Help with black sun coral please

[RickM61]

I am new here to RC but i have been keeping corals for about a year now and have had really good sucess with them. I got a black sun coral 2 weeks ago that looked healthy but never opens that i see..Today when i got home i noticed white bleaching around some of the edges.. is there anything i can do for this guy.i heard they were not that hard to keep..according to all my research..thanks in advance for any input. my water parameters are perfect except calicium its at 400 ppm should it be higher..

Rick

[macronut]

Where is the coral located? sun corals are to be shaded. Each polyp will need to be individually feed at night.

Found this for you on a site and copied and pasted it for you.

This species is very difficult to keep and should only be attempted by expert aquarists, or is a `delicate shipper.`

Sun Coral (Black) - Tubastraea micranthaAlso known as: Branched Black Sun Coral, Branched Black Tube Coral
Color: The Sun Coral (Black) has a black, black-brown color.
Type of hard coral: Large polyp stony coral (LPS).
Diet: Planktivore.
Feeding: It likes to eat Filter Feeding Invert Food, Meaty bits like raw shrimp, Silver Side and Mysis Shrimp.
Behavior: The Tubastraea micrantha is generally peaceful toward other tankmates.Care: Many consider the Tubastraea micrantha a high-maintenance specimen.
Lighting: Has low lighting needs.This coral is non-photosynthetic
Water flow: The Branched Black Sun Coral, Branched Black Tube Coral requires low water flow.
General notes: The Black Sun Coral is a very delicate coral. The branches are very thin and break easily. This coral is labor intensive as it requires having each individual polyp fed daily. It is not photosynthetic and prefers to be kept in a cave, or rocky overhang than out in the light. The polyps of this coral are white.
Water parameters: Keep water quality high (SG 1.023 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F).
Origin: The Sun Coral (Black) is commonly collected from Indo-Pacific.

[rhino509]

i had one of the pink and orange sun corals,did not make it very long.definatley needs to be fed often.which i didnt do since i have a small skimmer i was scared i would soil the tank.

[macronut]

I failed to say, "Welcome to Reef Central"

[MYDRAAL]

May only eat when lights go off.

[Tylt33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11889365#post11889365 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RickM61
I am new here to RC but i have been keeping corals for about a year now and have had really good sucess with them. I got a black sun coral 2 weeks ago that looked healthy but never opens that i see..Today when i got home i noticed white bleaching around some of the edges.. is there anything i can do for this guy.i heard they were not that hard to keep..according to all my research..thanks in advance for any input. my water parameters are perfect except calicium its at 400 ppm should it be higher..

Rick

They have to be target fed, meaning that you either need to load up a turkey baster and feed each head while they're in the tank and the flow is off (or) you need to pull the coral out 1-2 times per day and put it in a small container with water and food mixed in the water. They also need shade, and need to be trained when to eat. They're more work than a lot of people want.

[HumanIMDB]

We have an orange one.

We were feeding every couple of days but have noticed it starting to recede so we're starting to feed every night now to get it back to full health; we will have to make sure we are strict about our weekly water changes though.

[RickM61]

thanks for the response everyone..i will start target feeding tonight and will feed every night..the tanks big and i have a huge clean up crew so i think the tank will be ok..i do regular water changes also.

Rick

[Freed]

Keep at it. If the polyps don't come out to play right away don't give up, they will eventually within a week or two. The key is to squirt some juice at it from the food you intend to feed to it anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour or so before giving food to it so the polpys will come out and want to grab the food.

[RickM61]

ok i target fed it tonight and the polyps started to come out..my next question is some of the polyps are white around the outside edge looks almost like a coral skeleton but not all the way each polyp still has some black to it..are these polyps able to be save or am i going to lose the polyps.

Rick

[cpl40475]

If fed properly the color "SHOULD" come back I had an orange sun coral i nursed back to health. I then had a change of hours at work and had to give back to my LFS. (not where i bought it from). The trick to a sun coral for me was to remove it from the tank in a small bowl of tank water and target feed the sun using a syringe and a small piece of rigid tubing. Drop a piece of mysis on each head and keep doing this for about a 1/2 hour each night. If you do this at the same time each night the SUN will let you know hey its my feeding time lol. I found it interesting to watch the coral eat.