luvzz2play
New member
Ok, so I think this is a sun coral. Correct? I've read that a person can get them to open up during the day. Any advice on how i can do that since mine only opens later at night? Also, how often should i feed this?
Sun Coral?
- Thread starter luvzz2play
- Start date
Ngoodermuth
New member
Yep, that is a sun coral alright! Mine only opened during the night... although I fed it in the evenings so maybe that is why. I had to feed mine (30+ head colony) every day. If I skipped even one feeding it wouldn't open up for several days and would start to recede - it was very, very touchy! I don't think that this is a rule of thumb but that was my experience.
Also, you need to be careful that any fish you have won't nip at it during feedings. I would cover mine with a 2-liter bottle (bottom cut off) and cover it with meaty foods using a turkey baster.
I hope you have a good skimmer and are fond of water changes... you will definitely need to stay on top of your nutrient export if your experience is anything like mine.
On the plus side - besides being a PITA, I LOVED this coral... it was the prettiest in my tank! Good luck!
EDIT: here is a photo of the one I had, for good measure
Also, you need to be careful that any fish you have won't nip at it during feedings. I would cover mine with a 2-liter bottle (bottom cut off) and cover it with meaty foods using a turkey baster.
I hope you have a good skimmer and are fond of water changes... you will definitely need to stay on top of your nutrient export if your experience is anything like mine.
On the plus side - besides being a PITA, I LOVED this coral... it was the prettiest in my tank! Good luck!
EDIT: here is a photo of the one I had, for good measure
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Ngoodermuth
New member
**Sorry, one very important thing to clarify here... you can overfeed them so I wouldn't start out with daily feeding. Mine was very large so it consumed what I was feeding.
JustinM
New member
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=195870
I don't know if linking other sites is allowed, but there is some very good info about sun corals here. Enjoy and good luck!
I don't know if linking other sites is allowed, but there is some very good info about sun corals here. Enjoy and good luck!
luvzz2play
New member
cool thx.. It is bright, very cool to look at but i wish it would open during the day. I heard of that being possible. I bought that frag for $5 on Black Friday and was feeding it most evenings. Then i read that feeding it every day could be bad so i stopped feeding it every day. Should I feed it twice a week?
I was worried about overfeeding my tank and getting high nitrates and phosphates so ordered a hannah checker for phosphates and today i took my first reading and it was 0.03
Currently it sits on the sand bed of my 75g. 2 Banggai and a lawnmower blenny.
T5x6 lighting
Hydor performer 500P
100# LR
100#LS
I was worried about overfeeding my tank and getting high nitrates and phosphates so ordered a hannah checker for phosphates and today i took my first reading and it was 0.03
Currently it sits on the sand bed of my 75g. 2 Banggai and a lawnmower blenny.
T5x6 lighting
Hydor performer 500P
100# LR
100#LS
JustinM
New member
A PO4 reading of .03ppm isn't bad. You should see how I feed my tank and I have no problems with NO4, and I have less live rock than you but a better protein skimmer.
As long as you are feeding what your sun coral can consume, I wouln't worry about it at all. You have a very small bio-load with lots of live rock. Just stay on top of your H2O changes with 0tds water and all should be well.
My sun coral started spitting/budding(whatever you want to call it)babies all over the tank. If properly maintained, they are a hardy coral, and very beautiful. I miss mine very much. That article has some very good info in it.
Feed it before lights turn on. That way it will open to eat and stay open for at least a few hours after your lights turn on. Good Luck!
As long as you are feeding what your sun coral can consume, I wouln't worry about it at all. You have a very small bio-load with lots of live rock. Just stay on top of your H2O changes with 0tds water and all should be well.
My sun coral started spitting/budding(whatever you want to call it)babies all over the tank. If properly maintained, they are a hardy coral, and very beautiful. I miss mine very much. That article has some very good info in it.
Feed it before lights turn on. That way it will open to eat and stay open for at least a few hours after your lights turn on. Good Luck!
Ngoodermuth
New member
You can get them to come out in the morning also... but mine never stayed out all day.
Basically, you can coax them out to eat by squirting a small food like cyclopeez in it's direction, and feed in the AM and they will eventually stay out longer and longer. Bad side to this, is the food you use to coax them out doesn't usually get eaten... so it adds nutrients. I did this a few times but ended up just giving up and enjoying it at night lol.
The good thing about your colony is that it is still small, so it should be relatively easy to spot feed each head without wasting too much once they are out. I would only feed a small amount, maybe one or two pieces at a time.
You can kind of see how yours acts... like I said mine was only happy with daily feedings... others only feed two to three times a week. If it closes up for more than a day or two you may need to coax it back out before you can get it to eat again which can be really frustrating.
Once you find a routine that keeps them happy they do fairly well.
Basically, you can coax them out to eat by squirting a small food like cyclopeez in it's direction, and feed in the AM and they will eventually stay out longer and longer. Bad side to this, is the food you use to coax them out doesn't usually get eaten... so it adds nutrients. I did this a few times but ended up just giving up and enjoying it at night lol.
The good thing about your colony is that it is still small, so it should be relatively easy to spot feed each head without wasting too much once they are out. I would only feed a small amount, maybe one or two pieces at a time.
You can kind of see how yours acts... like I said mine was only happy with daily feedings... others only feed two to three times a week. If it closes up for more than a day or two you may need to coax it back out before you can get it to eat again which can be really frustrating.
Once you find a routine that keeps them happy they do fairly well.
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luvzz2play
New member
Thx for the input and advice
