Sun coral frag

I

IndyMatt

New member
I cannot get this bad boy to open. I have been feeding reef frenzy and cyclopeeze at night to try to get a reaction. Nothing so far...I got this frag from a local shop. Nothing is working currently, had it a little over a week.

Tips? How long should it take to have them open?

Matt
 
IndyMatt said:
I cannot get this bad boy to open. I have been feeding reef frenzy and cyclopeeze at night to try to get a reaction. Nothing so far...I got this frag from a local shop. Nothing is working currently, had it a little over a week.

Tips? How long should it take to have them open?

Matt
Click to expand...

what type of sun corals is it? If its a cold water species they are very stubborn (and some just don't open). Post a pic.

They should open after adjusting to your water parameters - probably a day at most. Make sure you have some flow on it.

I find they don't react to coral foods - try something smelly - like the juice from a Mysis cube. I use this angelfish feed stuff. Squirt it at the coral using a turkey baster or a squirt type feeder.

I have a thread on there on sun corals in it I have some tips on getting them to open.
 
I'm no expert but I did have trouble getting my sun coral to eat. What eventually worked for me was I would pull it out daily and put it in a 2x2" Tupperware container and then soak it in Mysis and zooplankton. Occasionally blowing or stirring the food to get it directly on top of the coral. Initially I got very little polyp extension but just enough for it to get some food after soaking for 30 min- hour.

My thinking is that if they are starving they do not have enough energy to extend their polyps and it's a downward spiral.

Once they start to become more healthy I found that high flow tends to stimulate the feeding response. Now mine is healthy and will usually extend polyps after I feed my fish. Then I just blow some Mysis on the coral every couple days and so far it seems to be doing well. Best of luck!
 
I agree with Tzwizzle. Exactly what I do when I get a new Sun Coral. Has worked every time for me so far.
 
did you had any luck?
I have had mine for some weeks now, at first it was eating like a champ. I started with frozen brine shrimp, then moved on to a paste I had prepared, and then to shrimps.
After 2 or 3 times eating chopped shrimps, it just won´t open.
Polips are full and stretched, but not opening.
Any ideas? it´s my first sun.
 
I was talking to a couple fellow reefers yesterday and think I might have an idea about what was causing my problem.
I started adding VSV to lower my nitrates, I was on 30, after a week I was on 8.
Didn´t add the dose yesterday, and already some polips started opening.
Will stop it for a couple of days, if they open, well that was it.

Are you adding something Matt?
 
Nope, not sure it was the most healthy specimen to start off with.

I put the sun coral in a tupperware dish and put some reef frenzy in there with it. Nothing not even a twitch.
 
Post #8
Torture

I'll bet you were feeding it quite frequently. IME they can seem to eat enough until the point their gut is full. It will eventually expel the waste and will eat again. If the polyps are plump, you should be fine.

I have read posts on this forum where people have said that suns & dendros can be over fed to the point where food rots in the digestive tract. Never experienced this myself but do believe some new owners tend to feed more than is necessary. I did when I first got into these corals.
 
IndyMatt said:
Nope, not sure it was the most healthy specimen to start off with.

I put the sun coral in a tupperware dish and put some reef frenzy in there with it. Nothing not even a twitch.
Click to expand...

How often have you done this? You may have to do this everyday for several days.
 
Reef Frog said:
Post #8
Torture

I'll bet you were feeding it quite frequently. IME they can seem to eat enough until the point their gut is full. It will eventually expel the waste and will eat again. If the polyps are plump, you should be fine.

I have read posts on this forum where people have said that suns & dendros can be over fed to the point where food rots in the digestive tract. Never experienced this myself but do believe some new owners tend to feed more than is necessary. I did when I first got into these corals.
Click to expand...


well, that could very well be the case.
I fed it every other day, but when you think about it, the smallest I can cut a shrimp, is like eating probably 30 pounds of shrimp for us.

I read a lot about them, and they used to feed it every day, guess brine shrimps not shrimps.
 
good news.
mine is starting to open.
guess it was too much food then.

What do you usually feed them?

Matt, keep trying, it is an outstanding piece of nature.
Can you post a picture see what the status is?
 
Ive found Mysis gets the best reaction. Also I put mine in the sump with the lights off for an hour or so. Occasionally blowing the food around with a pipet. While they are non photosynthetic, they are aware when the lights are on and tend to feed more in the evening. Give that a shot
 
It's eating! No crazy yellow polyps yet though. I simply placed mysis on the mouths and it ate. You can see the yellow tips just barely poking out.

 
great news!
keep it up and you will just fall in love with that one when it is fully open.
mine just got better and it is opening completely for the first time in a week.
really happy here.
 
i just got one with the same problem. got him four days ago and it didnt eat yet. today it expended a little... keep us posted please. i am following :-))
 

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