Sun Corel

[Jeff Mallette]

I would like to know how a sun corel grows? Does it attach itself to other rock in the tank or does it have its own skeleton....Please help...Thanks

 

[yungreefer2410]

sun coral's need to be feed at least every other day with a meaty food. they do not rely on light at all (non-photosynthetic). yes they have a skeleton

 

[Jeff Mallette]

How quick will it grow

 

[reefer4200]

they are relatively slow growers but some grow them fairly qucik with strict feeding standards. This is more of an expert coral and by taking casre of them you might affect the rest of your tank. tell us more about your setup....

 

[Jeff Mallette]

I have been doing this for 2 years now....I have 125g main tank and a 60g refug. I have 2 clown fish and there host anemone,naso tang,pallete tang,copper band butterfly,manderan,4 cleaner shrimp,2fireshrimp,purple firefish, flame angle,Buldozer shrimp and gobie,2 seacucumbers......Dandro, Sun Corel, Frogspand 2 different types, Elegance corel,Staghorn Corel, Purple and green star pulpops,brain corel, finger leather, torch corel, different colour mushrooms...and a few other things...

 

[reefer4200]

What do you feed tank with? Are all params stable? Do the polyps come out on the suncoral?

 

[Jeff Mallette]

I feed brine and micea shrimp, flake,cyclopeas,and large uncooked shrimp chopped up.....

 

[TucsonSandy]

I purchased an established 24 Gal Aquapod with corals. (It is modified to include more lighting and a chiller).

The Sun Coral was a wee thing... maybe 4-5 heads. I attached it to a small rock and buried the rock in the sand.

I started taking it out of the tank every other day to feed it in a mason jar (with heater & circulation). This process took an hour or more however. Once it was used to the feeding schedule... I could leave it in the tank and it opens up for target feeding without over feeding my tank.

Anywhoo... it has about 16 heads now and still growing!

ps: it doesn't really "attach" to anything. It grows out of its own skeleton. One note though... the skeleton is fragile - parts break off if you accidentally knock it on a rock or the glass of the tank. IMHO

Good luck!

 

[TucsonSandy]

Oh... I've had the Sun Coral since September 08 (so about seven months). I target feed mysis, brine & cyclopeez. I'm amazed at how much the bugger will eat!

Also... I have to be careful that my cleaner shrimps are well fed... or they will pounce on the Sun Coral and reach deep into it's mouth(s) to pull out the food!

 

[Jeff Mallette]

Thanks everyone for all the info......keep it comming

 

[Jeff Mallette]

Oh one more thing.....does it matter if it is in direct light or not????

 

[yungreefer2410]

they are non-photo synthetic meaning no light needed at all. they could be in a cave and be good

 

[BigJay]

Oh one more thing.....does it matter if it is in direct light or not????

I used to be of the opinion they should be in a dark place. But there is some discussion that it doesn't really matter but why put it in a well lit place when a photosynthetic coral could go there. It may be more apt to show its polyps in a darker location.

 

[nicoleblkwidow]

We have ours (orange and black) on the bottom under 250 watt halides without problems. Trained them to come out during the day. I use the top of a 2 liter bottle to feed, spraying the food in and leaving it on for 1/2 hour or so. This will keep fish, crabs and shrimp away giving them time to eat (they are slow eaters). We are up to 30+ polyps on our orange and over 9 on the black (started with 3). Feed every 3 days with mysis, brine, cyclopeeze and coral frenzy.