[Michael]

Introduced a sun coral to my tank over a week ago. Water quality is good and all other inhabitants are doing very well but the sun coral has yet to open up. I have it at the bottom of the tank. I know that these corals dont like direct light so I would have expected it to atleast open in the morning or at night. So far however nothing. Any ideas as to how I could coax it into feeding

[Peterock]

i have one in my tank and what i found out is to put it in medium flow, low light. they can take a while to open that is just how they are. I have mine in a 10gallon nano and he is opn for about 4 hours a day.

[yankeebobo]

I had one. It seemed like they never opened (although they did for short times). I have read from a few people that it does help to feed them (phyto) by syring or turkey baster a little. Not 100% sure if it helps though.

[Peterock]

When i feed mine i use a small container with tank water then i add a little bit of frozen cyclopez and some phyto. take your baster suck some up and spray over each head lightly or else he will close up and it will be useless.

[Reefland]

The Tubastrea sp. corals are non-photsythetic (don't require light) and therefore require constant feeding. It is not uncommon for them to not open except during feeding time at which point they should open up immediately. They must be fed for long term survival in captivity with target feedings of brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, and Cyclop-Eeze all being good food cadidates.

They are very beautiful indeed and are successful if given the attention they need.

[Peterock]

Yes they are i just found another head starting to grow on my sun coral that will give me 9 total heads once this one grows out.

[Michael]

I have been lookoing for an oportunity to feed them. I have been waiting for them to open but so far no go. I would hate for them to starve to death. I have them in a low flow area in the lowest light area of my tank which may still be too high. If the lighting in their location is too high, wouldnt they start opening in the evening. Ive been checking on them but havent seen them even try to open yet.

[yankeebobo]

Originally Posted by Reefland

The Tubastrea sp. corals are non-photsythetic (don't require light) and therefore require constant feeding. It is not uncommon for them to not open except during feeding time at which point they should open up immediately. They must be fed for long term survival in captivity with target feedings of brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, and Cyclop-Eeze all being good food cadidates.

They are very beautiful indeed and are successful if given the attention they need.

This certainly explains it all.

[Reefland]

Doing a search here for Tubastrea will pull up some pretty nice pictures!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Michael

I have been lookoing for an oportunity to feed them. I have been waiting for them to open but so far no go. I would hate for them to starve to death. I have them in a low flow area in the lowest light area of my tank which may still be too high. If the lighting in their location is too high, wouldnt they start opening in the evening. Ive been checking on them but havent seen them even try to open yet.

Hi Michael,

When I kept this corals I usually did this to coax them into opening:
*I would shut off any powerheads you may have.
*Defrost some mysid or brine shrimp cubes and don't throw away the water as yet.
* Get some of those juices/water into the turkey baster or something similar and gently baste the closed polyps with those meaty juices.

Polyps should respond within minutes and open up, you can drain the rest of the juices out and add fresh tank water to your feeding container. This will allow you to get the shrimp/other meaty stuff into the baster and you now can gently place food items on the tentacles. The food will be consumed really fast and you can actually see the polyps swell with it.
It was real fun to watch them but it got to be a real PITA for me as you have to feed them almost every night. When you feed them alot they will become accustomed to being open at any time and may remail open during the day for hours, especially if food hits the water at fish feedings... Mine did.

There are many ways to feed them, however, from using a cut soda bottle to constracting elaborate domes to keep food from being stolen or washed away with curents.
Good luck!

[Michael]

Thanks Zhenya

Appreciate your advice. Ill give it a try

Originally Posted by zhenya

Hi Michael,

When I kept this corals I usually did this to coax them into opening:
*I would shut off any powerheads you may have.
*Defrost some mysid or brine shrimp cubes and don't throw away the water as yet.
* Get some of those juices/water into the turkey baster or something similar and gently baste the closed polyps with those meaty juices.

Polyps should respond within minutes and open up, you can drain the rest of the juices out and add fresh tank water to your feeding container. This will allow you to get the shrimp/other meaty stuff into the baster and you now can gently place food items on the tentacles. The food will be consumed really fast and you can actually see the polyps swell with it.
It was real fun to watch them but it got to be a real PITA for me as you have to feed them almost every night. When you feed them alot they will become accustomed to being open at any time and may remail open during the day for hours, especially if food hits the water at fish feedings... Mine did.

There are many ways to feed them, however, from using a cut soda bottle to constracting elaborate domes to keep food from being stolen or washed away with curents.
Good luck!

[Michael]

Rather than waiting for the corals to open for feeding, I tried usng an eye dropper to lay some thawed frozen brine onto the individual polyps just letting the food sit atop each individual. The corals quickly pulled the shrimp pieces in. I was only able to feed the polyps with the upfacing cups so I will have to move the coral to allow the others to be fed. Atleast they are eating if not opening up.

Thanks

[Reefland]

Like Gene mentioned, I think you'll eventually see them opening around feeding time if you feed them at the same time consistently.

[Michael]

What a difference a few days makes. It seems that the LFS that I bought this coral from for a very good price hadnt been feeding it. I know it had been in the store for quite a while and apparently they were only feeding with filter feeding food. I suspect that this is why the coral had ceased opening. Ive been coaxing them out by laying brine shrimp into the closed cups. Now almost all the polyps are opening for the whole night once the lights are out. They also open quite readily even during the day when I offer them shrimp or even dry pellets.

Does anyone know if these corals can capture rotifers. I have been adding some thawed out frozen rotifers but it isnt really obvious whether or not the sun corals are getting any benefit.