i need help w/my small sun coral

[11fishes]

ok i just got her on wed. and she hasn't bloated out, shes all sucked up nad her sun like things aren't out hardly ever, i got some live phytoplankton and shes at the bottom of my tank. what should i do? any info much appreciated-peace 2 all

 

[DerekW]

squirt it with some food (frozen brine, mysis, etc) and see if that gets it to open, then feed it some more when it does, I think they'll react more to meater food then phtyto

 

[johnb0184]

fill a bowl with tank water, put her in it and add the food, and a air stone, leave her in there for about an hour and keep stirring up the food. I usually turn out the rooms lights so it feels a little more natural

 

[mystikdragon7]

If your trying to see the sun coral with the polyps out, you need to look at it when the lights are out. You can try putting the coral in a dim spot of the tank or under a ledge or something. Just someplace were it's out of direct lighting.

 

[musty baby]

As John says. I have many small sun coral frags, and I put them in a separate container, float the container in the tank, and put in a liberal amount of phytoplankton and enriched mysis or brine(if they're small polyps) shrimp. Then I just use a syringe (turkey baster would work too) to keep the shrimp and phyto in suspension. Give it some time, they'll come out, and they'll eat tons.

 

[finneganswake]

I also use the separate container method. I would recommend using a turkey baster to keep the food in suspension but don't aim it dirrectly at the polyps, as this causes the polyps to retract.

As far as getting the polyps to extend in your tank, I would recommend putting them in an area of very high flow and you'll see a huge difference.

 

[kclewis]

i used a 2 liter cut in half. put your food in it and then cover the polyps with it. i did this once a week at the same time each day. the coral then started to come out by itself without the 2 liter at that time to be fed. i would then go in with a pipet and feed it. after a couple of months it would come out every day at the same time looking for food. i do not buy into keeping sun corals in the dark. sun corals are found at mouths of caves where there is heavy nutrient flow. they are not here for the lack of light.

 

[11fishes]

thanks alot everyone, all the info you gave will be very helpful. again thank you all. peace in the tanks

 

[2crazyreefers]

We have a orange sun polyp and a black one as well which we feed cyclopeeze, works great just put a pinch in the tank and the polyps come out. Also both are in the center of our 75 aga about half way up.

 

[11fishes]

well i have a 90 gal. and i have no idea where to put her at, i have some caves to put her in but my spotted goby always burys anything in the sand, what should i do now. and by the way i tried the 2 liter thing and it took several hours but the polyps came out to feed.

 

[musty baby]

Put it anywhere it won't get stung, knocked over, or covered in sand. Preferable some place easy to get to for easy feeding as well. It doesn't necessarily have to be in a cave, and don't you want to see those pretty polyps anyway?

 

[JRod]

Have mine in mounted on a rock in the sand, so it sits about 1" above the sand, and I feed using a 1 liter bottle cut in half with a 1/2 inch piece of PVC coming up. I use a pipet and squirt it into the bottle that is covering the sun. This way the polyps eat at their own pace and all the fish and shrimp and crabs attack the outside trying to get in.

 

[11fishes]

excellent thank you everyone