Feeding Sun Coral

[ozy]

Hi, I have gone through the threads in SRC regarding feeding sun coral, but I still have some question for the reefers here and hope that you can share your experience:

Method

1. When taken out of the tank to target feed, do I need to provide a power head to agitate the water?

2. How long do I need to wait for the feeding session?

Food

1. I read that some uses cyclopees, BBS, mysis, pellets, etc. How much is needed?

2. I read that some mix seafood into a paste. Do I apply the paste like kaya on bread?

I just got a sun coral. When I am feeding it, I take it out of the tank and placed it in a small container with a small power head. I then put some processed BBS and cyclopees powder into the container and turn on the powerhead. After half an hour, I put it back into the tank. I just had a small tank with LR and a power head only, no fish.

So far, my sun is not opening.Comments on this please, I am open to all criticism.

Thanx in advance

[triggerfish]

have u taken a look at ur sun corals in the night, guess that's when it actually feeds ..

anyway, try to see it open in the night or when the lights are off ...

for all my newly bought sun corals, i took them out piece by piece and put in a small tub ... just put some cylcopeeze, mysis etc .. gotta be patient .. may not open for a day or 2, some even took me a week ..

somehow, after some 'training' the minute they 'tasted' some food in the main tank, they would just open up for makan

[jesperlam]

I got a few tips on feeding sun corals from some fellow reefers here...which is to release some prawn/mysid/bs juice near the SC. Wait for abt 3-5mins, the SC will slowly open up. Then i'll off my PH and place the food on the tips of the SC. It'll slowly suck it in and open up for more.

Did my feeding that way and it works.

Juz my 2 cents.

[RAV-65]

ozy, the sun coral hardly opens when there's strong lights, unless the fella is real hungry, it normally feeds when theres low light... u ca sctually cut small pieces market prawn and place on the fella's head and when they detect food, they'll open up and eat the prawnsss.

Vincent Ho

[Tigger]

ozy, the sun coral hardly opens when there's strong lights, unless the fella is real hungry, it normally feeds when theres low light... u ca sctually cut small pieces market prawn and place on the fella's head and when they detect food, they'll open up and eat the prawnsss.

Vincent Ho

Hi Vin, not true. Suncoral when aclamatise to yr tank condition will open up when smell food, regardless w or w/o light.

[Tigger]

1. When taken out of the tank to target feed, do I need to provide a power head to agitate the water?

No need to

2. How long do I need to wait for the feeding session?

Depends, normally I tried to feed all polyps, sometime lazy, feed a few. I feed them in the tank now.

Food

1. I read that some uses cyclopees, BBS, mysis, pellets, etc. How much is needed?

When its stomach is "bloated" u can stop. Else recommend 2-3 mysis will do

2. I read that some mix seafood into a paste. Do I apply the paste like kaya on bread?

Do not think u can use this method. U dont spred them like kaya but have to wait for the polyps to ###### out to catch the food

I just got a sun coral. When I am feeding it, I take it out of the tank and placed it in a small container with a small power head. I then put some processed BBS and cyclopees powder into the container and turn on the powerhead. After half an hour, I put it back into the tank. I just had a small tank with LR and a power head only, no fish.

So far, my sun is not opening.Comments on this please, I am open to all criticism.

Patient, some of my suncoral take 1, 2 weeks to open up.

Hope it helps

Thanx in advance

pls find the answer

[ozy]

Thank you all for the advice. I will keep trying.

Anyway, my tank for the sun coral has no lighting. My aim is to have the coral bloom like the pics I saw in the forum.

Cheers.

[huanjie]

Hi Ozy,

Did I read wrongly or did you take your sun coral out everytime you feed them ? Don't do that ! It will stress the coral. Feed it in your main tank... and place it where there are strong current, and they should do fine regardless of light. IMHO

[Marineman]

Hi Ozy,

Did I read wrongly or did you take your sun coral out everytime you feed them ? Don't do that ! It will stress the coral. Feed it in your main tank... and place it where there are strong current, and they should do fine regardless of light. IMHO

I agree with you totally. I think another member also do the same thing, take the coral out and feed, I think it's either weileong or roidan, maybe their corals got used to the routine "outing" and got babies somemore!

[ozy]

But I dump high concentration of cyclopees and BBS... I am scared water quality will drop...

[narkosis]

ozy,

What you're doing is perfectly fine, even if we're taught never to touch our corals for fear of stressing them out. However, due to the nature of the foods used for sun corals, isolated feeding seems to be the only way to keep the tank water parameters in check. Especially if you feed so much that the coral is in the centre of a cloud of Cyclop-eeze

[huanjie]

I think it all boils down to doing the best out of the situation.

If you have an matured and effective system that can manage the bioload, its probably easier to feed the coral without moving them. but if the existing bioload is already too much for the filtering system , nutrients export rate then feeding them separately seems to be the sensisble thing to do. No right or wrong, just have to keep fine adjusting and reach an equilibrium....the sun coral I have has been with me for 4 months, feeding them cyclopeeze 2 -3 times a week new polyps been form , fortunately it hasn't affects the water parameter much.

[jesperlam]

the sun coral hardly opens when there's strong lights, unless the fella is real hungry, it normally feeds when theres low light...

Got to know from Henry(ML) that it can be place under lighting...but indirectly...

[Marineman]

Got to know from Henry(ML) that it can be place under lighting...but indirectly...

Water movements is more important to the sun coral than lighting which the coral is indifferent. However most of the LFS will tell you to place the coral away from the sunlight BECAUSE this coral contains NO ZOOXANTHELLAE (ALGAE) and therefore doesn't need much light. However it does not mean that you cannot place directly under intense lighting, I suppose you can use the place for other sun loving corals and therefore the LFS tells you to place this coral in a shady area!

I hope that answers the question.

[Razo]

Hi, I have gone through the threads in SRC regarding feeding sun coral, but I still have some question for the reefers here and hope that you can share your experience:

Method

1. When taken out of the tank to target feed, do I need to provide a power head to agitate the water?

2. How long do I need to wait for the feeding session?

Food

1. I read that some uses cyclopees, BBS, mysis, pellets, etc. How much is needed?

2. I read that some mix seafood into a paste. Do I apply the paste like kaya on bread?

I just got a sun coral. When I am feeding it, I take it out of the tank and placed it in a small container with a small power head. I then put some processed BBS and cyclopees powder into the container and turn on the powerhead. After half an hour, I put it back into the tank. I just had a small tank with LR and a power head only, no fish.

So far, my sun is not opening.Comments on this please, I am open to all criticism.

Thanx in advance

i feed my sunflower with "mix seafood paste" .. i use a long stick o scoup up the paste n lower it to the sun coral polyps...and move ard.. they will "catch" it....most of the times i will feed them little but everyday.

for them to open up.. just place them in a high flow rate area... have 2 in my tank now... the 1 in the hi flow rate opens up 80% of the time regardless of day time or nite time.. where as the other 1 only open up when feeding time....

sun#1.. most of the time.. it will open up like this...

[Razo]

sun#2 ... mostly open up after i finish feeding sun#1

[ozy]

So nice!...

razo, can have your receipe for your paste?

[ReDDeviLs]

sorry to hijack,

can i place them in strong current?