Rescuing damaged plate coral...

[Shy_Koi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7006533#post7006533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tgunn
Wooah, so it moved out into the light on it's own? I didn't realize they were mobile!
I'm going to the LFS tonight to pick up some kind of frozen meaty food for my LPS..

SWC sells a frozen block of ocean plankton (similiar to krill but smaller). My plate coral wolfs this stuff down (as do the RBTA and fish). I use a turkey baster to drop pieces all over the tentacles, which then in turn move the food *very* efficiently towards the mouth.

My plate seems to like lower light and moderate flow.
I have observed it moving, by alternating puffing up with water and then deflating. They are definitely sandbed dwellers - I believe that sharp rocks can injure them. Oh, and I also read somewhere, that the accumulation of air bubbles beneath them can be harmful. I always "tilt" my plate a bit (to release any possible bubbles) if I ever have to move it.
~Tamara

 

[tgunn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7016605#post7016605 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shy_Koi
SWC sells a frozen block of ocean plankton (similiar to krill but smaller). My plate coral wolfs this stuff down (as do the RBTA and fish). I use a turkey baster to drop pieces all over the tentacles, which then in turn move the food *very* efficiently towards the mouth.

My plate seems to like lower light and moderate flow.
I have observed it moving, by alternating puffing up with water and then deflating. They are definitely sandbed dwellers - I believe that sharp rocks can injure them. Oh, and I also read somewhere, that the accumulation of air bubbles beneath them can be harmful. I always "tilt" my plate a bit (to release any possible bubbles) if I ever have to move it.
~Tamara

I picked up a block of frozen plankton yesterday. My frogspawn seems to love it. I haven't tried feeding it to the plate yet; I need to figure out something to put over it to keep the shrimp from stealing the food.

How do you target feed the plate exactly? The the frogspawn I just suck a piece of food up in a baster. I gently touch the tip of one of the frogspawn polyps and a bunch of polyps "latch on"; I then gently squirt the food into the polyps and the froggy takes it from there.

I tried feeding my plate by gently squirting some food to the mouth of the coral but it seemed to ignore it and the food floated away. I guess if I make an enclosure of sorts I can just put it over and let the plate capture the food on it's own?

Thanks for the tips! Great to see another local!
Tyler

 

[Shy_Koi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7016994#post7016994 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tgunn

How do you target feed the plate exactly? The the frogspawn I just suck a piece of food up in a baster.
Tyler

Hi Tyler
I use a baster also, and just let the plankton drop onto the plate. The feeding tentacles, though small, are very sticky (similiar to a bta?) The tentacles pass the food pieces, from one tentacle to another in a sweeping motion, until the food reaches the mouth, (which by this time is usually wide open). My plate is in a low flow area, so the food does not usually float away - I find once it sticks to the tentacles it's there to stay.
If your plate is being fussy, try squirting a small amount of food over it with the baster, wait a few minutes and then drop some plankton right onto the tentacles.
HTH,
~Tamara

 

[tgunn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7018133#post7018133 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shy_Koi
Hi Tyler
I use a baster also, and just let the plankton drop onto the plate. The feeding tentacles, though small, are very sticky (similiar to a bta?) The tentacles pass the food pieces, from one tentacle to another in a sweeping motion, until the food reaches the mouth, (which by this time is usually wide open). My plate is in a low flow area, so the food does not usually float away - I find once it sticks to the tentacles it's there to stay.
If your plate is being fussy, try squirting a small amount of food over it with the baster, wait a few minutes and then drop some plankton right onto the tentacles.
HTH,
~Tamara

I think putting it in a shadier spot has helped it somewhat; before the polyps woudln't be out during the day. Now they're out.

I squirted some cyclopeeze at it and it opened it's mouth and extended it's polyps further. Another squirt of cyclopeeze and it captured it in it's polyps and pulled some into it's mouth (not after first fighting after a "string" of cyclopeeze with a spaghetti worm). I'll have to try the same with a piece of the plankton and see how it responds.

Hopefully once I get it eating more regularily it'll have the energy to really come back...

Thanks for the tips!

Tyler

 

[tgunn]

Update:

Since being moved into a shadier spot the fungia extends it's polyps during the day now. I target fed it last night after lights off; just using cyclopeeze still... It opened it's mouth up quite wide and pulled in a huge string of cyclopeeze. All in all it's generally starting to look better.

Thanks again for all the help and hints!
Tyler