Alright, Ive had this colony (about 30 polyps) for 2 or 3 months, when I got it the flesh was receeding, Id assume due to starvation. I kept it in a container in my tank so I could feed it without the food escaping into the tank itself. Problem is, to this day, the polyps have never fully extended. The polyps reach outward but the tentacles barely extend if at all, making it very difficult to feed. In the container I can still feed it, as the mysis lands right on the polyps, but this coral needs to be moved back into the tank. Let me make it clear that I have been feeding this coral very well, despite the circumstances, and have seen a fair amount of growth as well as several new polyps. Any suggestion on how to get full polyp extension?
Tubastrea
- Thread starter Jamokie01
- Start date
Bcollins111900
New member
Try feeding it with frozen cyclopeeze first to entise it to open then add the mysis. Make sure to feed it when the tanks lights are out or in a dark area which will premote the polyps to extend further. Hope this helps.
I probably should have said what I feed and when. I hzve fed mysis, frozen cyclopeeze, finely chopped squid and silversides, enriched brine, baby brine, live baby brine, rotifers, and daphnia. The strongest feeding response goes to mysis, and strangely enough to phyto.
Ive tried feeding at night, when my dusk/dawn lighting is on, and when my main lights are on. I get the same response reguardless of lighting.
Ive tried feeding at night, when my dusk/dawn lighting is on, and when my main lights are on. I get the same response reguardless of lighting.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Mine prefer mysis, but it needs to be chopped small, and it needs to be a quality product. I have used Hikari mysis, its no good. Hopefully you have access to PE mysis the difference is night and day. Take the mysis cube while frozen and shave it with a sharp knife. I have found that nightly feeding is important. If I try to go 1 or 2 nights without feeding then polyp extension is poor.
I feed my fish shortly before lights out this triggers the tubastrea to get ready for feeding then right after lights out I feed them. If I wait too long to feed the polyps will begin to retract. My first one took months before it acclimated to the feeding and began to add new polyps and tissue.
Recovery time is going to depend upon how malnurished the coral was. Are the polyps plump and fat during the day, or can you see the sharp ridges of the coralite upper rim?
I feed my fish shortly before lights out this triggers the tubastrea to get ready for feeding then right after lights out I feed them. If I wait too long to feed the polyps will begin to retract. My first one took months before it acclimated to the feeding and began to add new polyps and tissue.
Recovery time is going to depend upon how malnurished the coral was. Are the polyps plump and fat during the day, or can you see the sharp ridges of the coralite upper rim?
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Here's my oldest colony I've had it about a year. This is taken during the day, you can see how puffy the polyps are. It was in really bad shape when I got it, and progressively got worse, it was down to maybe 6 polyps before it started to recover, and now its doing very well and continues to add new polyps.
Here's my black suncoral it was in relatively good shape when I got and didnt recede, but it was obviously malnurished now it stays plump. Again pics during the day. I'm not sure where the mysis came from it must've been left over from last nights fish feeding, and it obviously too big for the coral, but its trying anyway.
and here's one I bought last week you can see the difference in appearance, no plumpness at all, but overall its in pretty good shape, and polyps are beginning to extend more each night.
Here's my black suncoral it was in relatively good shape when I got and didnt recede, but it was obviously malnurished now it stays plump. Again pics during the day. I'm not sure where the mysis came from it must've been left over from last nights fish feeding, and it obviously too big for the coral, but its trying anyway.
and here's one I bought last week you can see the difference in appearance, no plumpness at all, but overall its in pretty good shape, and polyps are beginning to extend more each night.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Are you putting anything on the mysis? I had problems getting my suncoral to eat mysis soaked in Selcon. Maybe try another brand of mysis or a different food. It sounds like the mysis just isnt triggering the feeding response.
Well I just went food shopping and picked up a bunch of frozen food. I can only find hikari and sf bay mysis locally so I'll try the sf bay stuff tonight. I also got frozen formula one, prime reef, and pygmy angel diet. Between this and everything else I feed I hope these damn things open fully.
2crazyreefers
New member
Our black one is centered in the tank in a cave in our 75. Where it sits the Tunzees on each side create good flow through the cave. We feed cyclopeeze only once per week. I think the constant flow keeps them fed well as they are opened often.
