'Lights Out' pics of my Sun Coral

Saldarya

In Memoriam
Just thought I would share a couple of pics. This is the first time I have taken pics of the sun polyps once the lights went out.

Thanks for looking!!

DSC_0011-7.jpg


DSC_0012-5.jpg
 
I have not really tried to train it to open during the day, mainly due to the fact that this is primarily an SPS tank, and the day time flow/light is pretty intense. Anyhow, I feed it mysis shrimp a couple of times a day.

The best part is that the polyps actually open up about 1/2" more than this once the lights are out a bit!!

Thanks for looking.
 
Very nice! Get yourself some dendros, they look like sun corals but way bigger and will open up all day for you.
 
homebrewdude -really? I have some black sun corals that the moment the halides are off, they open up. I think if you start feeding regularly once the lights are off, they might catch on and start opening up even when food isn't in the water, almost like expecting food.
 
The area that I have my coral in has rather low flow and low light.

Would it be better off with a bit more light if I can give it a boost in flow?
 
Well, light doesn't matter to the coral but sun corals usually don't open up when the lights are on. The moment lights are off, they start opening up. Up the flow a bit more and let me know what happens.
 
Sincerely hope, that this will not be considered as raining on the parade, daytime shot:
Dec6_90gcut.jpg


The feeding really helps with the size and appearance of the polyps, this is at beginning:
SunApr29_06.jpg

and months later:
Dec06a.jpg

Dec06closeup.jpg


All daytime photos - haven't moonlights and my weak camera is incapable work in low light conditions ;)

Lovely sun coral, Saldarya!
 
Thank you for the nice comments all. As I mentioned, this is a strictly a SPS tank, so it has been a learning process for me with this coral. It was given to me by a friend who went diving a couple of weeks ago and he brought back quite a few pieces. I have found that it reacts very well to flow, which is a good thing in this tank, and although it is my understanding that although they do not mind light, this tank is only 12" deep and has 250w MH in lumenarcs above it. Pretty intense and again, just a few days before this post it was at 60 feet deep!!

Anyhow, I dont know that I want to try and train to open in the Daytime, we will see. I am just happy to see that it is in good shape, and eats mysis like a beast!!

Here are a couple of pics of the tank so you can see where it is in the tank.

FTS

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Right Side where Polyps are:

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Again, thanks for the comments!!
 
Wow! This is one of the best tanks I ever seen. Congratulations!

I have the low light tanks, cannot compare, but it seems to me, that in the shaded are it should be OK, just give it some time for adaptation.

Mine, the first weeks after ocean (through LFS), didn't open to feed under 200W halogen ceiling light above the kitchen counter, until shaded it by newspaper.

To make it open during daytime:
Hard to say, mine is not trained, it opens only when it senses the food in the water, and in the late evening. The fish is fed very well 3 times daily (particular requirements), and the sun coral opens in ~15 min after adding food.
It has own feedings, trying to keep twice weekly, but sometimes miss for 1.5 week, then it opens less and less.

Out of topic: can you describe direction and amount of flow and kind of filtration filtration in this tank?

I had 20g long mixed reef tank, and wasn't able to make an efficient flow, without bothering inhabitants and taking too much place for the flow areas, where nothing can be placed - in full blast and not to block flow, if it makes sense.
 
Thanks again for the comments!!

Dendro,

Concerning flow in the tank, currently the following are being used in the 60 gal tank (4'x2'x12")

Tunze 6055
Tunze 5001 These two are on a Multicontroller

Tunze 6025 (2)
Koralia 4 (2)
Ehiem 1262 return pump

The total flow is a bit over 6000 gph. The key to success here I believe is the wide dispersed flow of the Tunze streams. I do not have the pumps pointed directly at any of the coral, but rather the streams criss cross each other creating chaotic flow. The two koralias are in the back bottom pointed at the bottom of the tank.

ALl other filtration is pretty straight forward. Deltec AP600 skimmer, Phosban reactor with carbon and Phosar, and of course a big chiller!!

Thanks again for the comments.

Bobby
 
Re: 'Lights Out' pics of my Sun Coral

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10877221#post10877221 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Saldarya
Just thought I would share a couple of pics. This is the first time I have taken pics of the sun polyps once the lights went out.

Thanks for looking!!

DSC_0011-7.jpg


DSC_0012-5.jpg

excellent shots--just curious as to how you take the pics so they show up dark.. If I take night pics the tank becomes visible also and it takes away the beauty of just the coral in the dark
 
Hey there Capn,

The trick to the night shots is a VERY long exposure time. Pics were taken with a Nikon D-50 set on 'P' mode. THe camera will automatically pick the ideal shutter speed and aperture. After I got the shot lined up, I took the pic. The exposure was approximately 40 secs. So, from the time I pushed the button to the time the shutter snapped, 40 secs. Needless to say the camera was on a tripod.

Hope that helps!!

Bobby
 
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