Another Sun Coral feeding question.

[peregrine3751]

Hi all;
When I feed my Sun Coral I take it out of the tank and put it in a bowl of tank water to feed it. It eats real good. My question is, how much do you feed it, or how do you know when it's had enough ?
Thanks

Dave

 

["Umm fish?"]

I think you know when it's had enough when it stops eating. If it's eating well and it looks happy then it probably is happy. Each polyp of mine would probably eat a whole mysis shrimp per day if I fed it that way. As it is, I've just been feeding the tank really heavily and the tubastrea seems happy with what it is getting. It grows a lot slower that way, though.

Are you waiting 'til it's released wastes before you put it back in the tank? If not, you might as well feed it in the tank, IMO.

 

[peregrine3751]

Thanks for the reply. I feed it out of the tank because my tank is 24" deep and I keep it at the bottom, hard to get to for feeding. Plus if I feed it in the tank the fish just steal the food. I've even tried feeding the fish something at the same time I feed the coral. But no, they don't want what I give them, they want what the coral has. Anyway, thanks a lot.

Dave

:wave:

 

["Umm fish?"]

My tank's two feet deep, too. You do have options:

 

[peregrine3751]

I tried a feeding cap. But I couldn't get it to seal all around the coral (coral is siting on some rubble half under a ledge). One fish went right up inside ate all the food and then swam right out. I may move the coral and try it again.

Dave

 

["Umm fish?"]

If you have the room on the sandbed with a small rock under them, it might be a good idea. On the other hand, if you're okay with feeding in a bowl then I don't think there's any reason to stop. I don't know, does frequent handling stress the corals out? It's not a question I can answer.

I have the enormous sump system for the sole purpose of helping me keep my system stable while I feed horrendous amounts of food. Basically, my 120 is my feeding bowl.