Sun coral

[frederickk]

I went to my LFS yesterday and I saw a nice rock with about 15 heads of sun coral. I know they are a little bit hard to keep but didn't know they didn't really like strong light.

Does anyone have a pic of their own with the emplacement in their tank.

Also the guy was telling me that they are quite hard to feed and need to be feed one by one.

He was then telling me that you can cut a plastic bottle of coke (the 2 litre) and place it on top of the of the coral with some food as I forgot which one is it.

Does anyone as ever tried that before?

Thanks

[Lt. Hotpants]

yeah it's a total pain the arse to keep/feed them, but they are some of the most beautiful corals you can have i think

the black tube corals are incredible too, the black is such an attention grabber

[Lt. Hotpants]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/products/large/p_81975.jpg

http://www.reef-encounters.com/photos%20subpages/Macro%20shot%20pages/Macro7.jpg

[ThomasinKind]

Most people keep them in low light and low flow. From what I recall they need high flow and don't really care about light. They need to be fed b/c they lack zooxanthellae (spelling? - I always get it wrong). Most of the time I see people feeding them Mysis (other similarly sized meaty foods would work as well).

[tkeracer619]

I think the key to these is getting a good healthy one from the start. I got one from the lfs was very healthy, i feed once weekly.

Medium flow, so that they can filter feed. Light doesnt matter.

[NanoGurl]

They are easy to keep! But they do require work to feed them. They are not hard to feed at all. I just use a dropped and brine/mysis and feed them a couple of times a week. They are a lot of fun and I enjoy watching them eat.

Light doesn't matter, but in lower light you have a better chance of them opening up. Once they are trained and/or accustomed to your lighting they will open up even in bright light... especially if you get them trained on a schedule when they know they will be fed.

http://www.nanocorals.com/reefcentral/75/sun6.jpg

http://www.nanocorals.com/reefcentral/75/sun7.jpg

[thecichlidpleco]

I put mine in a cave with little light coming through, I take them out once a week to feed mysis in a bowl, they have not learned to open up yet, when the tank is fed, and it is also too difficult to direct feed in their position.

[frederickk]

Are they eating well when you take them out in a bowl?

[mikekman]

They really aren't very hard to keep, you just have to be educated on what their requirements are. Since they are not photosynthetic they must be fed. Use a turkey baster and slow blast food onto each of them. Feed them at least twice a week or more. The problem is with these corals is that as you feed them more, you will have problems with nitrates but a good skimmer and water change and take care of it.

Sun corals are very awesome corals, you will have people oohing and aahing when they are out in the open.

If you want a coral that is just like it and literally looks like a sun coral, get a dendrophyllia or balanophyllia. Dendros are extremely popular right now and they look like a giant sun coral. Whats cool is that they are open 24 hours unlike sun corals.

Good luck
Mike

[Ebmorri]

Not a great pic but here is mine. I got it at a great price because the LFS said it wasn't doing good.

http://www.ebmorri.com/images/Fish%20Tank/sun%20coral%202.jpg

[frederickk]

hey Ebmorri

Just out of curiosity how much did you pay for them?

The frag I saw at the LFS looked the same size.

[Roy G. Biv]

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t251/pmolan/Suncoral.jpg

[Roy G. Biv]

I feed 2X week, just a burst with the turkey baster, no special attention. Need to feed approx the same time each time to get them out on a schedule. And low light, in a cave if you have a shallow tank. My tank is 29" tall so just on the bottom is good for it.

[thecichlidpleco]

Mine are only eatin in the bowl right now, they rarely are able to catch anything while in the tank.

[mikekman]

thecichlidpleco you mention that your sun corals are not able to catch any food in your tank. Turn off the powerheads in your tank and you will be able to feed your suncorals in the tank instead of going through the hassle of taking them out of the tank, putting them in a bowl, etc.

[specialkb]

Sorry to be a little bit off topic but where is a good place to buy sun coral.? i'm wanting to give them a shot in my new tank.

[tgrove]

i love mine

mine seem to like med to high flow
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/tgrove/CIMG0723.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/tgrove/CIMG0720.jpg

[frederickk]

Thanks for the reply guys.

I think I will give them a shot. The LSF is closed today so hopefully they will still be there tomorrow.

Nice pic tgrove!

[frederickk]

tgrove

Is your sun coral always open like that all the time?

[tgrove]

its open about 4-6 hours when i feed it

[tgrove]

actually its a lot fuller now that i look at the pic

[frederickk]

Will they stay open when the lights on?

[tgrove]

yes the stay open with the lights on.

Here is the trick. feed the tank at the same time everyday at the time you want them out and thats it

[frederickk]

I like that idea