Feeding colony corals

[NicoleC]

Right now my tank is virtually a rehap tank for recouperating corals. Up until now, it has never occurred to me to ask if there is a need to be worried about feeding individual polyps, vs. feeing a colony.

For example, I have a rescued black sun coral in very poor condition. Only some of the branches still have little tentacles left, and I can get one or two to take a piece of food. The other branches appear to be growing (or finally showing) tentacles -- do I need to try to feed them all, or is feeding one as good as feeding the others?

Perhaps to a larger extent the question is how individual are colony polyps? Are their nutritional needs shared, or specfic, and to what extent?

Thanks,
Nicole

 

[EricHugo]

Hi Nicole:

That really depends on the coral...some colonies have polyps that are extremely interconnected, while others are completely disconnected. The coral you mention does have some significant intrapolyp connection, but they require tremendous amounts of food. If you do a search in The Coral Forum, you will find more information about them. They are VERY difficult to keep for any length of time in a tank.

 

[NicoleC]

Thanks for your reply. The black sun coral has actually shown significant recovery since being dug out of a pile of rubble, but only time its fate in the long run.