Much thanks - videos of Rhizo's eating coming!
NOY's Sun Corals
- Thread starter noy
- Start date
Much thanks - videos of Rhizo's eating coming!
rickcasa
New member
Well if I didn't find the right man to ask, then I don't know who is... Awesome pics.
I picked up this 7"x 5" Tubestrea 3 weeks ago and I have not seen it open up like yours. They puff out all right but never 'bloom'.
I'm staying up so late now to see if they open up this late. Here's a pic.
I have a cup of cyclopeeze and frozen mysis and reef plankton all mixed up ready to feed. I've been spraying these on them to entice them, but nothing.. I'm going to bed soon.
What's your secret?
I picked up this 7"x 5" Tubestrea 3 weeks ago and I have not seen it open up like yours. They puff out all right but never 'bloom'.
I'm staying up so late now to see if they open up this late. Here's a pic.
I have a cup of cyclopeeze and frozen mysis and reef plankton all mixed up ready to feed. I've been spraying these on them to entice them, but nothing.. I'm going to bed soon.
What's your secret?
still looking very health - its a very nice piece solid tissue and no tissue loss betweeen polyps.
i would suggest the following:
i) get some direct flow on the coral (w/o any food) - i find that this stimulates them
ii) some of polyps looked like they are on the verge of opening or have opened (maybe at night - i had a colony that was only opening about 2 hours after lights out - took over a month to get it to feed regular) - some of the tentacles are actually out. put some adult brine shrimp in direct contact with these polyps either with tongs or using a small squirter (julian's thing is perfect). The food can't bounce off the coral - have to more or less put it there. Make sure you turn off your flow first. See if you get a reaction and whether there is exposed nematocysts that will stick to the brine. I am suggesting brine because i find the nematocyst react really well with brine (i.e. brine sticks to the tentacles like no other food). Use good frozen brine - like hikari that have large sized feed specimens.
iii) get a really smelly prompter food - i use this angel food feed that has clams and it has an obvious smell once i defrost it. Turn off your flow and spray it slowly at the coral so that the particles are still in the vicinity - wait 15 min - then turn on your flow.
iv) if iii) doesn't work - repeat this nightly but use a small container filled with tank water (i use these plastic storage containers from cdn tire) and take the coral out and put it in the container and repeat iii). use your hand to fan the food particles at the coral.
Note - if the coral opens - feed it with your intended feed. I would comment that i dont find sun corals react much to cyclopeez - i was just testing that recently.
sometimes it takes a while - i had one that took over a month before i got it going. You're pretty close - the worst cases are when the polyps stay completely reracted in the tube.
let me know how things work out.
i would suggest the following:
i) get some direct flow on the coral (w/o any food) - i find that this stimulates them
ii) some of polyps looked like they are on the verge of opening or have opened (maybe at night - i had a colony that was only opening about 2 hours after lights out - took over a month to get it to feed regular) - some of the tentacles are actually out. put some adult brine shrimp in direct contact with these polyps either with tongs or using a small squirter (julian's thing is perfect). The food can't bounce off the coral - have to more or less put it there. Make sure you turn off your flow first. See if you get a reaction and whether there is exposed nematocysts that will stick to the brine. I am suggesting brine because i find the nematocyst react really well with brine (i.e. brine sticks to the tentacles like no other food). Use good frozen brine - like hikari that have large sized feed specimens.
iii) get a really smelly prompter food - i use this angel food feed that has clams and it has an obvious smell once i defrost it. Turn off your flow and spray it slowly at the coral so that the particles are still in the vicinity - wait 15 min - then turn on your flow.
iv) if iii) doesn't work - repeat this nightly but use a small container filled with tank water (i use these plastic storage containers from cdn tire) and take the coral out and put it in the container and repeat iii). use your hand to fan the food particles at the coral.
Note - if the coral opens - feed it with your intended feed. I would comment that i dont find sun corals react much to cyclopeez - i was just testing that recently.
sometimes it takes a while - i had one that took over a month before i got it going. You're pretty close - the worst cases are when the polyps stay completely reracted in the tube.
let me know how things work out.
rickcasa
New member
Ahh, you give me hope! It truly does look healthy. Thanks for emphasizing the food of choice. I think I have everything except brine and that could draw them out. Thanks noy
Are they particularly picky about water quality? My params are normal with the exception of a slight phosphate reading. The salinity is .22 but slowly reaching target .25. Could this be the cause of their shyness?
How long do they stay open for? I was Ken's again today and was floored at how many Dendros he had, easily over a dozen, each with min. 7 heads. I love how they stay open all the time.
Are they particularly picky about water quality? My params are normal with the exception of a slight phosphate reading. The salinity is .22 but slowly reaching target .25. Could this be the cause of their shyness?
How long do they stay open for? I was Ken's again today and was floored at how many Dendros he had, easily over a dozen, each with min. 7 heads. I love how they stay open all the time.
I find they are not picky about water quality unless its pretty extreme.
Not sure what you mean by 0.22 - is that 1.022 sg? 1.022 is low and i'm not sure whether that has any relationship to them not opening. 1.024-1.025 is a good target.
SUM/Ken has a new shipment of what's commonly called "fathead dendros" (Eguchipsammia fistula - often incorrectly referred to as dendrophyllia fistula). They are a whole different species. I have one colony and they do open all the time. That's the difference between the "dendros" and the tubastraea's - the tubastraea's are nocturnal and you have to work on them to "trick" them to open during the day. Pricey corals though.
Btw - I see you have a clown trigger as your avatar - do you keep one and if so how long have you had it? Do you run a FOWLR tank for it or have you managed to keep it in a reef environment?
Not sure what you mean by 0.22 - is that 1.022 sg? 1.022 is low and i'm not sure whether that has any relationship to them not opening. 1.024-1.025 is a good target.
SUM/Ken has a new shipment of what's commonly called "fathead dendros" (Eguchipsammia fistula - often incorrectly referred to as dendrophyllia fistula). They are a whole different species. I have one colony and they do open all the time. That's the difference between the "dendros" and the tubastraea's - the tubastraea's are nocturnal and you have to work on them to "trick" them to open during the day. Pricey corals though.
Btw - I see you have a clown trigger as your avatar - do you keep one and if so how long have you had it? Do you run a FOWLR tank for it or have you managed to keep it in a reef environment?
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
I originally thought it was a dendrophyllia fistula but when I looked up in WoRMs (World registry of marine species) - that taxa was not accepted, instead its been accepted as Eguchipsammia fistula.
http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=210751
http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=210751
stunreefer
Reef Hugger
I concur... after keeping various species of LP non-photos over the years I finally installed a Vortech MP40w, whilst previously had been using my trusty MaxiJets (love those pumps!). Immediately noticed better and much more consistent polyp extension from LP NPC, including the touchy Cladopsammia gracilis colonies.
its from prosalt - its the angel diet. its a fine mix of clams, various chopped seafood and smells horrible. prosalt also makes "pacific plankton" - smells just as bad and is just as effective - I feed with this regularly now.
My Sun coral shows off quite regularly now and during peak photo periods too. Got them trained on your great tip of frozen brine shrimp. You're so right about how sticky these are!! Super easy to feed.
Look at them beam! Thanks a bunch, Noy!:wavehand:
lovely!
I concur... after keeping various species of LP non-photos over the years I finally installed a Vortech MP40w, whilst previously had been using my trusty MaxiJets (love those pumps!). Immediately noticed better and much more consistent polyp extension from LP NPC, including the touchy Cladopsammia gracilis colonies.
amazing looking tank.
harleynewfie
New member
very nice I hope mine look like that sooner or later.
Dendrophyllia Arbuscula spewing sperm and egg
I came home and noticed all my fish "hanging out" near my dendro coral so I looked to see what was going on. I realized the dendro was spewing egg/sperm into the water column and all the fish were eating it (or biting at it anyways). Ran and got this on my iphone. This was fairly continuous and was repeating itself every 5-10 minutes. I captured more it on my DSLR and will have a longer edited version later.
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LIaICuuyJ04" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I came home and noticed all my fish "hanging out" near my dendro coral so I looked to see what was going on. I realized the dendro was spewing egg/sperm into the water column and all the fish were eating it (or biting at it anyways). Ran and got this on my iphone. This was fairly continuous and was repeating itself every 5-10 minutes. I captured more it on my DSLR and will have a longer edited version later.
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LIaICuuyJ04" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
justthewife
New member
Just a side note on sun polyps not opening. I have found that when my sun polyps don't open, there is usually something lurking around bugging it like a tiny starfish or a vermitted snail. Once the critters are removed or move on, they open again.
