HELP!! New to Dendro's...no polyp extension in a week.

[jcardona]

Hi, I purchased a bright orange dendritic head about a week ago. I've been trying to get it open using a large turkey baster tube as enclosure, dropping pellets and mists directly to the center and the Tupperware "stinky water" method and still no results.
I need help and perhaps a daily walk trough to prevent it from dying on me.

Please advise....

 

[laga77]

Forget the pellets. While in the Tupperware, VERY carefully ,using tweezers, place a piece of chopped shrimp a little larger than the mouth right on top of the mouth for about 15 minutes. If nothing happens, VERY gently wiggle the shrimp and wait again. If no response, place back in tank and try again in a couple of hours. This procedure works best with live white worms.


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[jcardona]

Please forgive my spelling :headwallblue:. I used my phone without my reading glasses. I meant denro hear (not "dendritic" head and I meant mysis not "mists".

I will try your suggestion later tonight and report back. Hopefully I'll be able to get this guy open and enjoy growing it.

Thanks.
:strooper:

 

[jcardona]

Still no results...how much longer before I start to panic???

 

[laga77]

Your dendro has gone a long time without eating while in the supply chain. It is very weak. Keep trying or it will die. It will take as long as it takes.

 

[ManEatingGuppy]

Looks like a Cladopsammia gracilis and not a dendro. These are far harder to care for. Even with polyp extensions, they tend to not grab onto food and are very picky on what they eat.

 

[jcardona]

You could be right, I've had limited response with pellets and raw shrimp but the polyps never extend fully. It does not take the food yet.

Any suggestions?

See pic...

 

[Samian]

Chope a shrimp to very little pieces or use a cube of mysis or any other zooplangton "stinky food".

I can see some reaction but the pellet is too big to be eaten and the polyp too weak to open at all.

 

[jcardona]

Success!!! Finally got him to eat mysis and a piece of shrimp. No full extension yet but will feed daily until it does...

 

[laga77]

Congrats, sometimes a little hard work pays off. Keep feeding small amount on a daily basis until it starts opening on its own. Then feed at bedtime when it opens. I feed all my NPS every other night now.

 

[reefteaser]

Careful not to overdo it, feeding to much could lead to undigested food rotting inside. You might consider feeding every 2nd or 3rd day for now. Also, if you haven't checked it out at night, see if it extends in the darkness. If so, it will accept food much better. Then you can try to "train" it to eat in the daytime.
I use a plastic bottle with the bottom cut out to prevent other opportunistic tank mates from stealing the food before it is eaten

 

[laga77]

Careful not to overdo it, feeding to much could lead to undigested food rotting inside.

Zombie myth. Another one that just won`t die. An animal that has evolved by sitting in one place and catching food that floats by is going to die if it catches a couple of big meals and over eats? I have purposely overfed individual heads of Sun and Dendro corals everyday to see if this is true. It is not. What can happen is, when the coral expels the waste, if there is not sufficient flow to carry the waste away, it can become wedged in between heads and rot and kill the heads from the outside. I have seen this happen a couple of times. It is also not true that all the heads of a colony need to be fed. If they are connected by tissue, they can feed off of each other. If they are individual heads then they need to be fed. I have fed certain heads of a colony and not fed others for months at a time to test this. All of my main colonies are reproducing. The 5 small colonies have sprung up within the last year alone. There are about 20 other babies like this, that I can see, in a 50G tank. In fact, if they continue to reproduce, I am going to have to start pulling them out.

 

[mark54321]

Zombie myth. Another one that just won`t die. An animal that has evolved by sitting in one place and catching food that floats by is going to die if it catches a couple of big meals and over eats? I have purposely overfed individual heads of Sun and Dendro corals everyday to see if this is true. It is not. What can happen is, when the coral expels the waste, if there is not sufficient flow to carry the waste away, it can become wedged in between heads and rot and kill the heads from the outside. I have seen this happen a couple of times. It is also not true that all the heads of a colony need to be fed. If they are connected by tissue, they can feed off of each other. If they are individual heads then they need to be fed. I have fed certain heads of a colony and not fed others for months at a time to test this. All of my main colonies are reproducing. The 5 small colonies have sprung up within the last year alone. There are about 20 other babies like this, that I can see, in a 50G tank. In fact, if they continue to reproduce, I am going to have to start pulling them out.

Totally agree on everything, I have the same experience with my dendros and sun corals.

 

[jcardona]

I can attest that the head can manage the food source. I've tried feeding it pellets by putting it on top of the mouth and it moves the pellet until it fall on the sandbed. I now only use mysis and small pieces of shrimp. It opens some in the afternoon but not yet completely. I am assuming it has not recovered fully yet, right?

 

[Synden]

What time of the day are you trying? Have you tried at night with moon lights on?

 

[laga77]

I can attest that the head can manage the food source. I've tried feeding it pellets by putting it on top of the mouth and it moves the pellet until it fall on the sandbed. I now only use mysis and small pieces of shrimp. It opens some in the afternoon but not yet completely. I am assuming it has not recovered fully yet, right?

Please throw away the pellets, they are garbage. Read the list of ingredients and see how much is in there that does not come from the ocean. Plus, all fish, krill, shrimp meal contains preservatives. It is the law. It may take a couple of weeks until your Dendro fully wakes up.

 

[Molter]

Please throw away the pellets, they are garbage. Read the list of ingredients and see how much is in there that does not come from the ocean. Plus, all fish, krill, shrimp meal contains preservatives. It is the law. It may take a couple of weeks until your Dendro fully wakes up.

+1 on the sentiment of riding yourself of the pellets.
They're so tempting because of the price, but they're just not worth it if you want to have a healthy, thriving tank.
I
Personally, I use a combination of Dr G's SPS max, LPS Max and phytofeast to fed all of my corals.

 

[jcardona]

I use the pellets for my fish (Spectrum Thera +A). Sometimes is easier to feed my Duncan and Acans with it. But I also supplement with mysis and phytoplankton.

I also got a sample of reefrods and I've been mixing it in the mysis water.

As far as the dendro, I am feeding it when it opens a bit in the afternoon. Feeding it mysis and small pieces or raw shrimp. Seems to be responding but no complete polyp extension yet.

 

[Kawasaki213]

I have great success with Fauna Marine LPS pellets on these. They seem to like being fed more than once a day. They can get by with once a day but I feed multiple pellets at once

 

[jcardona]

Quick question...I'm leaving in a month for about 12 days. I don't have anybody to feed my dendro. What can I expect from it after these many days?