BlueJaw Trigger is Attacking Sun Coral during Feeding

[Avgou]

Hi Everyone,

I have a sun coral frag that is doing great, it's even released planulae.

Anyway, my question is by BlueJaw Trigger is getting too smart and it nipping at the sun coral after it has started to take down the Mysis shrimp I am feeding...

He's even gotten so smart as to bite the side of a sun coral polyp to rip out the shrimp from it's throat.

I've learned the sun coral heals very quickly but it's gotten to a point where the BlueJaw will do anything to steal food from the Sun Coral.

The one thought I have is to use the top end of a 2 liter plastic soda bottle to protect the sun coral during feeding...

Should I try feeding the sun coral smaller pieces of shrimp or feed smaller doses?

Thanks,

Avgou

 

[dendro982]

Any of proposed ways could work. I usually feed fish very good before, and they shack on sun coral food, before it reaches coral.
Time of feast, everyone is very well fed.

 

[TheH]

I think smaller pieces/doses is unlikely to work. The soda bottle method has been used by many and it may be what you end up needing, although it will be a hassle.

I would try dendro's solution of feeding the fish before feeding the sun coral.

 

[Avgou]

Thanks guys, let me try it out! I'll report back the progress made...

 

[slapshot]

I had the same problem with my Crosshatch. I finally got rid of him. he would stop at nothing to get at the poor sun polyps with Mysis sticking out of them.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Damn fish have no respect for our corals! My blood red shrimp would do the same thing every time I tried to feed my sun corals. I ended up choosing the sun corals over the shrimp.

 

[dendro982]

Peace and quiet were for sun corals with: 2 blood shrimps, valentini puffer, tassle filefish. All well fed

 

[goochesfish]

All my fish got wise and stole from the sun coral. I attached a plastic pipe to the plastic dome (plastic cup) I used so that I can squirt food down the pipe and have it drift down to the suncoral. I removed the cup after the food was completely engulfed. I had 30 polyps and some never got food because they were in the back. I finally gave away the sun coral. I got tired protecting it.

 

[Avgou]

I am now feeding different foods and trying to feed at same time to keep the BlueJaw distracted so the sun coral can eat...

Still have some close encounters but it's getting better and the sun corals are healing, it's amazing how resilient they are.