Plate Coral

winstew

New member
Just received my plate coral in the mail. Does any1 have any expirence with thses things. I have done all the reserch and what not but when I opened the bag all the tenticles were retracted. It looked almost like a sand dollar. I had a hard time figuring out which side was up. It has been 24 hours now and still no sign of tenticles. Any suggestions?
 
First question Long tentacle (heliofungia) or short tentacle (fungia)?

LT plates are very sensetive and tough to keep. ST are very hardy and rumor has it they can even be fragged.
 
Should be pretty. Flat side goes down, ;) just in case. And it must be on the sand bed. Let it rest a day or so, then get some storebought shrimp (people food) and slice one. Hold it above the plate with the pump off and squeeze the juice out of the shrimp until you're sure some got to the plate. Withdraw shrimp. Turn pump on. If tentacles turn up, try shrimp chopped, and put it on the center of the plate, protecting it from fish. Leave it about 5 minutes, then turn on the pump and let the shrimp float. Eventually the plate will respond to this offering and extrude more tiny tentacles.
Mine, an orange, has great color and extension day and night, and eats Formula One Sinking Pellets with Garlic. This is not recommended, but if it can get anything into its tentacles, down the hatch it goes. The only thing I've ever seen get a piece away from it is a mega-bristleworm, and that after a 3 minute tug-of-war.
I somewhat suspect my use of Kent Coral Vite may have helped it a bit. Can't prove it, but certain of my corals have gone very ample since I've been using it. The plate is particularly so, also the frogspawn. Either that or my water/light is spot-on to their taste.
 
I will try that tomorrow. Thanks SK8r

Yea about the flat side. Both sides are rounded. One has color the other doesn't so I figured the colored side goes up.
 
I have a fungia, in fact it was the second coral I ever put in my tank. Unfortunately I got it prior to doing any research. Thank goodness they are so hardy - I actually super glued it to my live rock! Can you imagine the stress I put that poor creature through? Anyway after several months I realized the error of my ways and took the point of a knife and popped him off. Now two year later - and a proud survivor of my learning curve - he is doing beautifully. I feed him bits of scallops and shrimp every once in a while. I read somewhere that you should not try to feed unless the tentacles are fully extended.

My one and only successful diy project was designed just for this fungia. I took a long wooden skewer and slid a piece of tubing that fit snugly around it. I skewer some treat, hold it close to my fungia and when a tentacle touches, I can slide the tubing down the skewer to release his meal. Perhaps not patentable - but effective.

sara
 
The side facing up should have a ridges(ribs) going from the center to the outer rim all the way around.
 
I just recently added a fungia to my tank and it took the longest of any of my coral to come out. Be patient he will respond.

Mike
 
So its been a little over a week now and my plate still looks like this... SHould I be worried yet?

DSCN0576.jpg
 
So i guess thats what they mean by "short" tenticle then huh... I was under the impression that it would be a little longer. O well
 
They will get a bit longer, maybe 1/4"-1/2" in length when they are fully extended but right now everything looks fine. No damage, no deterioration, doesn't look like it's on a down hill run at the moment. Give it time.
 
Lay a mysis on top of it or some brine shrimp or other meaty food in low flow and I'm sure it will eat something. Keep an eye on the food that you put on it to make sure it is eating and the food is not being stolen by something else in the tank.
 
Turn off your pump while you squeeze some chopped shrimp over its center. Let it sit there about 5 minutes before you turn the pump on. Repeat daily, assuming you've got something that can absorb the extra shrimp: otherwise, use a turkey baster to suck it back up and turn the pump back on.
 
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