Anybody with sun coral, encrusting its rock

[dendro982]

If anyone has a sun coral, that grows, and already used almost all available rock surface - what you plan to do? Frag it, or glue another rock under free space, that left, to enlarge available for encrusting space?

My sun coral had grown asides and down, under the rock. I let it do whatever it wants, but moving during cleaning tears apart the bottom-facing polyps, what is not good.

Any experiences?

Or your sun coral grows own skeleton and never goes below the rock?
Thanks.

 

[kookerson]

FWIW.......my sun coral has taken over the top and sides of the rock it came on, so I found a piece of LR that the Sun coral would fit into almost perfectly and glued it to that......it should encrust nicely because there is a fairly smooth transfer from one rock to the new one.........HTH : )

 

[dendro982]

Thank you! Will remember about smooth transition - a very good idea.

Anybody else, with new growth on added surface?

 

[Qckwzrd]

I never knew suncorals encrust. All the ones I have grow their own skeleton. I've had them release "sperm" and grow on another rock or area in the tank. When they do grow it seems to bud from an existing polyp.

 

[dendro982]

I haven't uploaded picture, but you can see the bottom on my sun coral at the end of this page: http://defineyourreef.freehostia.com/refpages/sun.html (red AquaGloves are noticeable )

May be encrusting is not the right word, it's more like sps do that - covering available surface and growing own skeleton in the same time.

It stands on this surface, moved during cleaning and two polyps are ruptured, what is not good. I'll do something after finishing the more urgent works.

 

[Qckwzrd]

Cool page dendro982. I have a colony thats fully encrusted on a rock, but I purchased it like that. It has new babies growing along the side of the old ones. Seems to grow like my dendros budding from the parents. I've had them go sexual and release babies where they formed on other rocks in my tank.

The piece your talking about it should have a base so can you just glue it onto a piece of liverock?

 

[dendro982]

I should do something with a main colony, that at the photo, and so far see only these two options, I don't want to frag it yet - would like to observe the natural behavior.

Qckwzrd:
You don't feed these polyps too, and they survived, right?

Do you have a link to the your sun coral - any unusual behavior (not described in a general articles or care sheets - not that I have anything against them, used them a lot myself), including spawning, settlement substrate preferences - I can add it to the links at the page to other keepers. I already added link to the thread with your sun coral regeneration, if you don't mind. Here , middle of the page, under Regeneration.

I'm trying to make information about specifics of keeping non-photosynthetic corals easily reachable, and link anything interesting or useful together. If you have a website about this - give a link, please. My website may hold pages of the others too - through the add form or forum (rules can be changed). Let keep finds and results connected - may be other keepers will join and work together too. I have a lot of questions, may be somebody already found the answer.
Just an idea.