Why does my sun coral only open at night?

[cside]

simple question. had it for about a month. target feed every other night. they open even on the days i dont feed them, just only at night.

 

[ColaAddict]

That's because they usually only feed a night in the wild. They are not photosynthetic, so they don't need to be open during the day. They only open when they want to feed. You don't have to feed everytime they open, but they will still open when it's dark, as that is their nature in the wild to try to catch food. If you have pods in your tank, they are probably trying to catch them, as pods are usually active when it's dark. If you feed your tank frozen foods during the day, you might make them open up if they sense raw food in the water.

 

[cside]

at my lfs they were open all the time without food in the water with bright lights. this is why i bought them so i can see them open during the day when i look into the tank. is there any way i can acheive this?

 

[Tmot99]

I feed mine in the morning and they are usually open all day. I say usually because sometimes my peppermint shrimp will poke at the sun coral to make it close and then the food can be stolen. I have a 29g biocube with PC lighting. I don't know if it would respond differently with stronger lights.

 

[Caesra]

Yep, if you want them to be opend during the day, feed them during the day. They adjust to the cycle of food, mine generally will stay open about 6-8 hours after feeding.

 

[fishmonger007]

What do you guys feed your sun coral? I've been doing only mysis but thought a variety might be good

 

[Caesra]

mysis is my mainstay as well, usually toss some Rod's in and a bit of a food that is made local.

 

[e46slc]

I try to mix it up, mysis on one day, chopped shrimp another, and even some flake and pellets once in a while.

 

[cside]

thanks guys! i will start feeding during the day. i feed pellets and mysis

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

at my lfs they were open all the time without food in the water with bright lights

they SMELLED food in the water

How many fish and/or shrimps in that LFS's tank?

 

[cside]

they SMELLED food in the water

How many fish and/or shrimps in that LFS's tank?

it was an all nps tank with the exception of a few sygnathids.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

it was an all nps tank with the exception of a few sygnathids.

in other words, a PERFECT environment to display Tubastrea polyps wide open 24/7

 

[cside]

in other words, a PERFECT environment to display Tubastrea polyps wide open 24/7

lol. i guess so. its just that it appeared to be the same as all of their other tanks. i fed this morning and they are somewhat open

 

[iheartJMS]

Mine was the same way at first until it adjusted to my feeding schedule. I use frozen cyclopeeze to get the suncoral to open then target feed mysis. Works wonders, especially the cyclopeeze to get it to open up After that it stays open for hours.