Sun Corals

[Guest mikesroth]

Well, we got a new coral tonite.  A friend visiting us thought she would get us a nice new present.  A rock of Sun Polyps.  So... now I am scrambling to learn anything about them.  Does anyone have suggestions on what they need?  I am also surfing the 'net to figure out what is needed.

 

Here are some images: Sun Coral 1

Sun Coral 2

 

Thanks for the Help!!

[miller]

im pretty sure they need to be target fed but im not real sure on the best diet for them

[PupChow]

Spot feed them meaty food, the more you feed, the faster they grow!  Great looking corals btw!

[Guest mikesroth]

Any special lighting requirements?  We put them in my tank, which has a 175w mh.  Do they want full light, some light?

 

It was actually a rather nice gift, as Jen has really likes these corals, we just hadn't gotten around to investigating them.

[ReefMon]

Tubastraea SP are non photosynthetic, so low light is good.

 

Direct feeding them is a must, preferably the same time every day to train them to open up.

 

Bob and Tamie (Cowrie) have been keeping one for a few years now, feel free to ask them for any advice.

[Guest mikesroth]

Thanks everyone!!!  You all are always great to get advice and help from!  Now I am glad I bought some 'meaty' food this weekend for our new clownfish and Caulastrea.  Jen now has a use for her new syringe.  She's been dying to feed the fish all day. :p

 

Now off to bug Tamie and Bob.  I will post some pictures in my gallery later, need to get the glass cleaned after all these new additions.

[Guest Ruh Roh]

Tubastraea SP are non photosynthetic, so low light is good.

 

Direct feeding them is a must, preferably the same time every day to train them to open up.

 

Bob and Tamie (Cowrie) have been keeping one for a few years now, feel free to ask them for any advice.

He hit the nail on the head... in fact I think they preffer darker areas. Like caves, or under overhangs.

 

Just squirt some meaty food into their polyps and they take off. If you feed at a cwertain time then their polyps will be open at that time. Normally they open at night (lights off) so train them to be day so you can enjoy the real beauty of them.

 

GL

[nana]

[Caribbean Jake]

I have one for a year now.  They like overhangs, no direect light.  They need to be fed every day when polyps are open.  Mine usually open one hour before the lights go off and stay open for another hour after that.  They are demanding though.  Good luck

Jacob

[Guest mikesroth]

Hmmm, sounds like it needs to be moved.  I had read that it didn't matter so much about the lighting, except that you would need higher flow if they are out in the light, as algae can grow on them.  It does look like I need to break out my old skimmer and get that up and running again with all this feeding.

[Guest mikesroth]

Ok... we fed it tonite, and got it to come out some.  I also took some pictures of the tank after the weekends fragfest.  Talk about going from having nothing to a loaded tank.