How to attach my new sun coral?

[aquadonkey]

I went ahead and purchased the sun coral I've been eyeing today, but wasn't able to get it to stick where I want it on the first try....
I have a little cave area and I want to glue the polyps upside down there. I tried with epoxy putty and it didn't work - I'm also worried about damaging the coral because it feels pretty fragile.
Any ideas?

epoxy plus gel maybe?

Sorry this is ueber-noob territory

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

suggestion

suggestion

place Tubastrea where it can be easily removed for feedings.

This coral CAN be placed in the light.

If you were to attach it (and I don't suggest that you do!) I would use a blob of Aquamend putty sandwiched between superglue gel.

 

[aquadonkey]

Ah.... this is why I ask questions - good to know! Thanks Gary!

I won't glue it down for now (and try to keep it from getting built into the ever changing goby/shrimp burrow), and if after I've had it feeding for a while and super healthy, I'll re-visit the upside-down in a cave idea.

 

[EllieSuz]

Upside down would make it nearly impossible to feed each polyp and these corals need careful target feeding to thrive. I know whereof I speak...see?

I feed this guy every other night.

 

[shawna1972]

Beautiful !

 

[aquadonkey]

So - should I try feeding it tonight? Or should I let it settle in for another day?
I was going to try coral frenzy first, then move up to frozen mysis if that works.

 

[reefboarder]

I fed mine on day one it took some coaxing after the lights went out.
Coral frenzy will def help get it to open but theres not much substance to it, I fed with sanfrancisco brand brine for the first few times and now alternate between mysis and brine.

 

[aquadonkey]

Well... one polyp was open (the flower looking part was out) , so I thought I would give feeding a try. I squirted in some coral frenzy and all the polyps (even though the flowery part wasn't out yet) sort of opened up and became deep holes - is this was they look like when they eat? I was sort of expecting something like my LPS, which close their tentacles around the food.
I'm thinking about trying some frozen mysis as well..... and giving a piece to the pep shrimp first - he's extremely outgoing

 

[aquadonkey]

Also... when I try the mysis, do I just try to squirt some into the hole?
Sorry.... my first sun coral and it's not really feeding how I imagined, so I don't know what to expect.

 

[reefboarder]

The picture Elliesuz posted is of them feeding. The "hole" you describe is how mine looks before the polyps extend, and they do close up around the food. You want to be easy when feeding if you disturb them too much with a baster theyll close up prior to grabbing the food. I just let the mysis settle towards the bottom of the baster and just squeeze enough so that a little comes out at a time.

 

[fishoutofwater]

I have a orange and a black one and they both sit out in the open. I target feed both of them after lights out with either brine shrimp or arctic pods. Once fed they get huge and happy. I can post some pics if u like.

 

[superkat]

Oh, here I go again...Lizz. Rod's Food Fish Eggs. CF. go get it.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

IMO/IME you'll want (need) to get advice from successful keepers of Tubastrea, Lizz. This type of coral has specific needs. Removing the coral and feeding something like HUFA enrched mysids in a bowl is usually advisable. You definitely will need to feed it something large and meaty quite regularly.

 

[EllieSuz]

Lizz, you should come over and see me feed my Sun Coral some evening. I have a special DIY feeder tube I use with terrific results. While you're here, I'll show you how the Reefkeeper Lite works and some of the things it can do for you. I know you're thinking about a controller.

 

[aquadonkey]

I would LOVE that!
I'll pm you

Sun coral update - I Think they ate today. I had them in a container inside the tank and squirt some mysis in there. The polyps didn't actually open, but the mysis got sucked into the holes.... then the polyps looked like they were thinking about opening
Now, there's much more polyp extension than last night. The tubes are looking nice and fat and the polyps are about 1/3 extended.
Just wondering if I should try to feed them again now since they're awake?

 

[reefboarder]

IME the more I feed mine the more often they open up. I had to use the water in the dish used to thaw brine, or mysis and gently squirt it around the polyps to get it open in the beginning, now when it opens like you said in your last post I feed and it always opens completely. I also turn my koralias off so the flow doesnt disturb the food, I keep it in a low flow area to begin with but turning the pumps off makes it easier to target feed with mysis or brine

 

[aquadonkey]

Update

Update

Okay -

I put the coral in a cup in the tank again today and fed it some brine shrimp, some of which looked like it got eaten.

Everyone in the tank went wild for the left-over brine btw..... mmm junk food

Then tonight, the polyps looked like they were thinking of opening again, so I put the coral back into the cup (in the tank) and squirted some rod's food on it. Still hard to tell how many of the polyps ate, but now the coral is back in place with two of the polyps fully open, and the rest obviously thinking about it.

I'm pretty happy with this progress so far, and in a few days I will have a chance to learn from a sun coral master!

 

[fishoutofwater]

i dont remove either of mine from the tank. I shut my tank down and target feed them both with a squirt. then while they are eating my other corals open since they smell food so they all get fed. since doing this after lights outs all my corals reopen when i feed the sun corals. kinda funny how they adjust.

 

[shannon97]

here's mine

 

[shannon97]

it was about to die in the lfs and i fed it every day after it took 2 days of trying to get to eat now it opens up at the same time every night