New black sun coral

[midwestsalt]

so long store short i ordered a sun coral, and received a large black sun coral! it obviously was not what i was expecting but an awesome surprise! so i am wondering what i am looking at for care for this guy and what to expect with it, also placement! i have some shelves in my tank should it be upside down (white base up) upright in the sand, i know its low light and flow, i have also read on feeding and getting the polyps out during the day what has been the most successful! and how rare are they truly? i will get pictures ASAP

[alan.reef]

it doesnt need to be upside down, as long out of fine sand on them. fine sand will damage the coral tissue.
my orange and blk sun coral like med flow.

[muttley000]

Not to be a downer but those would have been excellent questions before ordering a new coral. I was under the impression that black needed the same care is the yellow/orange. That being said I am doing my research now and would really like to see a pic of your coral, and I hope you keep this updated so we can see what worked for you.

[Reef Frog]

No worries, for all practical purposes the care is the same as yellow sun corals. I would not mount them upside down, even though they can grow that way in nature - as it is very hard to feed them that way. I would not put them on the sand bed unless they are on an elevated rock. You do not want algae growing on them - that's whynanshadednlocation is ideal. But otherwise they couldn't care less about the light. Feed them meaty foods regularly and they'll be fine.

[noy]

no worries, for all practical purposes the care is the same as yellow sun corals. I would not mount them upside down, even though they can grow that way in nature - as it is very hard to feed them that way. I would not put them on the sand bed unless they are on an elevated rock. You do not want algae growing on them - that's whynanshadednlocation is ideal. But otherwise they couldn't care less about the light. Feed them meaty foods regularly and they'll be fine.

+1

[kungfuujew]

i have a fat head dendro, yellow/orange sun coral, and a black sun coral dont seem too need anything different from the next, i do feed them when i can at night. my dendro is open all the time so i feed that thing like a champ. here is my black sun coral right after the lights came on.266888

[ReeferKimberly]

Not to be a downer but those would have been excellent questions before ordering a new coral.

He got the wrong coral, so yeah, ummmmmmmm. Why would he be looking up to see if the black was the same as the other if he was not ordering the black one? Sometimes I get sick of people being so hard on each other. This is a place for questions.

[muttley000]

He got the wrong coral, so yeah, ummmmmmmm. Why would he be looking up to see if the black was the same as the other if he was not ordering the black one? Sometimes I get sick of people being so hard on each other. This is a place for questions.

Point was 2 minutes of research on yellow sun corals told me they have the same care... I know we live in a place where no one should lose and no mistake should be pointed out, but I feel there is an opportunity for the OP to learn. I personally try to learn at every opportunity.

I wish nothing but good luck to the op, and not trying to be hard on anyone. just think we have a responsibility also.

So, to get back on topic and provide something useful... how is the coral doing? and how about those pics? And if I offended you as much as I did reeferkimberly, sorry.

[Trichome]

I would say the black sun coral is the toughest out of the 3 sun coral i know of. That being said its not impossible to keep them. It will take dedication. The toughest part will be to get them to come out and feed at first. To do this i love using FROZEN Cyclopeeze, its like crack for coral. Use a turkey baster of some for a tool to shot the cyclopeeze on the coral. This is done to set off the feed response. In about 30 min you should have polyps coming out at this time feed it some enriched brine shrimp or fine meaty item. Try your best to do this routine at the same time each day and you should have a nice and healthy specimen. After a while you can get away with direct feed every other day.

That would be my advice to anyone just getting into any kind of NPS coral.

[midwestsalt]

hey all, sorry for the late response i have been traveling for a week and had someone watching my tank! i have been working to get its heads out than had a short stint away from the house! Muttley, the reason i ask, is as said i did do research on the sun coral just not black sun coral and i alwyes check multiple places on my new coral! but i have found the best research is talking to people on here and getting there first hand experiences, because after all it is a live coral! but on the other hand i have finally got some time to get back to my tank and the coral is doing OK, when feeding my fish i have been doing just what you said trichome but using shrimp(i will try cyclopeeze ), if i put some food over it right away it takes about 20 min b4 the heads decide to come out than i make sure to get food right into its open heads, my biggest problem is that i cant get it to keep its heads open, they will close about 30 min later! but over all it has about 35 to 40 heads some small some large and seems to be doing good i would just like it to show more! im hoping with daily feedings like that it will stay open?? here some pics, sorry for the bad quality i will work for better ones, tank needs some cleaning after i was away!

[Trichome]

It looks like you got yourself a nice piece. I can tell the coral has been getting food just by looking at it when its closed like that. When the middle of the polyp is not receded its a good sign. I don't think you will be able to keep them open all day long but the more consistent you get feeding them the longer they should stay open after feeding.

[midwestsalt]

thnaks! im loving it!