Sun coral in trouble?

JandR

JandR

Member
I bought a sun coral frag from a LFS around here that looked like it was about to die, they didnt feed him at all. When I first got him he can out every night to eat and I gave eac head mysid shrimp or bbs. They were doing good and showed a little improvment untill I recently got LED moonlights which are pretty bright. Since then only 2 or 3 out of 16 heads have came out he last 3 or 4 nights. I turned them off last night to make sure I could feed everyone and when I woke up this morning they had thrown up alot of the food they ate last night? Any ideas if that is normal? Was it just because they had not eaten in 2 or 3 days? I will post some pics of them and you can see where the tissue is receding. I am hoping that i can save it and it will do better. I have only had it for about 3 weeks or so.

This is the day I got it.
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there was actually 17 heads when I got it but 1 was so small and it didnt make it past the 2nd day of me having it. I feel like it has gottem more tisse since when I got it but just unsure if it will even make it.
 
IamELMO

IamELMO

Member
I've actually found that light doesn't bother them - mine come out even under 250w MH lighting. Maybe yours are still adjusting?

the tissue recession isn't a good thing but they can come back from it. Maybe the shrimp was too big for it and as a result it spat it back out? You could try cut them in half or get some deli shrimp par-frozen and semi minced and feed via a large syringe. The tissue should come back after time. Sometimes tissue recession is a result of detritus settling inbetween the polyps. I don't know what sort of current you have, but sun coral can handle a reasonable flow, they can even handle linear flow.

That fact that the polyps are extending is heartening, once they retract and refuse to come out, it's pretty hard to get them feeding. I would suggest trying a smaller food and feed them several times each session. They will extend about 10-15 mins after each feed. I tend to fend mine as much as they can eat 3 times. They look fat and bright soon after that.
 
JandR

JandR

Member
IamELMO said:
I've actually found that light doesn't bother them - mine come out even under 250w MH lighting. Maybe yours are still adjusting?

the tissue recession isn't a good thing but they can come back from it. Maybe the shrimp was too big for it and as a result it spat it back out? You could try cut them in half or get some deli shrimp par-frozen and semi minced and feed via a large syringe. The tissue should come back after time. Sometimes tissue recession is a result of detritus settling inbetween the polyps. I don't know what sort of current you have, but sun coral can handle a reasonable flow, they can even handle linear flow.

That fact that the polyps are extending is heartening, once they retract and refuse to come out, it's pretty hard to get them feeding. I would suggest trying a smaller food and feed them several times each session. They will extend about 10-15 mins after each feed. I tend to fend mine as much as they can eat 3 times. They look fat and bright soon after that.
Click to expand...

Could be. They do come out some times durring the day but go back in. They dont seem to have a schedule like a lot of peoples do since they were not getting fed at the LFS. They have eaten the mysid shrimp several times and been fine but I will swap back to bbs or cut them in half. I have them with low flow right now and I take a turkeybaster and blow the sand off them every day. I really hope I can save them, they are my favorite coral. I was planning on getting one anyways and figured if I could help save one why not get it lol. After I feed them I put a coke bottle on top of them cause my cleaner will come dig allt he food out of them lol so thats how I knew they "threw up" the other night. Thanks for info though maybe it was just a fluke...
 
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