|
06/03/2013, 05:24 PM | #26 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: S/W Florida
Posts: 57
|
Your suns are beautiful noy, Good tips on feeding them in your videos.
|
06/05/2013, 01:54 PM | #28 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 281
|
Hi Noy,
Advice to ask, considering your success! I have an nps-lps tank that I feed a lot: every day 2-3 cubes mysis, 1-2 cubes brine, nutramar ova, cyclopeeze, phyto, rotifers, rotifer diet, blood worms... There is a fair amount of flow, and I can see my 3 tubastrea sucking at least water in, and responding a bit when I put food in the tank, but they haven't opened up like yours do. Is it possible to get the proportions of the food you list? I'd really appreciate it! thanks |
06/05/2013, 02:26 PM | #29 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: S/W Florida
Posts: 57
|
I haven't seen any white ones before, must look nice when they are open!
|
06/05/2013, 07:56 PM | #30 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
Quote:
3 large tubastrea's 3 medium sized tubastrea 1 medium branching tubastrea 2 large black sun corals 1 medium sun coral 1 small sun coral 1 medium dendro I have a couple of frags here and there. I feed every other night during the week and nightly on Sat/Sun (~5 times a week) and I have a rotating routine of brine/Mysis/blood worms. I try to make sure I feed blood worms 2x a week. I also try to feed live brine at most once a month. I don't see any feed response on phyto, or any of the powered coral foods or even cyclopeez. If you put coral food (reef roids etc) in the water the polyps will respond and open up but won't actually show a feeding response if you squirt coral foods at them. I find larger size meat foods generate a good response. I also find that for some reason my corals all hate oyster eggs and literally barf them out (spew them out in this slime excretion). My thinking (and its just a theory) is that we confuse fish requirement with these corals and while brine shrimp won't work as a staple for fish - i'm inclined to think otherwise for corals. I have this little patch of black sun coral that have been raised on nothing but brine (very small polyps initially) and its grown considerably and multiplied in heads. I like blood worms because its high in protein. In terms of proportion - I use enough to make sure every head get a bit. The videos on the blood worm feeding is how I apportion food to each head. So I don't follow a strict quantity regiment. I don't mix foods and feed primarily one food each feeding. When I feed blood worms I generally end up using 6-7 cubes and 1-2 cubes of brine shrimp. I feed the brine to the smaller polyps that have trouble securing the blood worms. As for brine shrimp I use 8+ cubes. As for the Mysis - i buy a big sheet and chop it up and i probably use about the equivalent of 8 cubes. As for getting them to open up more - i would suggest the following: 1) feed at a regular time - i feed right after the main lights go out and the moon lights come on. They open up like clockwork after the main lights go out. 2) use some "prompter" foods - i find they respond to "smelly" foods in the water. i have this angel food feed stuff which smells dreadful - i break off a piece and dilute it in water and squirt the diluted stuff at the heads (with all pumps off). i find new acquisitions will respond using this technique. 3) adjust your flow - try direct or bounced direct flow. this actually makes a big difference. i suspect it may be due the flow carrying dissolved foods to the heads. 4) some people use #2 but feed the coral in a bucket - i'm not a fan of that - i think they get more disturbed by being moved. 5) whenever i get new corals i feed everyday for a month or so - gets them used to opening up. hope that helps! |
|
06/06/2013, 07:15 PM | #31 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,517
|
can't wait to see the orange one open and happy, my boyfriend would love a colored rhizo instead of our whites but they are spendy right now
__________________
Most people don't realize that large pieces of coral, which have been painted brown and attached to the skull by common wood screws, can make a child look like a deer. *Jack Handey |
06/07/2013, 01:23 AM | #32 |
Registered Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: okeechobee florida
Posts: 385
|
I have black and yellow suns. The yellows have 7 new heads started and the blacks started w/4 and now have7. I use a small syringe and feed a mixture of mysis and copepods with a cap full of Garlic Guard to each polyp. They are the stars of my tank. The smell of the garlic seems to open them up pretty quickly. Yeah my clowns and shrimp both associate the syringe with feeding time so it's an act of attrition but like you said it's well worth it. Keep up the good work
|
06/10/2013, 10:31 AM | #33 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 281
|
Quote:
I have several nps gorgonians as well as the tubastrea, which is why i also feed cyclopeeze, ova, etc. I'm going to pick up some blood worms and angel food this week. Fingers crossed, it works |
|
06/11/2013, 08:04 PM | #34 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
Some shots of my black sun corals (micrantha). Couldn't bring out the differences in colonies as much as I would like.
Black Sun Coral with Polyps with a white tinge to it. I saw these in a LFS and the colony was in pretty bad shape. I noticed that the polyps had this white tinge to it and had white tips and thought it was pretty unique. I really think I lose some this in the macros shots. IMG_6105 IMG_6114 Typical Black Sun Coral with black polyps and black epidermis (skin). IMG_6117 Black Sun Corals with a Green Epidermis (skin) IMG_6116 Black Sun Corals with a dark green polyp IMG_4705 I think the green and black epidermis are different colour morphs for micranthas. The polyps range from different hues of green to black (with different hues). I've had these colonies for some time and the colours have remained stable. I would not say the same thing about the Yellow Sun Corals though. I started with more red and orange colonies and they are now all the same hue of orange and yellow. I am more inclined to think with the yellow sun corals the colour of the colonies depend a lot more on water chemistry (ph, levels of nitrate) and there are a lot less actual colour morphs out there. I would love to hear what other people's experiences are (and show pics!) Last edited by noy; 06/11/2013 at 08:17 PM. |
06/12/2013, 10:15 AM | #35 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Mexico City
Posts: 421
|
Quote:
I think that on the contrary, the color change resulting from other factors and may be up to the light but do not contain zooxanthellate know that contribute to energy requirements. also touched me a whole display as pink colonies have changed color, but also some others have maintained that in the same colony are orange and yellow. food may be another factor that determines the color change their nutritional components in pigmentation. interesting topic! would be interesting to know if any chromo involved in the change.
__________________
Colt |
|
06/12/2013, 08:12 PM | #36 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
I have my doubts about light being a factor in terms of coloration exactly because there is no zooxanthellate algae. I agree food could be a factor and this gives me an interesting idea whereupon I can feed (or not feed) specific colonies different foods with strong pigmentation (like bloodworms) and see what the effect is.
I totally agree there are colour "morphs" even within the same colony. I have that situation myself where I have one polyp which is a distinct colour than the others - which is interesting. I'll post a photo of this (have to wait till lights out before the polyps open). |
06/13/2013, 02:06 PM | #37 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Fresno, CA
Posts: 50
|
Beautiful pics mate! I'm quite impressed.
|
06/13/2013, 07:26 PM | #38 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
|
06/14/2013, 03:08 PM | #39 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Norfolk, England
Posts: 1,576
|
Any shots of the rhizo's. Picked up one similar to the bottom one in your pics a few weeks ago. Its very rarely not out. Would love another but they are like rocking horse poo over here.
|
06/16/2013, 06:14 AM | #41 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 5
|
I wish I could find a green one. It all looks great
|
06/16/2013, 07:56 AM | #42 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Warner Robins, GA
Posts: 78
|
Nice pics!
|
06/17/2013, 04:16 PM | #43 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Norfolk, England
Posts: 1,576
|
|
06/17/2013, 05:08 PM | #44 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
great shots moort! nice coloration.
interesting you have green tips on yours. Just curious what do you feed them? unless you have dendros - your sun corals will stay closed for the most part during the day. Mine open up during fish feeding (even though they don't get any). |
06/20/2013, 03:52 PM | #45 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Norfolk, England
Posts: 1,576
|
Hi Noy thanks.
It's only the one i have and i haven't had it that long. It gets a mixture of foods every couple of days. I'm more worried about over feeding it so normally just a few mysis, krill or similar at a time, mostly small sized food, but it really opens up well after Fauna Marin's lps food. The suns are pretty well trained having been in there a couple of years. They open soon after any food enters the water and stay out for hours after. The dendro on the other hand has been constantly out after i got it back to health. |
06/20/2013, 06:49 PM | #46 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Mexico City
Posts: 421
|
beautiful rhizos
__________________
Colt |
06/23/2013, 06:44 AM | #47 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: S/W Florida
Posts: 57
|
Quote:
_________ Dave |
|
06/23/2013, 10:22 AM | #48 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
the white one is quite nice at night. it has these light green tips which fluoresce against the moonlight. i'll try to capture that in a pic. I haven't done a lot to get these to open during the day - will work on that soon.
|
06/29/2013, 07:53 AM | #49 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
Fathead Dendros!
been looking forever for these. had to pay a bit of a premium on them couldn't talk my wholeseller/retailer down much. IMG_6248 IMG_6247 I think this is a Dendrophyllia Fistula (my other dendro is an arbuscula) - if anyone knows for sure it would save me a bit of research. Now, if I can only get my hands on a Balanophyllia |
06/29/2013, 08:04 AM | #50 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 772
|
Purple Dendros or what?
A few of my micrantha are showing a purplish tinge on the tissue. I think this is just a reaction with the coralline algae - which make me think tissue colour is not a reliable way to discern species. IMG_6251 |
|
|