feeding sun corals

[lewk]

Hi,

Picked up a sun coral frag a few weeks ago and they are doing good. I feed them at least twice a week, usually spot feeding some chopped up mysis or brine and Coral Frenzy every once in a while. I also have a cleaner shrimp and hermits who are always very interested in feeding time. So my question is, how long do these corals need to feed? I'm not sure how long I need to fend off the shrimp, but I usually give it about 10-15 minutes or so after feeding to make sure they get what they can. Is this enough time?

Thanks in advance.

 

[esco]

My cleaners are punks and always yank pieces of mysis/brine shrimp from the tentacles and sometimes even the mouths. I would suggest to fend them off as long as their mouths are still in the process of "eating" ... some people have built little cup contraptions that sit over their corals to help give them a little refuge from the prying claws of cleaners. Also, you could try distracting your shrimp by squirting some food on the opposite side of the tank and have them swim around trying to catch it while you focus on feeding your sun coral. Hope that helps.

 

[lewk]

Good idea. I usually just play keep away with the turkey baster for a while.

 

[mtothet]

Top of a plastic coke bottle can be a good DIY spot feeder

 

[imbarrie]

Acrylic tubing or an old up lift tube

 

[droberts]

old plastic pod jar with holes in bottom so i can squirt food in

 

[graveyardworm]

My peppermints literally rip into a coral to get the food. It doesnt matter how long I fend them off eventually I get tired.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

My experience is that 2x/week is not sufficient for long term survival. Twice that at least.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Cleaner shrimp + sun corals = PIA

If the shrimp are digging into the corals at any point after you feed them, then you haven't kept them away long enough. It will take some time for any sun coral to digest the food you give, and it will hold that food in its coensarc until it is ready to expel it as waste. IME it takes several hours for this. If the shrimp know that there is food in the sun corals, its possible that they will go for it. Before I knew better, I had a fire shrimp that would dig right into my sun polyps well after I had finished feeding them (30min to an hour afterward). Once they start doing that, you basically have to decide: get rid of the shrimp or get rid of the sun corals.

 

[UgoneBannas]

I feed mines every other day or everyday depending how lazy I am. I never let it go 2 days without feeding it. I release some shrimp into the powerhead so the fish and shrimp can get to them first. When I fish and shrimp are busy catching the food, I immediatly feed the sun coral.