Orange Tube Coral

[HumanIMDB]

We picked up a small Orange Tube Coral (Tubastrea aurea - aka Sun Coral) this weekend.

<a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/3_11_07/P3110024.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/3_11_07/P3110024_tn.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/3_11_07/P3110034.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/3_11_07/P3110034_tn.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/3_11_07/P3110037.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/3_11_07/P3110037_tn.JPG" border="0" /></a>
<i>(Click for larger image)</i>

We got it for a pretty good deal, but it looks like it might need some TLC.

After acclimating it, we put it in a bowl and basically soaked it in food as per this article. We noticed that one of the little polyps came out and it looked like a few of the bigger ones started to come out as well.

I checked it when I woke up this morning (5:30 AM so still very dark) and couldn't see any polyps out, but I'm not discouraged as we've read that it may take some time for them to come out on a regular basis.

We have our feeding hat ready and will be feeding it Hikari Frozen Mysis Shrimp with Coral Frenzy every other night.

We placed it on the "shady" side of the tank and in an area of high flow.

If anyone has any tips/tricks for ensuring that it thrives in our tank, we would greatly appreciate them.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[JokerGirl]

Sounds like you are definitely on the right track. I found that nothing brings my Sun Coral out more than Cyclop-Eeze in the water from feeding my Goniopora.

If you see one polyp sort of start to come out enough to where a few tents are sticking out, try sticking a piece of mysis and there and leaving it alone for about 15 minutes or so. It may become enticed to open completely and bring more out with it, it may not.

 

[dandydan]

Took around 4days to get mine to open ready for food, though opens slow, I think Cyclopeze and mysis does the trick.
Luck

 

[55semireef]

Very nice!

 

[HumanIMDB]

I did "feeding hat" session last night after the lights went out.

Since I haven't seen any mention of how long to leave the hat on, I left the hat on for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes I couldn't see any change and removed the hat and left it alone for the night.

This morning when I checked the tank, I could see a couple of the polyps were "puckering", not fully extended but they definitely were not recessed like they have been.

What is the recommended time for leaving the feeding hat on?

 

[pjdunc]

I currently have 3 sun corals that I have adopted at various stages of health.

To get the polyps to extend, I use a syringe and squirt brine shrimp or phytoplankton over each polyp. After a few days..(the last one took almost 10 days) the polyps start extending.

I have them pretty well trained now so that I initally place a little brine shrimp over the sun corals with the syringe and give them a few minutes and they will be fully extended. I then make sure that every polyp gets some brine shrimp with the syringe.

Hope this helps....by no means an expert but this works for me.

Patrick

 

[45commando]

Like Jokergirl,I drop some cyclop-eeze in the tank & wait about 20 minutes.After that time the polyps are all open.I then place the colony in a bowl of tank water & feed it outside the tank.I've found this to be what works for me,as I have a bunch of cleaner shrimp & "smart" wrasses-all of which will literally pull the food from the polyps.I leave the colony in the bowl for about an hour(I'll replace a little water during that time to keep it oxygenated).If you don't have the shrimp etc,then your feeding hat should work fine.Be patient & I'm sure the coral will start to respond soon.Lastly,don't worry too much about having it in the shade.Just make sure it is in good flow & where you can get to it easily to feed it,as you can see from the pic,mine is in the open & below a MH.They are a high maintenance coral,but I think well worth the work.Good luck.

[/IMG]

 

[HumanIMDB]

I think I'm making good progress. Still using the Mysis Shrimp mixed with Coral Frenzy. All of the tubes came out enough so that they were no longer "bowls", some enough that I could see the "mouth" and the start of the tentacles.

Picking up some Cyclop-eeze tomorrow. I've never used it before, what is it like? Does everything eat it?

 

[JokerGirl]

Cyclop-Eeze is mainly made up of Rotifers, which are very small crustaceans about the size of a pin-head. Everything should eat it pretty willingly but they are pretty small.

I've found they are the best thing to use to get ANY coral to open up because they have a pretty "fishy" smell to them. Depending on what type you get, a little bit goes a long way. Some places have it in liquid, frozen, and freeze dried form. I prefer the liquid/frozen over anything else, but use the liquid because its the only type I can even find around here

I would keep it on a mysis/cyclop-eeze mixture every night for a couple weeks to get it nice and healthy, and then slowly cut back to a few times a week.

GL! Glad to hear its starting to open for you.

 

[HumanIMDB]

Here are some new pictures. We're making progress but still haven't seen the polyps fully extend.

Feeding time
<a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3150032.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3150032_tn.JPG" border="0" /></a>

After the feeding hat is removed...get away you sneaky crab!
<a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3140019.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3140019_tn.JPG" border="0" /></a>

Didn't make it to the LFS yesterday so picking up the Cyclop-eeze tonight. I think we are going to start doing bowl feedings as we seem to be wasting a lot of food when the feeding hat is removed, not that the rest of the tank doesn't mind the nightly treats, and hand feeding will be easier.

 

[JokerGirl]

You are definitely making some progress! The polyps at least look like they are fatter and coming out a bit. They are looking more how they should when they are closed, rather than being sunken in like the first pic.

I would bowl feed for at least these first couple of weeks when you are doing it nightly, or until the coral starts capturing almost all the foot in the feeding hat. This will help keep your water quality in check while you're getting it back to health.

I tried the feeding hat for a little while, but the rock that mine is attached to is too big for even the 3L bottles. I just target feed mine and it usually catches almost all the food sent it's way.

Keep up the great work!

 

[45commando]

The coral is looking much better.If you try the bowl method,just make sure to put it in the bowl while submerged,so to prevent any stress.Also after you've added the food,you may want to give the bowl a squirt with a turkey baster every 10 mins or so.This will help disperse the food,so that more polyps receive food.HTH

 

[robrich342]

I have one and if you can belive it its grown onto a large Muscle that is still alive

 

[HumanIMDB]

I don't know if it's the Cyclop-eeze or if it's just starting to get healthier but the tube coral looks to be doing much better.

These were taken last night after the first bowl feeding of Cyclop-eeze:
<a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3180006.JPG" target=_blank><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3180006_tn.JPG" border=0></a><a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3180011.JPG" target=_blank><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3180011_tn.JPG" border=0></a><a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3180016.JPG" target=_blank><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/tubastrea/P3180016_tn.JPG" border=0></a>
<i>(click for larger image)</i>

 

[JokerGirl]

Its probably a combination of both. Did your other corals give a reaction from the addition of the Cyclop-Eeze? Mine go nuts for the stuff.

 

[HumanIMDB]

I just kept the Cyclop-eeze in the bowl as the tank is showing signs of being over fed...

 

[JokerGirl]

Ahhh. Either way it's looking good. Pretty soon you can probably start cutting back on the feedings a bit.

 

[HumanIMDB]

Another update...

Tonight they came out when the rest of the tank was being fed so we put it in the feeding bowl early.

<a href="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/P3220004.JPG" target=_blank><img src="http://www.omnipresence.ca/images/blog/aquarium2.2/P3220004_tn.JPG" border=0></a>
<i>(Click for larger image)</i>

 

[slukach]

I grabbed one of these a few weeks ago. I have it under a live rock "bridge" in my tank, but on the sand. A few folks from another thread said that Tubie's don't like the sand. Unfortunately, its the only shady place in the tank.

As for feeding, I take the coral out of the tank and put it in a tupperware bowl. Then I spot feed each polyp individually. I do this twice a week. The technique above looks pretty interesting, though.