Trachyphyllia health/feeding question w/ pic

[Froggy]

Hello, I added a nice red and green Trachyphyllia that appears to be healthy and in good shape. It was inflated nicely upon purchase and is doing the same during the day in my tank. There are no signs of flesh damage etc. Now here comes my problem. I am wanting to feed my Trachyphyllia some mysis, Cyclopeeze etc. to keep it nice and healthy. So far in the 1st week, I have not seen it extend it's feeding tentacles/polyps. I have checked at dusk, after the lights go out, and even a few hours into the night cycle.

So far all it does is shrink up at night and inflate well during the day. It looks good now but I fear without supplemental feeding. How can I stimulate it to extend and eat? Maybe spray some thawed mysis juice over it with a turkey baster to stimulate a reaction?

Here is a pic of the new coral. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[elegance coral]

Take a small piece of shrimp and gently tuck it in a fold where the red meets the oral disk. If the fish don't steal the food your brain will consume it.

 

[Froggy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11691744#post11691744 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elegance coral
Take a small piece of shrimp and gently tuck it in a fold where the red meets the oral disk. If the fish don't steal the food your brain will consume it.

Thank you elegance coral.

I do think my fish stealing to mysis will be a problem. I have the same issue when I feed my Turbinaria. The problem I have is not being able to keep the shrimp in place due to the lack of sticky feeding tentacles on the Trachyphyllia. The Turbinaria is easy to feed due to the extended polyps.

I feed several other LPS like Caulastrea etc at night when the polyps are fully extended. The fish are sleeping and not stealing free meals.

Is it common for newly introduced Trachyphyllia's to not extend their polyps to feed or is this something I should be concerned about? It has been a week so far. It does look great in the daytime though, fully inflated and in all its glory.

 

[fierceseaman]

This is a common problem. The easiest way to get it to extend tentacles is exactly what elegance said. Place some food on top of the coral, even if you have to hold it down with your hand. If the coral wants to eat, it will eat the food. After a couple of times of feeding like this, it will get the idea and extend tentacles for you.

 

[Froggy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11692861#post11692861 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fierceseaman
This is a common problem. The easiest way to get it to extend tentacles is exactly what elegance said. Place some food on top of the coral, even if you have to hold it down with your hand. If the coral wants to eat, it will eat the food. After a couple of times of feeding like this, it will get the idea and extend tentacles for you.

Thanks to both of you. I held some Mysis on top of it and held it in place. After a minute or so, it extended it's mouth and ate the Mysis. It did not extend feeder tentacles ( except one or two) though. Hopefully with continued feedings like this I can train it to extend and eat more than today. Thanks again.

 

[JAHGYDI]

IVE NEVER FED MY BRAIN JUST WHOLE TANK AND ITS BEEN ALIVE OVER 2 YEARS NOW