aquired Sun Polyp rescue project

U

ucfmis

New member
So I went to a new LFS recently and I was sad to see his sun polyps not being taken care of. I tried to convince them to give it to me and I would take care of it and finally picked it up for $10 as a rescue project. I couldnt see any flesh or even the mouths, just the skeleton and I thought it was only to late. I started by giving it a isolated environment with jsut enough water access to keep things sanitary and algea free. I have been giving it the thawed mysis water as well as a fine frozen blend through a turkey baster, keeping the inside of his home nutrient rich. Today I was pleasantly surprised to see the mouths starting to show as well as some very tips of some tentacles starting to show. I hope its a good sign. If you guys have anymore recommendation let me know. If I could jsut get it healthy enough to take in a couple mysis shrimp then I think there will be a good chance

IMG_2628.jpg

IMG_2626.jpg
 
It actually looks pretty good, they open up when the lights turn off or when you feed the tank. Mine at anything that you would drop into their tentacles.
 
It looks to be in excellent shape. If the flesh was missing, it would be white ;) I like to keep them up top where it is easy to feed them. Use a pipette or turkey baster and feed them mysis, bloodworms, bit of shrimp, fish etc, every day when the polyps are open. Typically the polyps only open at night, but with some training they will open readily during the day in response to the scent of food.
 
I guess Im not to sure anymore I know they were labled as sun polyp and look almost Identical. But then again I could be wrong.
 
yes its the after picture. the base of the stalks were white, and can still see some white between the heads. The mouths have come out a little farther now but still havent seen the tentacles and havent been able to see them feed. Still putting the fine thawed frozen blend in and some mysis shrimp and using the turkey baster to move the food around in the bowl every 30 min or so.
 
No they still are not extending themselves. They are bulging out alittle more but no tentacles yet. They are on cyclopeze now
 
gasman059 said:
Ok time for them to get some flow- out of the bowl and somewhat under a ledge.
Click to expand...

Interestingly, the one place in the wild that I've seen them growing in shallow water and direct sunlight, with the tentacles open in daylight, was an area with rather strong current.
 
Update... well its been several more days and it still hasnt fully opened up. It did get to the point where you could barely see the tentacles starting to extend. The past couple of days I have been try to target feed in a bowl. After much research and getting up a couple times a night to try and save it, I do think this coral is in starvation and remission phase. I am going to continue trying to do what I can but I think I am a little less hopeful for it now. I have fallen in love with these corals though and will be seeking a good healthy specimen to take care of.

from research:

"If, after several days and nights (sometimes a couple of weeks) of "wafting"the polyps still fail to show any sign of opening, its possible that the coral may no longer have sufficient energy remaining to expand, as a result the slow process of starvation will begin, along with tissue thinning and recession, eventually leading to death.


What is meant by, “sufficient energy remaining”? What the author is referring to is stored Nitrogen and Phosphorous within the coral skeletal body. In the absence of food the coral can use the ‘store’ to sustain life for a number of weeks if the coral was in good health prior to harvesting, etc. Unfortunately with some corals the process of actually getting to a reefers system is a drawn out stressful affair, and often goes without any food from harvest to purchase.

Interestingly, although it is commonly thought that each polyp of the colony is a separate animal, and as such do not share ingested nutrients, the ‘back-up energy’ supply is a common store held with in the porous skeleton for the good of the entire colony."
 
I wouldnt give up continue doing what you can I'm sure they'll eventually pull through if not it was only 10$. good luck hope for the best
 
A lot of corals can uptake amino acids directly from the water. Might be worth trying a daily soak in one of the amino acid/HUFA supplements out there. I'd give Selcon a try a first.
 
Thanks for the recommendation I'll add it. Currently he gets put in a bowl two hours a day with a reef fine food mix, mysis shrimp, and cylopeze, lightly mixing the contents every 30 min to get the food suspended. I will add selcon as well. My only other thought has been is maybe I been stressing it further trying to get it to feed and should just give it a break for 2 or 3 days and try again.
 
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