What's this coral I paid $150 for and why is it hating life?

[aleok]

So the best saleman in the world sold me this Coral without me even seeing it open. (It was right when the store was opening and the lights were just turning on). I forget what he called it.

It's been in my tank for about 10 days and still hasn't done much of anything. I spot feed it yesterday and some yellow polyps started coming out but that's all.

My tanks been running pretty hot lately so a lot of my corals have been freaking out. Any idea what this is? And what it'll like? Thanks!!

 

[HARDROCKS]

Tubastrea. Sun coral. Too expensive.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Each Polyp has to be fed too.

 

[4x4cubereefer]

Start feeding the those polyps mate
Hopefully it bounces back,
Good luck with it .. they are a nice coral just a little more work then others that's all.

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[Jason9488]

That's a $60 coral all day long. Mine is doing well. High flow and low light

 

[jack220]

Also do not place in direct light. These are Non photosynthetic corals. That means they do not benefit from light, in fact it's bad for them. A great place would be under a rocky ledge or in a cave. Make sure that it is easy for you to spot feed each polyp, At least three times per week. What makes this even more difficult it is that they usually extend their polyps after dark. That means you have to wait for them to flower, and then very gently feed them. You'll also need to experiment to find out what your particular to Sun coral likes to eat. In time you can coax them to eat during the day. Unfortunately this takes time and patience. The results of successful husbandry Are well worth the effort!


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[jack220]

And to back up what others have said, you probably paid 3 times as much as you should have. Sorry about that


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[theshaman]

So the best saleman in the world sold me this Coral without me even seeing it open. (It was right when the store was opening and the lights were just turning on). I forget what he called it.



It's been in my tank for about 10 days and still hasn't done much of anything. I spot feed it yesterday and some yellow polyps started coming out but that's all.



My tanks been running pretty hot lately so a lot of my corals have been freaking out. Any idea what this is? And what it'll like? Thanks!!

Is that a green sun coral? I was at Lfs and the guy there tried selling me a green sun coral that looks just like that for 150.


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[nereefpat]

That picture with that lighting looks like a Duncan. Relative to the sun corals, which doesn't need fed.

Very well could be a sun corals though

 

[jack220]

I think the statement "œyellow things" indicates a sun coral. A Duncan would be very unusual if it showed yellow polyps. In my experience Duncan's also do not retract their polyps as deeply into the base when they close. Please correct me if I am wrong.


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[45commando]

OP your Sun coral is literally starving & will just slowly decline if you cannot get it to feed. Even when the polyps are closed, a healthy specimen will still appear plump & you shouldn't be able to see the outline of the skeleton beneath the polyps.

As for getting it to feed. You can add a very small amount of food to the tank (think of it as adding chum to catch fish). After a time maybe 30 mins, but hopefully less, the polyps should be fully open & ready to catch food. You can then add food via a pipette/ turkey baster etc to the polyps. The polyps should grab the food, ingest it & then fully open while digesting. If you have boisterous fish or even cleaner shrimp, then chances are, they'll pull the food from the polyps before the coral can consume it. If this is the case, you can try feeding the coral in a separate container & then placing back in the tank once the polyps have eaten. You don't have to feed every individual polyp as this is a colonial coral, but you should aim to feed as many polyps as possible.

IMO, these are a beautiful coral, but they need special care & the extra feedings could possibly cause water quality issues. On the upside, a well fed colony will grow & even reproduce to form tiny polyps separate from the main colony.

I'm sure you're now aware that you shouldn't purchase a specimen without knowing it's specific needs, but at least you're trying to obtain the information needed to care for it, so best of luck & I'm sure you can turn this Sun coral around. HTH

 

[4x4cubereefer]

OP your Sun coral is literally starving & will just slowly decline if you cannot get it to feed. Even when the polyps are closed, a healthy specimen will still appear plump & you shouldn't be able to see the outline of the skeleton beneath the polyps.

As for getting it to feed. You can add a very small amount of food to the tank (think of it as adding chum to catch fish). After a time maybe 30 mins, but hopefully less, the polyps should be fully open & ready to catch food. You can then add food via a pipette/ turkey baster etc to the polyps. The polyps should grab the food, ingest it & then fully open while digesting. If you have boisterous fish or even cleaner shrimp, then chances are, they'll pull the food from the polyps before the coral can consume it. If this is the case, you can try feeding the coral in a separate container & then placing back in the tank once the polyps have eaten. You don't have to feed every individual polyp as this is a colonial coral, but you should aim to feed as many polyps as possible.

IMO, these are a beautiful coral, but they need special care & the extra feedings could possibly cause water quality issues. On the upside, a well fed colony will grow & even reproduce to form tiny polyps separate from the main colony.

I'm sure you're now aware that you shouldn't purchase a specimen without knowing it's specific needs, but at least you're trying to obtain the information needed to care for it, so best of luck & I'm sure you can turn this Sun coral around. HTH

Your sure he's now aware he shouldn't purchase a specimen without knowing it's needs .. mate that's a bit harsh he wants advice not criticism .. I'm sure *every single person on here" has made mistakes along the line & purchased things on a whim "including you".



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[45commando]

Your sure he's now aware he shouldn't purchase a specimen without knowing it's needs .. mate that's a bit harsh he wants advice not criticism .. I'm sure *every single person on here" has made mistakes along the line & purchased things on a whim "including you".



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I thought I was giving advice & not criticism. As for being harsh, then my bad, but that's why I also said the OP is doing the right thing by asking here what the coral needs. Sure I, like you have made plenty of mistakes & just trying to help the OP from making some & possibly being able to succeed with this specimen.

 

[2_zoa]

So the best saleman in the world sold me this Coral without me even seeing it open. (It was right when the store was opening and the lights were just turning on). I forget what he called it.

It’s been in my tank for about 10 days and still hasn’t done much of anything. I spot feed it yesterday and some yellow polyps started coming out but that’s all.

My tanks been running pretty hot lately so a lot of my corals have been freaking out. Any idea what this is? And what it’ll like? Thanks!!

A great trick to help feed a sun coral is to place a soda bottle top that you cut to fit over the coral. Then squirt the food into the bottle and let it be. When it opens you can feed it more. It’s not easy and a long road sometimes to get suncoral to open back up and healthy to the point that they open up happily when food is introduced to the tank.

You can even take the coral out of the tank and place it in a bowl of tank water while feeding it to get it back to health without destroying your tanks parameters. This is what I would do and have done in the past to revive a suncoral.

They are work. However they sure are cool and bring lots of color to the dark spots of you tank. I’ll be getting one or two soon.