first sun polyp

[katpurdy]

for $41 I got a HUGE colony of over 100 polyps on Tuesday. The polyps swell up with water and on Wed. night a couple of the polyps opened partially. The colony as a whole has not opened yet. After what amount of time should I start to worry? I have done the pop bottle dome and I have done the in a bowl feeding tricks.

 

["Umm fish?"]

It looks fine to me. I'd just give it a few more days of trying to feed it every day. I you have any cyclopeeze you can tempt it with, that usually does the trick.

100 polyps that all need to be fed in a 55gal.? I'd get used to that feeding bowl....

 

[katpurdy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9088224#post9088224 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by "Umm, fish?"


100 polyps that all need to be fed in a 55gal.? I'd get used to that feeding bowl....

Why? there is plenty of room where it sits in the tank...

 

[katpurdy]

doh...never mind...water quality right?

 

["Umm fish?"]

You got it! I'd feed it and leave it in for a while afterwards in the hope that you can also get it to poop in there.

 

[Qckwzrd]

nice catch...be sure to post pics when it opens up.

 

[SINNERMF]

Do you have any current on it? I've had several sun corals that were either slow to open or only a few polyps would open. Then I put stronger flow on them and the whole colony would open up.

 

[Bearphoto1]

I just got one with about 60 polyps and I also had the same problem even with the feeding methods before mentioned. I moved the small flow pump in its direction about a foot away so the flow wouldn't be to harsh and now they all open every night.

 

[katpurdy]

there is an AC 70(400gph) in the back bottom corner of the tank that points upward, two more ac70 on each upper back corner and an ac something or other in the front right corner. I have good flow I think. Each night it seems to open a bit more, But I think I go to bed to early to enjoy it!! QUESTION: if I do the bowl method and it opens to eat..when I put it back in the tank will it stay open or close?

 

["Umm fish?"]

Sun corals really seem to like to preserve their energy. So, mine at least really seem to only want to come out when they smell food in the water. The black ones seem to be the easiest to coax out, the orange are in the middle, and the yellows seem the hardest. If I want a good show with the orange (if someone's coming by to see the tank or something), I toss a bunch of cyclopeeze in the tank about 45mins. before they're supposed to come by.

These days, I solve the problem of them closing all the time by tossing a little food in the tank every time I walk by.

Of course, that's after the initial getting them acclimated to the tank. And, you still have to make sure that every head gets food at the least 2-3 times/week.

 

[katpurdy]

I don't know what color to classify mine as..the body is orange, but the tentacles are yellow

 

["Umm fish?"]

Yours looks like my orange. My yellow has very yellow tissue. The black is actually a very dark green/black.

 

[katpurdy]

so i've made some progress...the fist pic is with the actinics on and the second pic is with actinics but white balance adjusted with photoshop.
It turns out that I have to take the coral out of the tank to feed it because all the fish and shrimp steal the food!

 

[Qckwzrd]

as of late my black is the first to open then the yellow even with cyclops the orange won't open all the way.

still lookin for red

 

[Aliie]

Qckwzrd: I looked at your gallery pics hoping that I could see your black. If you have any I really would like to see them.

Katpurdy: Lovely pollup! I know very little about sunpollups but I never had to feed mine so would you clarify how you take it out to feed it.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Great job, katpurdy!

Here's what the black looks like:

I want some reds, too!

 

[katpurdy]

for all their beauty...these corals are mean!!! This last picture was taken after the lights were out for the night...EVERY polyp was open and there are over 100 on the rock!! How cruel to have something so gorgeous open only when we aren't looking!

 

[lux_06]

do some more research on them its easy to "train" them to extend their polyps during the day.

 

[katpurdy]

want to save me some time and just tell me what to do????!!!! pleae please please!!

 

[sufunk]

Feed it at the same time every day and it will "train" to open. Mine will open about 2 minutes after I put 1 drop of zoecon in the tank or when I put in a piece of algae for my tang.

I would try feeding meaty food not just cyclopeeze. I buy 1-2 ounces each of shrimp, clam, squidd, mussels and scallops. Chop VERY fine in a food processor, add a few ounces of zoecon and frozen cyclopeeze. Then i spread it thin on a sheet of foil and freeze. Every other day, break off a small piece and thaw it in a shot glass with a few ounces of tank water. Pretty cheap and lasts for a long time!

I put a small tupperware bowl(4x4x4) with holes drilled in the top and sides over the sun and feed it with a joes juice syringe(can buy at walmart for$1). I leave the bowl on for about 2-3 hours so nothing messes with the sun and it can eat all it wants. After removing the bowl,the shrimp and crabs eatany leftovers.

Hurts your water quality a little more than taking out to feed in a "feeding bowl" but saves a ton of stress on a delicate coral not having to remove it from the tank every day or so, IMO.

p.s.- dont worry about feeding EVERY head. Mine has more heads than i could possibly feed. I just saturate the bowl and the coral gets enough to thrive. Many will tell you that you HAVE to feed every head but in my experience that isnt true. I have also read Eric Borneman saying that every head doesnt need to be fed as long as the "whole" coral is getting enough food.

Good luck, they are amazing corals!