sun coral advice

[PONCHDOG2000]

so i scored tonight. i got three polyps of black sun coral with some other clover polyps for $15. i know that sun coral generally grow upside down in a cave and are nocturnal.and will feed when lights are out. but, will it be harmed or irritated if it is out in the open light? not in a cave? or must it be shaded? any advice is appreciated. thanks everyone.

 

[sufunk]

No, IME and seeing alot of posts from other sun owners, it doesnt matter where the sun is placed. Mine is directly under lights and ive heard from others having them directly under all kinds of lights, even 250w MH's.

Just make sure if it is out on the sand that you dont let any of the polyps lay in the sand. Make sure the entire coral is on top of the sandbed.

By the way, mine isnt upside down and after being trained by feeding everyday, it usually opens everyday around 4-5 pm and stays open most of the night.

They are great just make sure to feed often and meaty foods, imo. At least when you first get it, feed everyday for a few weeks to make sure it is nice and healthy. Good luck!

 

[musty baby]

PONCHDOG2000, you mentioned that you know they're nocturnal and will feed at night. Please tell us you already know that you HAVE to feed them regularly or they will likely wither and die.

 

[PONCHDOG2000]

yes. i know that as well. i fed them tonight, and how do you guys prevent shrimp from stealing food from them? also if any of you guys have black sun coral, does it color up? i mean its feeders/tentacles. mine are black and on an online pic i saw them with green ones. i'd also love to see your pics if you have some. thanks

 

[JTEAGUE]

check out melevsreef.com that will answer most of your questions about suncorals and anything else.

 

[musty baby]

I think most have the green sheen to them, maybe yours will after having been fed well for a while.

To keep shrimp from stealing food out of any fed lps, remove them from the tank and crush them individually under your shoe (kidding). People have told me before to "just feed them before you feed the corals" but that really doesn't work. My peppermints will be gone very soon, but I've never had a problem with saron shrimp stealing food out of anything.

 

[sufunk]

I have a small plastic tupperware bowl(4x4x4) with holes i drilled in the top and each side. I put this over the sun with a little rock on top to hold it down. Then i use a walmart syringe($1) to squirt some of my homemade mix in.

 

[dendro982]

Just posted some photos on feeding in this thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1013192 .

 

[raoul]

I read they also need good flow which may eliminate caves.
A few months back I thought I was getting a sun coral polyp, but later on someone id'd it as a dendro. From what I can tell, their care is about the same (actually haven't found any differences yet). I placed my frag in a rock near the top of the tank. It gets decent flow, and it's under 250w of MH lighting, soon to be 500 (we'll be adding another bulb soon). The placement of the frag and the rock provides a little bit of shelter from the lighting. Mine is growing and getting much more comfortable, and also eats during the day. I feed when it's convinient for me, and that's during lights on.

 

[Qckwzrd]

not bad. getting a sun coral and going home with a dendro.

 

[dendro982]

I see in your signature that you have a nano: the sun will add a lot of bioload to the tank, where it will be.
Filtration and skimmer (or setup of skimmerless tank) should be able to remove excess of nutrients. Some people have no problems with NO3 and PO4, or at least didn't mention it, but the most (including me) have increase of both, that have to be removed.

 

[JokerGirl]

What I do to keep my Coral Banded happy when I feed my coral is that there is usually a piece of mysis or two that is too big for any of my coral except my Cynarina to digest, so I just give one to the shrimp. It seems to keep it happy as it sits there and sits there and sucks on it while I feed everyone else. Mine has been pretty good about not trying to steal anything from the coral.

 

[raoul]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9216098#post9216098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Qckwzrd
not bad. getting a sun coral and going home with a dendro.

It was a freebie our lfs guy threw in too, he didn't want to be responsible for remembering to feed it I would say it ranks up there in great deals!