Feeding Sun Coral

[NewGuy168]

Hey guys i'm new on here. I just started my 55gallon tank. Its about 1 month old. Its pretty much done cylcliing already all my corals i put in there been doing fine. but it seems like my Sun coral is not openning up. I know i'm suppose to manually feed them but, they are not openning up so how can i feed them? Any one have any tips?:confused: :confused: :confused:

[JetCat USA]

put a cover over it such as a coke bottle with the bottom cut off and add the food inside the bottle with the coral, you have to do it at the same time each day/night and train it to come out and eat, you have to be like YOU are on a timer and not randomly, the coral learns the routine then can be brought out whenever the tank is fed. sun corals are allot of work, and not for the beginner.

[NewGuy168]

Hi JetCat USA, Thank you for you the information. I was planning on doing that too but my friends told me that it might sufficate the coral and its not good for it. Ok i will try it out. thank you.

[hobbzz]

Mine almost always has at least one polyp open. If I feed that polyp, after about five minutes most of the others will open, and then I feed those. No need to do it at the same time every night. I'm not saying this is normal. It's just what mine will do.

I also think that as long as you are willing to feed it enough, it's a great beginner coral. It doesn't require pristine water quality or any light. And other tank params aren't as important as with sps, like ca, mag etc... hth :)

[Roy G. Biv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10560527#post10560527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewGuy168
Hi JetCat USA, Thank you for you the information. I was planning on doing that too but my friends told me that it might sufficate the coral and its not good for it. Ok i will try it out. thank you.

It's not like you keep it on there all day. Its only for feeding time. Thats to keep the food around it until all of it opens. Once it opens at the same time every day you dont need it anymore, at least that was true in my case.

[JetCat USA]

yeah you don't leave the bottle over it in the tank :) it's just to keep the food concentrated and not floating all over the tank. it is best to do it at the same time till you get it used to opening with lights on. if you have one that has been in captivity for some time it may not be as important but a newly wild caught is used to opening and eating at night and takes some time to train to open with lights on.

i say it's not a beginners coral because most newbies don't have the patients to stick with the routine and don't have the knowledge that Each polyp needs to be fed and most starve the majority of the polyps and they die quiet easily.

[NewGuy168]

Hey guys thanks for all the tips i'll try it out and see what happens.

[hobbzz]

Yeah, I forgot to mention mine was a frag from someone else, which could explain why it opens with the lights on.

[coralnub]

When I had a sun coral I would feed the fish first. The food in the water will induce the sun to open up. Then when it's open you can use the coke bottle method, or I just used to spray mine with cyclopeeze in a pipet.

I wouldn't say a sun coral is a bad choice for a beginner. They are a lot more tolerant to water conditions than most other corals, but you have to be on it with the feeding. Keeping it thriving is effort more than expertise.

[Nanz]

Hi.. I just got a sun coral a few days ago.. I placed it under a rock over hang to shade it from the light. It still is not opening on any polyps..

I have been trying to feed it live brine shrimp that I hatched. I use a syringe to blow the brine shrimp on the polyps.. is this what you suggest feeding the coral? Should I try to feed it something else?

Please help if you can.. thanks :)

[Shockdude]

Nanz try feeding it the same time everyday with frozen brine shrimp. They will then react to your feeding time and eventually open up, if they don't a small prawn frozen prawn will do the trick, they cant resist the smell.
I recorded this sometime ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLDJ6jsv5ys
My tank is now full of sun coral.

[JmLee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10564740#post10564740 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nanz
Hi.. I just got a sun coral a few days ago.. I placed it under a rock over hang to shade it from the light. It still is not opening on any polyps..

I have been trying to feed it live brine shrimp that I hatched. I use a syringe to blow the brine shrimp on the polyps.. is this what you suggest feeding the coral? Should I try to feed it something else?

Please help if you can.. thanks :)

I think it would be better to feed it meaty foods like frozen mysis. I always wanted to buy a sun coral but its so much work to own. :(

[JetCat USA]

if the baby brine are newly hatched they still have their yoke sack and are more then acceptable, they can also be enriched prior to feeding if some time has passed after hatchings.

getting newly acquired sun corals to open has been far easier/quicker for me with the use of the frozen Cyclop-Eeze. IME it's an excellent diet for the corals and readily available with much less hassle then hatching brine shrimp.

[Nanz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10564769#post10564769 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shockdude
Nanz try feeding it the same time everyday with frozen brine shrimp. They will then react to your feeding time and eventually open up, if they don't a small prawn frozen prawn will do the trick, they cant resist the smell.
I recorded this sometime ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLDJ6jsv5ys
My tank is now full of sun coral.

Where do you buy frozen prawn?

[aznlmpulse]

They like med/strong flow. You don't have to feed every individual polyp, but most people do. Kinda hard if you have a huge colony. Most people feed them mysis.

I feed my fish first, then take a syringe filled with mysis soaked in powdered cyclopeeze, and shoot some into the tentacles every other day. They do seem like they only open up at night....when I feed the tank. I don't think its a hard coral to take care of. You just have to remember to feed them every now and then.

[rustybucket145]

You don't have to shade them from the light, but they don't have to be in the light....


Put them in a good flow area that will be easily accessibly to you so you can feed them on a regular basis. Don't force feed them. If the coral is new to your tank it may take a while to become acclimated and comfortable to the new environment before it begins opening. Also, natrually they are nocturnal feeders so you may want to check the coral sometime in the middle of the night to see if the polyps are open.

[Nanz]

Thanks everyone.. :)

I'll move the rock I put over it to shade it and try to feed it mysis shrimp at night..

[NewGuy168]

well finally my sun coral opens up a little bit but not enough for me to feed it.

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[rdnyva]

I know sun corals don't require light but is it detrimental to place them in high light areas. I would like to get one and place it high up in my tank on a ledge, so it's easier to feed. Will high light and being placed high in the tank be a problem?