Suncoral..... any tips?

myownkeeper · 09-06-2008, 12:09 AM

i work with fish and reptiles all day and im realy interested in this suncoral. most dont do very good but this one is very vibrant. i have heard that they have to feed every day but somtimes i forget to feed it and its not closed up or anything. is there anything else i can feed it? and im still a

ie at this hobby. i have a 12 gallon nano, with a clown and a frogspawn.

my rock it set up so there is a cave underneath, i say this because their nocternal. i thing i can take care of it.....
but what do you guys think? i realy need your guys feedback.

***lReef lKeeper*** · 09-06-2008, 12:35 AM

the cave is not necessary for it. sun corals (tubastrea sp.) are a non photosynthetic coral, which means that they have absolutely no light preference because they do not feed from it. this also means that they do NEED to be fed, but on a good note ... they can be "trained" when to come out if fed the same time everyday, or for them to always be out ... make sure there is always something in the water column for them to eat.

they are a fairly hardy coral species, IMHO. i always fed mine mysis, brine, and cyclopeeze or the blender much that i prepared for everyone in the tank. it is much easier to spot feed them if you cut the top off of a 2 liter bottle and set it over the coral with the small opening facing up and squirting the food into it. this keeps the fish and inverts from stealing the corals food and gives the polyps time to eat.

**CarmieJo** · 09-08-2008, 03:45 AM

What he said.^^ I'll add that mine seems to stay open a lot but it does occasionally go on a hunger strike and not open up for a couple of weeks.

**Seahorsedreams** · 09-08-2008, 12:25 PM

The cave is really for their "natual environment" because if=n the wild, caves are a good source of food for them. If they start to show skeleton, it is best to place them out of the light to retard the growth of nuisance algae. I use a "hat" over my sun coral because the other fish/inverts steal the food.

You won't see any radical changes yet by not feeding everyday, but you will see overtime a gradual decline in health. I feed them all sorts of things.... pellet food, frozen mysis... etc. I shoot a pellet down some rigid tubing (the next size up from the 3/16) to feed the individual heads of my Ducan... think I am going to try that as well with the suncoral. It's easy to do, gets the food right where I want it and it keeps my hands out of the tank.