Effective way to feed Sun Coral

[bk_market]

Anyone have exp with direct feeding sun coral (Tubastraea)?

 

I dont want to pick up the rock and move it up closer to water surface everytime i need to feed it.

I think I probably will need a syringe anyone know where I can get a long one to reach the sun coral? my tank is 24" tall :(

 

Other than mysis and brineshrimp as food, what else should i feed it with?

[bk_market]

Hmm i read on Melevsreef that he use turkey baster to feed his sun coral. Anyone know a local store where I can buy a turkey baster? if not i will have to ebay it.

[Black Mammoth]

Hmm i read on Melevsreef that he use turkey baster to feed his sun coral. Anyone know a local store where I can buy a turkey baster? if not i will have to ebay it.

 

Giant, Shoppers, Kitchen Etc, Sonoma Williams, basically any cooking store.

[ChrisS]

I just use a turkey baster. If that's not long enough for you I've seen long basters on some fish internet site. I don't know if any local stores carry them but you can look around.

 

Another way I've seen is to take a 2-liter bottle cut the bottom off and attach a tube to the top. You can then place the bottle over the suncoral and flush food down the tube.

 

I feed my suncoral a variety of meaty foods. Bought one of those variety packs of frozen food and feed something different each time (mysis, brine, krill, squid, silversides). It also sometimes gets fish roe, pellets, and flake. It also loves cyclopeze and I get the best feeding response with it. I'll often start squirting some cyclopeze over the coral until it opens fully (usually takes 5 mins or so) and then I'll feed it something meatier).

[Tom C.]

Ive used tweezers in the past but takes alot of time and effort. Spot feeders I think are avail at BRK. If not and want a cheaper solution try any grocery store in the utensil isle. Yeah, I usually put plankton and let three heads have at it.

[bk_market]

thanx for the info guys. i will head to giant later today.

[jamal]

they also love cylopeeze. mine wouldnt come out before because of fish theft but i spread it over him and he was out all day

[bk_market]

so i should start with spraying cyclopeze on the unopened sun coral. Then when it fully open i should start to target feeding it with meaty treat?

[jamal]

depends on the size of the polyps for the smaller ones cyclopeeze can also be used to feed but i have some heads large enough to eat pe mysis so you have to know what it can eat but it will take most meaty foods of appropriate particle size or at least mine does

[extreme_tooth_decay]

1) Use turkey baster to squirt a little bit of cyclopeeze

2) Wait 5-20 min for polyps to open

3) Use turkey baster to squirt more cyclopeeze

 

I usually do this at night either when just the actinics are on or after the lights

are off completely.

 

tim

[cbashaw]

if the turkey baster is not long enough stick a piece of rigid airline tubing in the end of it or you can get a kent sea squirt. http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=KM2711

[bk_market]

My baby posing for a shot after the meal using my new turkey baster

 

[kngfisher]

very impressive....will have to try the direct feeding method.

[SteveD]

I stopped direct feeding my sun coral and they are spreading like weeds. I'm not saying you should do the same, but it has worked great for me. They're also open pretty much all day long though they open up much more late at night. It has also stopped my shrimp from walking all over the sun coral . I've seen my sun coral eat brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, nori, etc.

 

I feed Liquid Life Bioplankton and Marine Plankton to my tank every other day.

Here's a link:

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_additi...ton.asp?CartId=

 

My pic is nowhere near as pretty, but you can see the newer members of the colony are at the top. I've added a bit more rock work since this pic was taken and the sun corals no longer receive any direct light.

 

[bk_market]

anyone have a small frag of black sun coral for sale?

[lanman]

Both of you have very impressive colonies. Steve - it looks like your 'new ones' are completely separate; are they babies, or did you add a new colony?

 

bob

[SteveD]

A small portion of that top group was there when I purchased the coral. There are also newer polyps around the bottom part of the rock, but the more obvious ones are those at the top.

 

Both of you have very impressive colonies. Steve - it looks like your 'new ones' are completely separate; are they babies, or did you add a new colony?

 

bob

[Grav]

I had a hard time finding a turkey baster too. I tried: Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, True Value, Southern States, Tractor Supply, United Rentals, The guy in the parking lot that sells fireworks in June, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, TRT, BRK, MS, F&F, Vienna, Roozens, EA.... no luck.

 

Then I got lucky and found one in "The Kitchen." I also scored: Measuring spoons, measuring cups, bags, tuperware with lids, a knife for cutting silversides, a cutting board to cut silversides on, scisors for opening fish bags, a spoon for mixing "whatever," an assortment of dish scrubbers that are great at cleaning skimmers & such, and some dish towles that work better at cleaning up saltwater than the paper towles.

 

Bottom line: why buy the baster when you can borrow one?

 

Oh, don't tell your wife, she will kill you.

[rsarvis]

Anyone have a frag of sun coral I can buy?

[lanman]

I had a hard time finding a turkey baster too. I tried: Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, True Value, Southern States, Tractor Supply, United Rentals, The guy in the parking lot that sells fireworks in June, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, TRT, BRK, MS, F&F, Vienna, Roozens, EA.... no luck.

 

Then I got lucky and found one in "The Kitchen." I also scored: Measuring spoons, measuring cups, bags, tuperware with lids, a knife for cutting silversides, a cutting board to cut silversides on, scisors for opening fish bags, a spoon for mixing "whatever," an assortment of dish scrubbers that are great at cleaning skimmers & such, and some dish towles that work better at cleaning up saltwater than the paper towles.

 

Bottom line: why buy the baster when you can borrow one?

 

Oh, don't tell your wife, she will kill you.

 

Personally I kind of LIKE the extra salty taste of the turkey at Thanksgiving.

 

I guess I was just lucky - I already had an extra turkey baster in a drawer.

 

bob

[Tom C.]

I can frag up some coral for sale or trade if you guys want. I have a peach color and orange. PM me if you like. Im home sick today so I will be at the laptop all day.

[lanman]

I can frag up some coral for sale or trade if you guys want. I have a peach color and orange. PM me if you like. Im home sick today so I will be at the laptop all day.

 

You might have guessed from my interest in this thread, that I would eventually get some sun coral. Did I get a good deal? I picked up a piece with about 20 large polyps and 10 small polyps at an LFS for $15.

 

So - I've waited a week, and the only time it's open is the middle of the night. So tonight - I basted it with cyclopeez early enough that the lights are still on - and it's starting to open up. I'm really eager to see what it looks like! Still in my frag tank under PC lights - but will move it in about a week when I move everything into the 58-gallon tank. Can't believe I have to TRAIN it to open up at feeding time. I just feed pellets earlier in the evening - the DT, pearls, cyclopeez (or whatever) and the shrimp-fest is around 10:00-11:00.

 

bob

[jamal]

yea mine is the same way. it will come out at anytime if cyclopeeze is in the water. i squirt a little just to get it to come out so i can feed it at all. i have had it for 2 mths and it still doesnt always come out but it always comes out with the cyclopeeze in the water. good luck and enjoy this wonderful coral

[lanman]

yea mine is the same way. it will come out at anytime if cyclopeeze is in the water. i squirt a little just to get it to come out so i can feed it at all. i have had it for 2 mths and it still doesnt always come out but it always comes out with the cyclopeeze in the water. good luck and enjoy this wonderful coral

 

Bleh - it still didn't fully open - just stuck the polyps out far enough to grab some food. 10 minutes later, it was all back in its little holes. Although one polyp is still open - a small one - trying to figure out what to do with a whole mysis shrimp.

 

bob

[jamal]

well if you have enough food keep trying to feed it. do you have the pumps off? that helps. also you can feed phytoplankton as well. or daphnia on the off chance that you have it