are sun corals safe?

[rhino509]

im curious as to if a branching sun corals safe are safe for reef tanks?with acros,pocillapora and such.any help would be great.thanks
keith

 

[t5Nitro]

That would just be the same as a mixed reef then, just keep the sun coral in a different spot from the SPS, or a lower level.

 

[rhino509]

i wish these people at these lfs would know what the f*$@ they sold,i asked if it was sps,and he said yes

 

[HBtank]

Well the most common issue is they do not need light, only to be fed, and fed well. In most high lit tanks they are hard to position and feed (every polyp needs to be fed) regularly.

 

[rhino509]

sorry for getting mad,i guess i bought before i thought,its just theres only 2 lfs here that even sell coral,and i guess the one i bought this from only has soft corals (or lps) he said it was a slow grower and doesnt care about light.but i just read that it requires low light(sheaded) what to do.....keep it?

edit:so i actually have to target feed this thing?
thx

 

[HBtank]

They are very pretty, and if you have a shady spot and do not mind feeding it meaty foods (like silversides) regularly, keep it.

Yeh, it is best to target feed each individual polyp from what I have read.

 

[dippin61]

they are completely non photosynthetic.. they dont care what kind of light they are in. At all.

they do however like higher flow versus lower.

plus each head needs to be fed individually. they do not share food through the base. Mine could easily put down 10 mysis at least, per feeding, per head. meaty foods is what they require to thrive. food in the water column and small stuff like cylcopeez just wont cut it. every other day, or at least twice a week is an ideal feeding schedule.

they definitely are not a beginner coral, as it takes quite a commitment to keep them alive and well. and if you feed them inside the tank, you'll have to keep a close eye on your parameters, as all that food and waste will foul up the water pretty quickly if your not on top of it.

 

[rhino509]

well hell,now im not sure what to do,im not sure they do cash refunds for live animals,and all they have is softies/lps i guess,and i cant get any more fish.....what to do,what to do

 

[returnofsid]

Keep them. They're beautiful. Just have to feed them. If you don't want them, let me know what part of WA you're in and maybe we can work out a trade...lol. I'm in Spokane.

 

[handapanda]

If you're not sure you want to put in the time/effort, I would take it back.

 

[amike5]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9576738#post9576738 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rhino509
i asked if it was sps,and he said yes

It is kind of an inbetween, the sun coral does create its own skeletal structure and is suposedly a stoney coral and not a softy.

 

[returnofsid]

If anything, it'd either be a soft or LPS coral. Definitely NOT an SPS.

 

[Lion_Babe]

If you do keep it, you can make spot feeding easy.....cut a soda bottle in half that is big enough to fit over it. Keep the half that has the top. When ready to feed put it over the coral without the top, put the food it the bottle, and put the top back on it. Leave in place for awhile or until you think it has eaten enough. Then remove the bottle, rinse the bottle off, and air dry it. Then it is ready for next time you want to feed.

 

[rhino509]

thx Lion_Babe,thats exactly what i was thinking about doing for a feeder tool of some sort,sounds good,i think i will try and keep it for now,im not sure if i mentioned or not,but is a branching sun coral,the polyps are in hard tubes(skeleton).which i still cant seem to find much info on,i dont know if im just looking in the wrong places or ,i googled it,but the only thing i can really find is on the soft ones.it is y neat looking,and the polyps still arent all out,reminds me of like a animated pipe organ,lol
thx,keith

 

[Jorgens]

Mine prefers lower current and i have it tucked in a spot for easy feeding. It gets a "mush" that I made along with mysis. It dosen't have to be feed that often to survive...Once every other week is enough. If you want it to grow...I'd reccommend every day. Adding vitamins to the diet helps. And you will not need to feed every polyp. some days only some will open and other wont. I've had one be stubborn for over a month. it's still growing. They share a digestive system is my guess and they all benifit from 1 polyps feeding. Very pretty coral if you dn't mind feedings....

 

[returnofsid]

Hmmm post a pic if you're able. I'd definitely be interested in seeing it. If you ever plan to frag a piece of it off...let me know.

 

[rhino509]

here is a pic of the branching sun coral(i think thats what it is)

sorry its not the best pic.

 

[returnofsid]

Hmm doesn't really look branching. I think it is Tubastrea sp. The one we've all been talking about. Branching would appear more tree-like with a main stalk and branches coming off of the main stalk. Then those branches would branch out more.

 

[rhino509]

im not at all saying your wrong but i googled Tubastrea sp.,and all the pictures i see are different from this.it almost looks like it was supposed to branch off,but the polyp/stalk that would of held the new branches,seemed to have died a bit,so it started growing somewhere else on the rock,some of the stalks do have small branches coming off them,these are on a peice of rock.are the other type of these sun corals soft to the touch(any part of them/outside tissue)?

 

[returnofsid]

Tubastrea are actually a LPS so they are a stony coral, with large polyps. Large compared to SPS that is...lol.

Check out these links.

http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/0797/0797_3.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dendrophylliidae.htm
http://www.3reef.com/forums/coral-month/coral-month-july-06-sun-coral-tubastrea-36692.html

You'll find pics that are very similar to the one you posted.