How do you feed a sun polyp and ward off the vultures

[judy j]

How do you feed a sun polyp and ward off the vultures.
That’s 5 fish an emerald green crab and a banded shrimp.
They know when it’s feeding time and are relentless.
They pluck the food right out of the sun polyps mouths.
I don’t want to over feed my tank but I do want to satisfy the
sun polyp. Tell me your technique .
Judy

 

[timrandlerv10]

feed them first. when they stop eating, feed the sun.

 

[judy j]

they are bottomless pits. And I don't like to feed them every day. But the sun won't stay open unless it's feed often.

 

[musty baby]

agreed, judy j. Everyone says feed everything else until they stop eating. Maybe, MAYBE if you have the skimmer for that it'll work for the fish, but shrimp will come back well after you feed everything and tear the polyps apart to dig out food. It just doesn't work. Best of luck in getting it figured out, I did not. I no longer have sun corals.

 

[pgammon]

Depending on the size of the coral, you can cut the top off a 2 liter soda bottle, place over the sun coral and feed through the top. I think if you do a search for "feeding hats" you will find some pics. HTH
Phyllis

 

[jessp]

i second the two liter bottle technique, cover the coral and squirt the food through the open top .

 

[complexbooger]

yep i have a 4"ball of sunpolyps i feed my fish on one side of the tank 6' while i set up a baster with my polyps. i also have about 70 or so sand polyps that keep the shrimps busy when they grab food.

I make my own food, a huge mix of diff size foods. i defrost my premade packages and pour a lil at a time. the fish slow down their feeding frenzy after awhile and i have a good window of time to target feed the corals.

Also i feed my tank about 3-6 times a day(never more food then they could eat) i believe these feedings keep my sunpolyps out all day.

goodluck

=JonBlazes

 

[judy j]

I think I'll try the bottle top right now.
Thanks.
Judy

 

[judy j]

I just found a clear bottle and stuck it in. The fish don't know what to make of it. I LOVE IT. I hope the suns do too.

 

[45commando]

I just place my sun coral in a small container of tank water & feed it away from the tank.I first feed the fish,which allows the polyps to open up in a few minutes,then place it in a plastic container while underwater & remove it from the tank.I leave it there until all the polyps appear to be full,then pop it back in the tank.HTH

 

[judy j]

commando, if you tried the bottle top method, you wouldn't have to handle your sun at all. I just have to make sure that the emerald green crab isn't hiding next to it when I cover it . I like things simple. But your idea is good and I might use it for other things.
Judy

 

[John Kelly]

Whack the fish with the target feeder. They'll learn.

 

[elegance coral]

I use a berry basket. The little green baskets that strawberries come in. I place a small piece of shrimp(about 1/8") on each open polup and cover the coral with the basket. Then place a small rock on top. After the shrimp is no longer visable I remove the basket.

 

[complexbooger]

agree with John Kelly lol... poor fish.

=JonBlazes

 

[judy j]

You know, I thought of that. It works? How do you keep the fish from attacking the shrimp while your feeding the polyps? How many fish do you have? I have 5 plus a green emerald and a banded shrimp. Almost ALL will attack for food.
I've never feed the sun chunks of hole shrimp. I use the frozen stuff in water. Theres about 20 to 30 polyps to feed.
I guess 20 years experience speaks for it self. I'll get me a basket and some shrimp and give them a treat once in a while.
Thanks!

 

[elegance coral]

remember to cut the shrimp into chunks small enough for the coral to consume and treat each polup as a different animal. I don't have many fish and for the most part they are well behaved so I have no problem placing the food where i need to and covering it up before predaters can attack. I didn't know your coral was that big. You may have a hard time finding a basket that will cover it.

 

[judy j]

The vultures are hungry and there all hanging around the sun polyp. Just for fun I thought I'd count the polyps. It's not 20 to 30, its 50 to 60. But it's not really that big, it fits into the top of a soda bottle. I have it set up so I don't even have to get my hands wet. I have this long thing with a claw on the end that I can grab things with. I grab the neck of the bottle top, set it over the polyps and with a long tube I shoot the food in. When it's all been eaten I'll take the bottle top up. Like I said before, I like things SIMPLE.

 

[judy j]

OK, that didn't go as well as I expected. After shooting in the food, I noticed the crab was in there. When I picked up the bottle top to get him out, 3 fish got in and didn't want to get out. Now there out and during all the commotion the polyps closed up. Good thing I LOVE my tank.
What else do you feed your sun polyps?

 

[rm]

I don't feed my sun polyps.
I've had them for a year now.

I don't use a skimmer. That may be part of the reason I don't have to spot feed corals but I'm not sure.

I do make my own food and feed it frozen to the tank. As the fish eat it, lots of small particles get into the water column while the bigger fish and shrimp attack the frozen chunk. I'm guessing this might also be the reason I don't have to spot feed.

 

[judy j]

Could be but do the sun polyps open a lot?