How I feed my suncorals in a 8G, no pollution!

[nanonan]

Hi, just wanted to share my feeding technique. Since i dont have a skimmer, I try to not overfeed...plus its hard with the cleaner shrimp stealing the food from my corals!! :mad2:

Use a turkey baster every5 mion to circulate the food

http://www.shoji.ca/biocube8/sunfeeding/1.jpg
http://www.shoji.ca/biocube8/sunfeeding/2.jpg
http://www.shoji.ca/biocube8/sunfeeding/3.jpg

Mix of Mysis, Cyclop and Oyster Eggs,

When finished, I dump the water on the second chamber but i put Filter floss and a 50 micron filter over it to filter out the oyster eggs also.

It works for now, each polyp is getting stuffed!!!!


FTS
http://www.shoji.ca/biocube8/fts_041.jpg

:rollface:

[nanonan]

Waking up after feeding...

http://www.shoji.ca/biocube8/sunfeeding/5.jpg

[dendro982]

And you remove dirty filter floss with micron pad after what time?
How many feedings you did using this technique? Or for how long?

Sorry about so many questions, but I'm trying to keep sun corals in nano too, and dissolved organics creates problems.

[nanonan]

I change the filter floss every 2-3 days, but the 50 micron is only temporary when i do this feeding technique.
Remove after pouring the water through it.
I only do this 3 times a week.

hasnt been long, 1 month.

I cant leave the 50micron pad always on because it gets glogged after 1 day lol.

I guess the best way is to always have new mixed water available so you dump this one and replace with new one after every feeding.

I do weekly water change(1gallon) and blast the rocks every 1-2 days. I also have cheato so it helps on nutrient export.

Everything is doing good this far(knock on wood)
zoos has new polyp, xenia growing slowly, mushrrom has 2 new baby etc...


My lfs has a 24g and hes been doing 50% wc for the past 4 years and his tank is doing very well also.

[dendro982]

Thank you!
I'll keep fingers crossed, if it work for a couple of months more - I should implement this myself.
Increasing size of skimmer didn't help much...

One more question: when you are removing coral from feeding container, before dumping the dirty water into the back chamber, do you expose it to the air? You know what I'm talking about: the polyps are inflated after feeding and without water support they look really miserable, even for a second. Keep it upside down when moving?

This is variant of container feeding, the heated version. I used a separate 3L pico tank for the same purpose, with heater and small power filter, but it was an overkill for a corals, that are able to fit large Lee's specimen container when polyps are inflated. Tom's Pla-House Curvies container is twice (or more, if the next size) larger. No hanging bracket, though, but over door handing brackets from dollar store can be used.

[2frosty4u]

I personally just use a small plastic water bottle with a hole in the lid, the bottom cut out of it and a few weights zip-tied to the bottom. I slip it over the suncoral and use a small turkey baster to fill it with small amounts of food throught the hole in the lid. He gets what he needs without being disturbed and the little bit thats left over is then taken care of by the cuc when I remove the bottle.

[dendro982]

I have a problem with dissolved organics, not with particles, when switched to feeding by grocery seafood instead of the whole organisms (like mysis). Increased skimmer sizes, no luck.

[PSam]

Little pollution is nice, but I'd imagine the Tubastrea doesn't appreciate being moved everyday, not to mention this doesn't seem like it will allow the coral the chance to encrust and grow. You have those Duncanopsammia, Caulastrea, and a couple other meaty corals & polyps that would accept the food - I would just target feed each polyp on the Tubastrea and let the rest float around to be consumed by the other corals. JMO, but the Tubstrea is likely to do much better being left alone and not moved daily or weekly... at all for that matter. Any rate, nice work with the tank, it looks nice.

[nanonan]

The suncoral is the only one I move, I never expose it to air, I just lower the container and slide the coral out.

Suncorals doesn't really need to encrust I think.
I'm sure I will have nitrate problems if I open feed in my 8g after time.
I only do it with the suncoral because it's non-photo so I make sure the get food

Thanks!

I also add dt oyster eggs daily so it helps also.
If you have a skimmer and do weekly wc, enough lr you shouldn't have nitrate problems.
Maybe it comes from oter sources.

Do you have bioballs?
Do you blast your lr and back chamber?

[Nano Chris]

Looks realy good, i might get a sun coral.

[tatuvaaj]

How about adding a relatively large sponge specimen into the aquarium to control nutrient levels? They are extremely efficient filter feeders and they can use DOM and bacteria as a food source.

[dendro982]

I used orange tree sponge in 6g (23 l) Nano-Cube, it didn't help:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Some%20of%20the%20tanks/for%20eCoralia/may6_06_NC6start.jpg
Neither did xenia, who should:
http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/12/13/1/5/69/2763105690081040121PYyyjb_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2763105690081040121PYyyjb)
I had there two large bryozoans who should also be an efficient filter feeders, same result.

Same with orange spine sponge and ball sponge, in twice larger tank:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/mix/Nov18_06sponges.jpg

PSam: Can you post photo and description of filtration for your tank, or link to it)?

nanonan: I started almost 3 yrs ago with a single sun coral in 6g Nano-Cube (see above) but food got lost inside LR branches and water quality became unacceptable. Moving sun coral out for a feeding in container - without exposure to air - was possible, but not returning - polluted water entered the tank.
In back chambers were: filter floss, carbon, Seachem Purigen, LR rubble, phosphate remover. Blasted everything and removed uneaten food - what was reachable.

Moved sun coral out, in pico - same kind of feeding as your container, only free standing, with full water changes after each feeding (twice a week). Too labor intensive.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/LPS/may8feeding.jpg
Later used it only for making tubastreas open for a feeding first time:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/LPS/Black%20sun/Feb2808contfed.jpg

My current 6g shallow "tank" setup:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Some%20of%20the%20tanks/6g%20suns%20tank/Fer24_09aftermove.jpg
Tried it with different skimmers:
- hang on the back Rio Nano skimmer (rated 30g/114l on 2g/8l sump),
- ASM Mini G (rated for 75g/285l, in 6g sump - just enough to house the skimmer), and
- ASM G-3 (rated for 250g/950l tanks, in the same sump):
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g78/dendro982/Some%20of%20the%20tanks/6g%20suns%20tank/Nov15_08ASMG3on6gsuns.jpg
All the same, have to rely on water changes.

You see now why I'm asking other sun coral owners how they handle their tanks... :p

Encrusting or not, but here are photos (http://www.defineyourreef.frihost.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19) how my sun coral grew asides.

[tatuvaaj]

dendro982,

Magnificent sponges and tanks! I'm really surprised those sponges didn't result in improvement in water quality, those should filter the whole water volume in minutes in that small tanks :o

The water quality problems are not obvious in those photos, what kind of problems you have due to high DOM concentration?

TIA!

[dendro982]

tatuvaaj:
Did you try the large decorative live sponges for water cleaning? If yes, post photos and details how it worked, please.

Water quality problems are more measurable than visible: nitrates rise up to 40 mg/l during one week, phosphates are bound by phosphate remover. Feedings were done every day or every second day.
Above 80 mg/l - and sun corals don't feel so good, but survive.

All particulates are removed by mechanical filtration through ~25 micron filter sock, changed within 2 hrs after feeding. Large particles - manually, using large pipette (turkey baster). What is left should be particles below 25 micron and dissolved organic matter. Skimmer should solve this problem, but they don't.

May be they would, starting with certain level of skimmers, like Shorty II or Bubble King. You likely already have seen posts of a few people who have sun corals tanks crispy clean (crystal clean?), so it is possible.

[tatuvaaj]

dendro982,

PM sent :thumbsup:

[suta4242]

dendro982 did you have any long term success keeping those sponges?

Am keen to try some in an experimental 3ft tank that has other nps in it but am weary because I don't know the food source for some of these solitary sponges.


cheers

[dendro982]

No, they didn't last long in any of my tanks, but hitchhiking encrusting sponges are multiplying.
- The orange tree sponge was partially covered by red cyano and I tried to brush it off by toothbrush (!).
- Blue haliclona was bought with necrotic patches and died fast, I suspect that it caused my tank crash. Others had actual growth of this sponge (high light requirement).
- Orange ball didn't recovered from tank crash, declined within 2-3 months.
- Spiny tree sponge also declined with the same rate in the tank, but the stump that was moved to the sump, after 100 micron filter sock, where it lasted for 1.5 yrs or so. Still alive, but I can't call what was left the decorative sponge.
- Candycane sponge (similar to orange tree) also died, within few months, polyps are still alive.
If your skimmer skims really well and you have ozone, maybe you will be more lucky: my tanks have too much organics in water (but not so much nitrates or phosphates).

I tied dried phytoplankton (without blnding it each time before feeding), bottled Instant Algae nannochloropsis and Shellfish Diet, MicroVert, Marine Snow (and much larger dried zooplankton for corals). Making culture of the Bag O'Bugs (using GARF method, from own tank water) wasn't possible. One of the tanks was in direct sunlight and have live microalgae growth, baby clams survived and grew there.

BTW, I bought clams to help with filtration and only later found that for efficient work they should be around 30 kg each :o

[letik]

dendro982, how are the sponges you have being doing? I'm planing to get one. Any special advice?

[dendro982]

Died. Still have unrecognizable fragment of spiny tree sponge after 1.5 yrs, others lasted for only months no matter what I did.
So I'm not in position to give advice at all, apart from trying only one sponge for 6+ months and see if your tank is suitable for them. Encrusting hitchhiking sponges may grow well, but not the large decorative sponges. Good luck!

[Jay1982]

I have a few questions, how long do you keep the sun corals in the container when feeding? And how do they respond to being moved every few days?