much longer than a year in a normal reef tank. Sun Corals though, are a bit hardier, and if fed meaty foods (which isn't such an option for carnations with their smaller polyps) it will positively thrive and bud like crazy.

Those yellow polyps are a menace! I had some, they spread worse than the green star polyps, and not nearly as pretty. But as a test the waters coral, they can't be beat. If you can't get those to thrive, you've got serious water issues.