Reef Sanctuary - View Single Post - Anybody keeps non-photosynthetic corals and will talk shop?

JT101 · 02-17-2008, 02:52 PM

Non-Photosynt:

I would be more than happy to share with you my "chronicles" about my sun coral.

I have a single "head", about 35 polyps in all, that I got last summer. Initially, not knowing ANYTHING about sun corals, I didn't even feed it. It never opened, day or night. Then one day I learned about their tendency towards nocturnal feedings, so I took a SeaSquirt (which I consider ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY for keeping these things) and started to squirt a little defrosted Cyclop-Eez towards the closed polyps. I walked away. About 15 mins later I noticed all the polyps were fully opened! I came back and squirted a judicious over each polyp. Each time I did, I noticed that it would close all its tentacles over itself - it was finally feeding!

As time went on, I started to realize that cyclops alone would present a very one-sided diet, so I decided to supplement with mysis shrimp. Problem was: How to deliver the goods without polluting my entire tank? I decided to use a long plastic aquatic gardening tool that allowed me to individually place a shrimp into each polyp. Granted, this is a pain with fish constantly trying to steal everything you lower into the tank, but this kind of heavy feeding is something you only need to do once a week.

As far as light goes, I have an AP24 with the "measly" 64W PC's (I am planning on upgrading to a 144W kit from nanotuners.com) so in my situation it would be very difficult to provide TOO much light.

Today, this coral has sprouted about 8-9 new tiny little polyps all over the perimeter of the colony and I am considering fragging it.

It is a beautiful species of coral that, admittedly, demands a lot from the owner but it's a very colorful addition to a reef tank.

02-17-2008, 02:52 PM	#29 (permalink)
JT101 Neon dottyback Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hicksville NY Posts: 622 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Anybody keeps non-photosynthetic corals and will talk shop? Non-Photosynt: I would be more than happy to share with you my "chronicles" about my sun coral. I have a single "head", about 35 polyps in all, that I got last summer. Initially, not knowing ANYTHING about sun corals, I didn't even feed it. It never opened, day or night. Then one day I learned about their tendency towards nocturnal feedings, so I took a SeaSquirt (which I consider ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY for keeping these things) and started to squirt a little defrosted Cyclop-Eez towards the closed polyps. I walked away. About 15 mins later I noticed all the polyps were fully opened! I came back and squirted a judicious over each polyp. Each time I did, I noticed that it would close all its tentacles over itself - it was finally feeding! As time went on, I started to realize that cyclops alone would present a very one-sided diet, so I decided to supplement with mysis shrimp. Problem was: How to deliver the goods without polluting my entire tank? I decided to use a long plastic aquatic gardening tool that allowed me to individually place a shrimp into each polyp. Granted, this is a pain with fish constantly trying to steal everything you lower into the tank, but this kind of heavy feeding is something you only need to do once a week. As far as light goes, I have an AP24 with the "measly" 64W PC's (I am planning on upgrading to a 144W kit from nanotuners.com) so in my situation it would be very difficult to provide TOO much light. Today, this coral has sprouted about 8-9 new tiny little polyps all over the perimeter of the colony and I am considering fragging it. It is a beautiful species of coral that, admittedly, demands a lot from the owner but it's a very colorful addition to a reef tank.