What do SPS polyps do?

[jonnybravo22]

hello everyone. just had a mini revelation today when i changed my flow and finally saw polyp extension on my new frags. It made me wonder what they had been missing for the few days they've been in the tank without showing any polyps.

i know polyp extension is one sign people look for to see if their corals are healthy, but does anyone (or perhaps everyone except me) know what purpose the polyps serve? thanks.

(specifically referring to acros)

 

[Jeff]

They capture food.

 

[jonnybravo22]

thanks jeff.

hmm, ok. do you mean tiny solid food i.e. plankton? one coral is a red planet and when i fed the tank today for the first time i saw not polyps but some long white stringy stuff come out and i think i've read somewhere that is for digesting food (not sliming).

but that was separate from it's 'normal" looking polyps. the digestive filaments seem to be mixed / interspersed with the normal ones. hope that mkaes some sense i can try to find pictures if needed.

do polyps gather light at all?

since they gather food, what does this contribute too? i think of corals as mostly photosynthetic. do corals need to eat to survive or just to grow?

also if there is no polyp extension does that mean the coral could starve and die? thanks.

 

[GhostCon1]

Polyps catch plankton due to their small size, some polyps also catch pods.

This white stringy thing you are talking about I believe is the same thing I have seen on some of my frags. I don't know what it is but I hope it isn't bad.

I don't believe polyps have any zooanxthellae in them so no.

Digesting food just gives them more energy and nutrients for things. They certainly benefit from catching plankton, but most of their food comes from the zooanxthellae in their tissue.

I've had acros that had not PE for a long time (month or two) and they are still alive. They have PE now, but it is best to try and get the polyps out

Also, alot of people have PE only at night.

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

Sps polyps make me happy ;-)

 

[thebanker]

Also, alot of people have PE only at night.

Great point. Check my tank @ 2am, you'll see some incredible extension in SPS.

 

[GhostCon1]

Great point. Check my tank @ 2am, you'll see some incredible extension in SPS.

So far, I have been lucky, only one frag of mine has no PE and that is an ORA Tricolor but the tank it came from is having a lot of problems at the moment and I didn't know about that =/

Trying to save it but not going so well.

 

[CUNAReefer]

Acro polyps do catch food. Fed my sps rotifers last night and watched as the polyps snagged the food from the water and retracted into their stony skeletons.

Your going to get a FEW different opinions when it comes to feeding SPS. Rotifers work for some SPS, but not for others in my tank. I need to check the micron size (need something a little larger), but I may end up dosing oyster feast.

Warmest Regards,
James

 

[Wrench]

SPS do not extend their polyps during the day in the wild. They feed photosynthetically during the day and use their polyps to filter particulate from the water column at night. Daytime extenstion is a habit they have developed in captivity due to the lack of predators in our captive systems. Don't worry if they have no PE during the day as long as they're growing and have good color.

 

[triguy]

So if the polyps are mainly for catching food, and PE is best late at night when lights are out (at least in my tank), should feeding occur during this time rather than during the day? I use oyster feast

 

[GhostCon1]

Well, you kind of answered your own question there. They can not catch food if the polyps are not extended, so yes feed at night.

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

yes for the most part, but if you lie seeing the polyps durring the day, assuming you dont have a fish or pest that bother's the polyps, you can train them to come out at all times

 

[mak3mydae]

For some reason, i thought that the polyps also served as a way for the corals to obtain calcium and stuff?

 

[Whisperer]

What do SPS polyps do?
First, they make me happy :rollface:. Second, they are the primary means of food syntehsis, wither by capturing plankton or by photosynthesis via zooxanthellae.