A good way to feed your Sun Coral,Tubastrea aurea.

[Steve McKay]

I have found feeding my Sun Coral a little frustrating at times.Not because I
have to feed them but because of the method used.I have been using a Sea Squirt
with varied results.You first must find a way to keep your fish and inverts
away,they will steal the food from the coral possibly damaging it.I cut the top
off a plastic soda bottle and put it over the coral.I then feed through the
neck with the Sea Squirt.This works but adds to the frustration.Brine Shrimp
sized food and smaller works well with the Sea Squirt.But try mysis,squid,clams
and other larger food items and you will discover this doesn't work well.You
can try the probe on the end of the Sea Squirt but the food is to small or falls
off.Earlier I had thought about removing the coral from the tank to feed it,but
dismissed the idea because I feed them a little then wait for them to diguest
their food and feed them some more.I was worried about the temperature of the
water dropping and then putting them back in the tank shocking them.Then all of
a sudden it came to me.A Fish Bagger box the kind the LFS uses to bag your fish.
They hang on the outside of a tank but they will also hang on the INSIDE!Dip
the box in your tank and use tongs to safely grab and put your coral in the box.
I do this without exposing it to air,as not to shock it if the air conditioning
is on.I'm lucky and have my tank on a tank desk (old heavy duty metal desk) I
put the box on a towel in front of me and feed the polyps with a pair of 10"
aquatic forceps.Once they are fed the first time I hang the Fish Bagger Box on
the INSIDE of my tank keeping the temperature stable.Then later I feed them
again and hang them on the inside again for a while to make sure the temperature
is ok.Then I put them back in the tank in the reverse order without exposing
them to air.This method works very well for me because the coral is right in
front of me.Using the forceps I can easily feed all the polyps including the
ones that are smaller and hard to reach.The Fish Bagger Box is 7"Lx3.5"Wx5.75"H.
If your coral is bigger than these dimensions,I'm sure they make bigger ones.
Both the Fish Bagger Box and Forceps in different sizes should be available
online at most major Aquarium Suppliers.In conclusion,you can feed your coral
much more easily with greater accuracy.Use the forceps with larger food items
and the Sea Squirt with the smaller food items.This method can be used for other
corals besides non photosynthetic corals.The only limitation is the size of the
coral and or the fish bagger box.You can use your imagination to add to this
method as I have only fed once this way.All I know is it is a major improvement
and I'm very happy with the results it's to easy.I hope this can be of help to
you,if anyone has any comments,ideas or suggestions I welcome them.I apologize for any spaces I composed this using a text file and copy pasted it.

[kevinpo]

Another way is to use a turkey baster at night when the fish are asleep. Then you only have to worry about the shrimp stealing the food .

Regards,
Kevin

[Steve McKay]

I realize you are far more experienced than I.But I have always fed at night.
Most of the fish stay asleep,but I have to turn the light on in the room to
see well enough to feed.That and the smell of food usually brings out my Blue
Damsel for a bite to eat.I also have Nassarius snails that will come out and
ruin your day.I used tongs to relocate the snails as they show up,even though
I put the cut off soda bottle over the coral.They will dig down and come up
inside if you don't relocate them.The Sea Squirt works well with Brine shrimp
sized food and smaller.Yes you can just squirt them,but then you will have
excess food floating in your tank.I feed my Sun coral every two days and that
would produce excess nitrate I don't desire.I like to feed my Sun coral larger
food items like chunks of Formula one,mysis shrimp,squid,mussel and blood worms.
Try doing that with a Sea Squirt,have fun.A turkey baster might work better
with slightly bigger food items.But then again excess food.I find it much easier
and can accurately feed each polyp if I remove the coral.My tank is on a tank
desk I place the corals on the desk in front of me and sit down and feed them.
Much like I did when my son and daughter were babies,but not with a 24"spoon.
I hatch my own brine,which I'll put in the bagger box and let them swim around
untill their eaten.Cyclops can be added and stirred every few minutes to keep
them in suspension.After your done feeding with nauplii and cyclops if you
don't want to add them to the tank(I return the water I use in the bagger box
to the tank)you can use a coffee filter to strain the water.If you want you
can save the nauplii and feed your fish the next day.By no means was this meant
to be a cut on the Sea Squirt,I still use it to feed frozen brine.You have much
better dexterity and can feed brine with little waste with the Sea Squirt if
you have the coral sitting in front of you.I use the forceps to simply grab a
piece of food,which I thaw out in a small plastic container and give it to a
polyp.My Sun coral is doing very well,it has recently started budding(Having
babies)if that is the correct term.One of the buds is big enough now to except
my feedings.WHERE'S MY CIGAR!I have gone through a learning experience,My
Sun coral is my first coral and I hope this info can be useful to newbies like
myself.