[smidoid]

Darn! It looks more like a Dendrophyllia (as Zehnya suggested it might be)... Photos available here in the original thread:

http://www.reefland.com/forum/reef-a...sun-coral.html

2 questions:

1. how much light do these chaps need and..
2. do I still feed them brine shrimp?

Ta!

[Ninong]

Whether it's Dendrophyllia or Tubastrea, the requirements are the same. Each polyp must be fed individually. There are a variety of meaty foods that would work. Brine shrimp, assuming you are feeding live brine shrimp that you hatched yourself, should be gut-loaded first for best nutrition. If you're feeding frozen brine, just soak them in some vitamins first (e.g., Selcon).

There are lots of differents foods you could use besides brine shrimp -- Cyclop-eeze, Mysid shrimp, golden pearls, oyster eggs, even the smaller sizes of pelletized food for carnivores. The problem is that you have to feed each polyp by hand several times a week.

As far as light is concerned, they're non-photosynthetic. They have no zooxanthellae at all. They don't really care how much light you have. They are quite capable of adapting to whatever light you provide. In nature, they are often found upside down in caves but can also thrive in full light and at a very wide range of depths -- even as deep as 1,500 meters!

[smidoid]

I've only got 3 or 4 that are big enough to reach, so that's not a problem.

My biggest problem is getting the nack of getting the shrimp (I'm thawing frozen ones right now) into the poor things, er, mouths?! They seem to close up before I can get the shrimp lose, or just when they feel the wooosh of water. I'll keep trying and thankyou, again!

[sahmad43]

this is my experience with sun flower and my friends who have it. it needs to be 'trained' to open up ..what we did is initially after the purchase we took it out twice a week ...in a seperate bowl and fed it with a syringe .each polyp .. then put it back in tank .. within two weeks the polyps open automatically on smell or sense of food .

[smidoid]

Brilliant. The only problem I've got (and it's open to suggestion) is the instant the rock is disturbed, all four of them close up tight shut and won't come out.

How long did you keep yours in the tray?