purple fungia

[dadonoflaw]

i just bought this saturday night and was curious as to how long it normally takes them to come out. also does anyone keep these corals slightly off the sand with pvc? the lfs guy recommended this to me. finally i was feeding today and i put to mysis shrimps on it to see what would happen and some how it pulled the two to its mouth and ate them but the flesh isnt out. is this normal?

 

[FishyMel]

I see no one answered your qustion. I too, just got a fungia on Sat so I don't know much about them. But, I do know that they are very fragile and so I was told to keep mine flat on the sand. Even a slight injury can kill these guys. They have a fleshy bottom so live rock will shred them. Finally, I have mine under PC light and am very concerned. The LFS told me it would be fine, but I am worried it won't be enough. I am trying to upgrade my PC. Maybe add another fixture?

 

[seapug]

If the tissue is in tact it's fine, especially if it's eating. They often look completely contracted by day but if you look at them at night with a flashlight you'll see all the tentacles. They will do okay under PCs of appropriate wattage and spectrum in a relatively shallow tank.

 

[dadonoflaw]

well hopefully someone with more experience than us can answer this.

 

[dadonoflaw]

what about the pvc trick. is that a good idea? does anyone use something to prop up the fungia or should it be directly on the sand

 

[Jefe12234]

I have three Fungia and I keep them all on the sand. I wouldn't put them on PVC as I don't see how it would help at all. They may or may not extend tentacles during the day, but they usually all do at night. An interesting note, my biggest one can walk a few inches overnight. They do this by systematically inflating and deflating their tissue. (I've seen mine get HUGE when it did this.) I've also read that they can walk uphill and even flip themselves over if necessary. Anyways, if yours is eating that's a good sign. I have a small one that was damaged and it's recovering with feedings every day or two.

 

[idareefer]

moderate lighting, flow, keep on the sand, even if they get injured they usually will heal up fine, fairly hardy.

 

[dadonoflaw]

the guy at the fish store said that putting them on the pvc will help them to breathe. from what you guys are saying that is unecessary?

 

[gws76]

Since we're kind of on the subject of feeding fungia. I ended up with a purple fungia Sat. at one of our frag club meetings. It's about the size of a thumbnail. Does anyone know if they will eat DT phyto? The guy at the LFS said that would work. I did not sign up for this frag since I know nothing about fungia, it was one of the door prizes. Now I just want to take care of it.

 

[seapug]

They probably won't eat Phyto. Few corals actually eat phyto. Fungia are more partial to larger, meaty items. Mine eats pellets and mysis shrimp.

The idea of putting them on pvc is to keep them from getting buried by sand, which can cause tissue recession if the coral isn't healthy.

 

[Mikey Donuts]

I keep mine on the sand. Not too many corals live on PVC in the wild. I also target feed mysis once/twice a week.

 

[dadonoflaw]

yea i thought that was strange but the guy was saying that it cant breathe as well without it. i will remove it tomorrow

 

[eran]

on the sand