Sun Coral ?'s

[Riderc82]

My wife wants to get a sun coral, I know they need fed at least every other day and they are non-photosynthetic.  If you have one how long has it been in your system and where do you have it placed?  Pictures are nice too.

[Kenn]

PM sent

[Kenn]

  Shame on you for using your wife as a cover to acquire another coral 

[Riderc82]

I've always thought they were cool but I was kind of turned off by the fact I would have to feed them so much.  The wife wasn't too thrilled that I'm considering getting a new skimmer this weekend so maybe she will be O.K. with it if she gets something she wants.  She always seems to want things that aren't the easiest to keep or not exactly suited for a reef.  I remember about a year ago she wanted a sea slug (it lasted about a month).  Everytime we go into a fish store she ask "are you sure we can't get a lemonpeel angelfish."  I always say sure of I can purchase all new corals after it eats them all.

[Reefd Up]

I have a dendrophyllia, which is pretty similar to a sun coral.  I have had mine for almost a year now...went from 1 polyp with 2 babies to 1 polyp with 3 medium polyp babies.  I have mine in higher light just b/c it's easier for me to feed.  If you have algae issues, I'd put it in a really low light area so algae doesn't over take it.  Flow is medium...high enough to get food to it when I'm not feeding directly...but low enough that the food will stay in its mouth.  I also have the coral where crabs/snails/etc have a hard time reaching...so they won't steal the coral's food. 

If you have some trouble getting the coral to extend its polyps, try putting in a drop or two of amino acids about an hour before feeding time.  That'll get the coral to open up wide. 

[Kenn]

Interesting... I have got to try the amino acid trick just to see it work. Sounds cool

[Reefd Up]

I don't understand the mechanism that causes corals to expand their polyps (I think it has something to do with the fatty proteins or something), but it works for me.  If I'm really desperate to get a rescue coral to feed, I'll dose the amino acids then turn off the lights.  Most corals feed at night, so the darkness helps them respond to food in the water column. 

[stickboy_107]

We moved ours to the nano tank because it's easier to feed. We usually only feed 2 or 3 times per week and we don't spot feed. We just put the food in the tank in the position to where the flow pushes the food across to it.We bought this as a rescue coral, and it is doing very well now. Here are the links where we learned alot about these corals.

http://www.melevsreef.com/suncoral_tank.html

http://www.melevsreef.com/suncoral.html

Hope that helps, and here is a picture of ours.

[micki]

When I had sun coral, I made a home made feeder from a 2 ltr bottle.  Worked good!

[HUNGER]

thats a nice one

[Riderc82]

How did the 2 liter work did you just put a frozen cubes in it and then sit it over the coral?  I was going to buy a seaquirt feeder but can't see shelling out the money for a extra long turkey baster.  I think I'm just going to try the syringe method where you attach the rigid tubing to it.

[micki]

I just bought a cheap turkey baster at the grocery store and squirted it into the bottle top.  Worked great for me.