September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea - Page 3

aquaman3680 · 09-03-2007, 11:02 AM

Looks like this topic has already generated some good discussion! This has made me want to get one of these. The only ones i have ever had were the black suns, pictured on opening post. I just know how much work they are!

Frankie- can you elaborate a bit on how you have yours set up where you dont have to feed it?

Matt

Boomer · 09-03-2007, 12:11 PM

OK, I'm here

Nice post and pics Matt

As noted Tubastrea do not need light to grow. Saying they need light like we do or light to some degree is not even really worthy of a comment. Why ? There are lots of animals that live in almost or even total darkness, i.e., cave shrimp, insects, fish, etc..The deepest trenches of the sea have life, fish octopus, assorted cnidarians, ctenophorans, shrimp etc.

Is it possible that Tubastrea may need a tad of light as claimed as we do ? Sure but that is not the issue and is a very poor point. So why are they not a great depths. For the same reason other animals are not a great depths, they can not adapt to that environment. The pressure down there is enormous and there are very few sessile animals, most are on the move or in the water column. Many attrack food using light. How is a Tubastrea going to do that ?

If this was the case they would be found in pitch black caves.

I doubt the cave environment supports their food and other environmental needs. Light may be used by them to just tell the difference between day and night. The issue at hand and argument for these corals is "do they need light for food", as in photosynthetic activity and the answer is no. One could ask does a Copper Banded Butterfly fish need light ? Of course. He is not going to be able to find food in the dark. So again the need of light argument is very poor and is knit picking an issue.

current

A good thing for most cnidarians as it brings them food, unless they are subjected to little current and a sea of food. However, for most cnidarians that is a no-no, as current is how they remove the continuous generation of mucous they produce. Without current they "suffocate" from their own mucous.

Target feeding is risky because you rick over feeding by clogging up the polyp.

There is no such thing as overfeeding and getting clogged polyps. They will reject what they don't want or shut themselves down chemically and mechanically or retract. You have all seen, I think, anemones being sticky one day and not sticky the next. You give them food and it does not stick but just floats up to the surface. That is a shut-down controlled by all cnidarians. How they do that I have yet seen explained but it is know to a degree how some of it is controlled.

Frankie · 09-03-2007, 02:25 PM

Thank you for your time explaining all this Boomer! I stand corrected and am open minded to learning at all times.
I never knew that a coral will just shut down like that. I figured they would keep feeding like fish do. This is good information to understand. And it explains something i was reading about Algae Turf Scrubbing filters and mass feeding prop tanks.

Anselth · 09-03-2007, 02:32 PM

I have really been interested in these since I first saw one, but was somewhat intimidated by the amount of care they seemed to require. Lots of good info here.

aquaman3680 · 09-03-2007, 04:55 PM

Wow thanks for the awesome post Boomer! Can you offer any more insight to keeping these corals?

GeeWizzItsMe · 09-03-2007, 06:21 PM

Thanks for the info Boomer! Please, more insight!

Boomer · 09-03-2007, 07:19 PM

More info, me no

It has been 20 years a since I had any. You guys are much better at it IMHO. I will tell you this. They need care and need to be feed and need a good flow as already noted. They are not the hardiest of corals and rate a 4 on a 1-10. Decades ago we knew little about light and corals demands so often kept these, just feed. If you ever mentioned acro's you were considered a sick person, as they will just die on you. Even with todays advancements these still seem to be trouble for us but yet many have excelled with Acro's.

Dentoid · 09-04-2007, 07:11 PM

Well I went to the LFS on my way home from the office to pick up a choclate chip star to feed my Harlequins. This is always a bad idea because the owner of the LFS always takes me around to show me all the new "stuff". That means I always walk out of there with something else, in addition to what I had gone in there for in the first place. So here is my newest coral, a black tubastrea! This coral needs to be renamed something like Dracula's Powder Puff or Vampire Lashes! or Midnight coral

This coral opened up within 30 minutes. I'm in love!

This pictures is of my Sun right after feeding the tank tonight. I moved it to the sand, further from the light and it is doing great! All these little mouths remind me of an choir!
La-la-la-la-la-la-la!

AQTCJAK · 09-04-2007, 07:24 PM

Great photos I tend to lean twards the blacks more so than the yellow sun corals

caitrina · 09-04-2007, 07:38 PM

Well I feel better now since Boomer has confirmed the things I have been doing. I feed my sun almost every night and it is in good flow and doing great. so onto more suns!

GeeWizzItsMe · 09-04-2007, 07:39 PM

How pretty!

Frankie · 09-04-2007, 07:52 PM

I am glad everyone is getting into these wonderful corals. I agree with boomer that if you are doing good with this coral just keep doing what your doing.
I myself am happy for the way i care for them. Because i would not want a coral that needed to be individually fed all the time. I have enough things to do. And i was worried i gave the wrong info aquaman, thats why i waited for boomer to respond. I would hate for people to think my way is the right way. Most things i do with this hobby is trial and error. I do bend the rules a lot i admit.
I do suggest everyone following the links in Boomers sig. They have lead me to some vast information all over the net.

caitrina · 09-04-2007, 10:56 PM

For those interested in the blacks I read that there is a slug that feeds exclusively on the Black Sun Coral. The slug acquires the black color which makes it hard to find the slug so one should regularly check the sun for this slug. Don't know what it looks like, I haven't looked that up yet, but the name of the slug is Phestilla melanobrachia.

bluespotjawfish · 09-05-2007, 12:19 AM

Scott, your new blackie looks great! I want eyelashes like that. Do they have to use mascara?

vdituri · 09-05-2007, 03:41 PM

Here's a question for the group at large.
Would high light be a problem for them?

09-03-2007, 11:02 AM	#31 (permalink)
aquaman3680 Golden Moray Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Overland Park, KS Posts: 2,130 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Looks like this topic has already generated some good discussion! This has made me want to get one of these. The only ones i have ever had were the black suns, pictured on opening post. I just know how much work they are! Frankie- can you elaborate a bit on how you have yours set up where you dont have to feed it? Matt __________________ Check it out! The 90 gallon Road Trip

09-03-2007, 12:11 PM	#32 (permalink)
Boomer Reef Sanctuary's Mr. Wizard Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Duluth, Minnesota Posts: 2,072 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea OK, I'm here Nice post and pics Matt As noted Tubastrea do not need light to grow. Saying they need light like we do or light to some degree is not even really worthy of a comment. Why ? There are lots of animals that live in almost or even total darkness, i.e., cave shrimp, insects, fish, etc..The deepest trenches of the sea have life, fish octopus, assorted cnidarians, ctenophorans, shrimp etc. Is it possible that Tubastrea may need a tad of light as claimed as we do ? Sure but that is not the issue and is a very poor point. So why are they not a great depths. For the same reason other animals are not a great depths, they can not adapt to that environment. The pressure down there is enormous and there are very few sessile animals, most are on the move or in the water column. Many attrack food using light. How is a Tubastrea going to do that ? If this was the case they would be found in pitch black caves. I doubt the cave environment supports their food and other environmental needs. Light may be used by them to just tell the difference between day and night. The issue at hand and argument for these corals is "do they need light for food", as in photosynthetic activity and the answer is no. One could ask does a Copper Banded Butterfly fish need light ? Of course. He is not going to be able to find food in the dark. So again the need of light argument is very poor and is knit picking an issue. current A good thing for most cnidarians as it brings them food, unless they are subjected to little current and a sea of food. However, for most cnidarians that is a no-no, as current is how they remove the continuous generation of mucous they produce. Without current they "suffocate" from their own mucous. Target feeding is risky because you rick over feeding by clogging up the polyp. There is no such thing as overfeeding and getting clogged polyps. They will reject what they don't want or shut themselves down chemically and mechanically or retract. You have all seen, I think, anemones being sticky one day and not sticky the next. You give them food and it does not stick but just floats up to the surface. That is a shut-down controlled by all cnidarians. How they do that I have yet seen explained but it is know to a degree how some of it is controlled. __________________ Boomer Want to Talk Chemistry ! The Reef Chemistry Forum Want to See More ! The Coral Realm If you See Me Running You Better Catch-Up An explosion can be defined as a loud noise, accompanied by the sudden going away of things, from a place where they use to be. Last edited by Boomer : 09-03-2007 at 02:30 PM.

09-03-2007, 02:25 PM	#33 (permalink)
Frankie Angel Girl's Daddy Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The End Of The World Posts: 7,139 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Thank you for your time explaining all this Boomer! I stand corrected and am open minded to learning at all times. I never knew that a coral will just shut down like that. I figured they would keep feeding like fish do. This is good information to understand. And it explains something i was reading about Algae Turf Scrubbing filters and mass feeding prop tanks. __________________ Bruce: Today's meeting is Step 5: Bring a fish friend. Everyone brought a fish friend? DIY=DO IT YOURSELF! If we ignore the environment maybe it will just go away....

09-03-2007, 02:32 PM	#34 (permalink)
Anselth Harlequin Tuskfish Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: South Jersey Posts: 906 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea I have really been interested in these since I first saw one, but was somewhat intimidated by the amount of care they seemed to require. Lots of good info here. __________________ -Adam Learning on the fly My 70 Gallon Reef My 110 Gallon Build

09-03-2007, 04:55 PM	#35 (permalink)
aquaman3680 Golden Moray Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Overland Park, KS Posts: 2,130 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Wow thanks for the awesome post Boomer! Can you offer any more insight to keeping these corals? __________________ Check it out! The 90 gallon Road Trip

09-03-2007, 06:21 PM	#36 (permalink)
GeeWizzItsMe See Golden Compass Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Nashville Posts: 1,857 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Thanks for the info Boomer! Please, more insight! __________________ VP of Dork Club http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...-new-tank.html

09-03-2007, 07:19 PM	#37 (permalink)
Boomer Reef Sanctuary's Mr. Wizard Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Duluth, Minnesota Posts: 2,072 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea More info, me no It has been 20 years a since I had any. You guys are much better at it IMHO. I will tell you this. They need care and need to be feed and need a good flow as already noted. They are not the hardiest of corals and rate a 4 on a 1-10. Decades ago we knew little about light and corals demands so often kept these, just feed. If you ever mentioned acro's you were considered a sick person, as they will just die on you. Even with todays advancements these still seem to be trouble for us but yet many have excelled with Acro's. __________________ Boomer Want to Talk Chemistry ! The Reef Chemistry Forum Want to See More ! The Coral Realm If you See Me Running You Better Catch-Up An explosion can be defined as a loud noise, accompanied by the sudden going away of things, from a place where they use to be.

09-04-2007, 07:11 PM	#38 (permalink)
Dentoid Over Achiever Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Virginia Posts: 10,239 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Well I went to the LFS on my way home from the office to pick up a choclate chip star to feed my Harlequins. This is always a bad idea because the owner of the LFS always takes me around to show me all the new "stuff". That means I always walk out of there with something else, in addition to what I had gone in there for in the first place. So here is my newest coral, a black tubastrea! This coral needs to be renamed something like Dracula's Powder Puff or Vampire Lashes! or Midnight coral This coral opened up within 30 minutes. I'm in love! This pictures is of my Sun right after feeding the tank tonight. I moved it to the sand, further from the light and it is doing great! All these little mouths remind me of an choir! La-la-la-la-la-la-la! __________________ Scott Dentoid's Reeforama

09-04-2007, 07:24 PM	#39 (permalink)
AQTCJAK Tiger Shark Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,937 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Great photos I tend to lean twards the blacks more so than the yellow sun corals __________________ A Wiseman once said build a stage add a pole & they will dance - Jack 2007 www.aquaticaggression.com Projects & Chronicels http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...car-buffs.html http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...nts-tanks.html

09-04-2007, 07:38 PM	#40 (permalink)
caitrina Golden Moray Join Date: May 2007 Location: Somewhere in Florida Posts: 2,588 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Well I feel better now since Boomer has confirmed the things I have been doing. I feed my sun almost every night and it is in good flow and doing great. so onto more suns! __________________ A reef tank is like a potato chip, you can't have just one! Chronicles Cat's Healing Gift: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...ling-gift.html Cat’s 90 Gallon Toy: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...allon-toy.html 24 G Mystery Pod: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...stery-pod.html

09-04-2007, 07:39 PM	#41 (permalink)
GeeWizzItsMe See Golden Compass Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Nashville Posts: 1,857 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea How pretty! __________________ VP of Dork Club http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...-new-tank.html

09-04-2007, 07:52 PM	#42 (permalink)
Frankie Angel Girl's Daddy Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The End Of The World Posts: 7,139 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea I am glad everyone is getting into these wonderful corals. I agree with boomer that if you are doing good with this coral just keep doing what your doing. I myself am happy for the way i care for them. Because i would not want a coral that needed to be individually fed all the time. I have enough things to do. And i was worried i gave the wrong info aquaman, thats why i waited for boomer to respond. I would hate for people to think my way is the right way. Most things i do with this hobby is trial and error. I do bend the rules a lot i admit. I do suggest everyone following the links in Boomers sig. They have lead me to some vast information all over the net. __________________ Bruce: Today's meeting is Step 5: Bring a fish friend. Everyone brought a fish friend? DIY=DO IT YOURSELF! If we ignore the environment maybe it will just go away....

09-04-2007, 10:56 PM	#43 (permalink)
caitrina Golden Moray Join Date: May 2007 Location: Somewhere in Florida Posts: 2,588 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea For those interested in the blacks I read that there is a slug that feeds exclusively on the Black Sun Coral. The slug acquires the black color which makes it hard to find the slug so one should regularly check the sun for this slug. Don't know what it looks like, I haven't looked that up yet, but the name of the slug is Phestilla melanobrachia. __________________ A reef tank is like a potato chip, you can't have just one! Chronicles Cat's Healing Gift: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...ling-gift.html Cat’s 90 Gallon Toy: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...allon-toy.html 24 G Mystery Pod: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...stery-pod.html

09-05-2007, 12:19 AM	#44 (permalink)
bluespotjawfish Tridacna maxima Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 4,140 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Scott, your new blackie looks great! I want eyelashes like that. Do they have to use mascara? __________________ Lorraine To BB and all Bluespots - Journey of the 2nd Year ...The 2nd Year - Photoshow Check out Mr. BJ and friends... Mr. BJ's Aquarium - PhotoShow

09-05-2007, 03:41 PM	#45 (permalink)
vdituri Excellent Guesser :D Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Sacramento California Posts: 5,725 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea Here's a question for the group at large. Would high light be a problem for them? __________________ Victor ----- People come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

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