Sun Coral - Did You Know?

KMP · #1 07/05/2007, 10:48 PM

So I've always read that sun coral does not like light and is best in a cave or under an overhang.

While reading Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman, I found this to be interesting:

Most aquarists place these corals under ledges or overhangs in an attempt to mimic their natural local. Unfortunately, such placement ofte subjects them to areas of low current, contrary to the conditions they prefer in nature. the presence of light does not harm Tubastrae, and they may be kept in the open, exposed to full light. Adequate flow should be provided to keep the interstitial areas fee of accumulated food and/or debris.

With that, I purchased a new sun coral and plopped it right in the middle of my tank w/plenty of current. Just as happy as another I have under a ledge in another tank. So I guess as long as you have current, there will be plenty of sunshine from these great corals.

mikekman · #2 07/05/2007, 10:56 PM

I have the book from Borneman as well. I have always put my sun corals out in the light instead of putting them in a cave, ledge, etc.

Feed your sun coral and maintain good water quality and they should do well for you.

If you decide you want a coral that looks like a sun coral but opens up 24 hours a day and is much bigger........think about getting a dendrophyllia. There is a thread in this forum with pics so you can see how cool they are.

Mike

sufunk · #3 07/05/2007, 11:13 PM

The guy who taught me about sun's on another site had his directly under 250w halides and they did great. Mine have been directly under my lights for almost 18 months and have done great!

It's also a myth that every head needs to be fed. I can never find the thread but its here somewhere with Borneman saying as long as the colony is fed, it will do fine. I've never ever tried to feed all my heads and never had a problem, just feed the whole colony well.

If you train it with feedings, youcan get your sun to stay open most of the day. This is mine in the middle of the day hoping to be fed

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

KMP · #4 07/05/2007, 11:23 PM

that's a nice piece. looks alot like mine, round and happy!

paininthewrasse · #5 07/05/2007, 11:23 PM

i'd recommend dendros as well... they're larger, have longer tenticals and they stay open day and night no matter what.. no training required.

sufunk · #6 07/05/2007, 11:27 PM

A single polyp can also run you as much as my whole sun coral

Regardless, he already BOUGHT the suncoral.

KMP · #7 07/05/2007, 11:31 PM

i've had sun corals for over a year. just thought i'd share this interesting tid-bit dispelling the myth that they need to be under a ledge or in a cave.

sufunk · #8 07/05/2007, 11:37 PM

A year??? I was cutting you a break since i thought it was new,lol!

Where's the pics?!?

KMP · #9 07/05/2007, 11:42 PM

here's one in my biocube 8 at work. small frag off my new sun coral (which i don't have a pic of). don't have any pics of it open, but despite it being under the rocks, lots of current.

KMP · #10 07/05/2007, 11:44 PM

here's a pic of my first sun coral.

sufunk · #11 07/05/2007, 11:58 PM

Very nice!

Qckwzrd · #12 07/06/2007, 10:51 PM

Dendros may be larger (per polyp) and open all the time, but suncorals are cheaper and have larger colonies. I've never seen a large or decent size colony of dendros...even tho I have three

"Umm, fish?" · #13 07/06/2007, 11:12 PM

They do fine under the light, but watch the algae. They do really poorly in competition with some algaes (Valonia is horrible to them). One of mine is in the dark in a floating box in a refugium right now trying to get it to recover.

sufunk · #14 07/06/2007, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Qckwzrd
Dendros may be larger (per polyp) and open all the time, but suncorals are cheaper and have larger colonies. I've never seen a large or decent size colony of dendros...even tho I have three

I agree although in the dendro thread beneath this, the very 1st link, that guy has a pretty sweet dendro colony. Its probably the nicest i've seen so far. That is the only one i have seen that looks as nice as a good sun colony ,imo.

On the rest, even though really nice, the dendro polyps are just too spread out for me, i like the really nice thick sun colonies.

mikekman · #15 07/07/2007, 12:09 AM

qckwzrd, I'll give you my sun corals for your dendros. Thats a fair trade

I think dendros can form large colonies like sun corals BUT the only thing is since they are in so much demand, everyone is chopping them up! I bet if someone has one and did not chop it and let it grow for 1+ year, it would develop into a large dense colony!

Mike

Echidna09 · #16 07/07/2007, 12:52 AM

My dendros I just got are 11 heads with several babies. I got the colony for $60. I wish they would open, but I've only had them for a 3 days.

Also I did read somewhere that the whole colony will benefit even if they aren't all fed. They are connected, I don't see how they would let part of themselves die.

mikekman · #17 07/07/2007, 01:16 AM

Echidna, you got a 11 head dendro for $60? Are you sure its a dendro? That would be a killer deal if its actually dendros.

Please post a pic please.
Mike

Qckwzrd · #18 07/07/2007, 03:00 PM

Mike...no deal lol suncorals are still my fav of all time. I've seen large colonies of ducans and people chop those up.

11 heads of dendro for $60? If that's true that's an AMAZING DEAL!

Sufunk: I agree the thick suncoral colonies do look amazing, its more of an attraction.

Uhm fish: I think that's why they need a moderate flow to prevent the algae from growing on them.

ViPeR_930 · #19 07/07/2007, 09:20 PM

Echidna09
Registered Member

Registered: Apr 2007
Location: Sandy, UT
Occupation: Work at LFS
Posts: 56

I think that explains it.

sufunk · #20 07/07/2007, 09:26 PM

I know Viper aint voting for suncorals. He's the Dendro MAN!

"Umm, fish?" · #21 07/08/2007, 01:05 AM

Quote:

I think that's why they need a moderate flow to prevent the algae from growing on them.

They do pretty well for me in a high flow (more flow= more prey floating by, is my thought), but I had some bad issues going on after a tank crash. It's actually the colony from my avatar and I lost that polyp.

Damn valonia. But, some of the polyps look really good so I think it'll pull through.

Qckwzrd · #22 07/08/2007, 02:25 AM

Umm fish: I had a crash as well and lost a few colonies, some I have left are coming along well. Feed a lot and keep water in great condition.

mikekman · #23 07/08/2007, 09:46 AM

Viper -saw that echidna works at a lfs but sometimes people who work at LFS misidentifiy things!

qckwzrd -with suncorals or any non photo corals, with all the feeding, defniitely need to watch your water quality and up the water changes. As the nutrients go up, the algae bloom and then the corals suffer from algae overgrown and the high nitrates which are bad for them.

Still with all that, sun corals, dendros, and non photo corals are fun to keep!!

Echidna09 · #24 07/09/2007, 12:41 AM

Got my dendro colony at fragglereef, so I would guess it was correctly identified. I have one picture but it's not very good quality (from phone), and the polyps aren't extended either. I PMed it to mikekman cause he asked. I'll try to snap another with a better camera when they open up (I expect to be soon).

Not everyone that works at fish stores don't know anything. I haven't been in saltwater for a long time so I'm by far not the best informed at mine, and it's a very nice one too.

ViPeR_930 · #25 07/09/2007, 01:11 AM

Is it the one that he was calling D. arbuscula? I saw those but they look much more like sun corals than arbusculas.