Sun coral question

[n00b mariner]

I got a sun coral two weeks ago.....at first it was tough to feed but now goes through a half block of mysis a day and polyps jus keep getting bigger!!! Is this healthy, how much should they eat ?and i believe they dont grow new colonies heads just spawn babies so what is going to happen to them if they keep eating like this?

[musty baby]

It will eat as much as you can feed it, but at a single feeding eventually the polyps won't take anymore. Very healthy. Don't know what you mean by "don't grow new colonies" if you know they spawn smaller heads as they grow. The smaller heads get bigger, the colony continues to lay down skeleton and the overall lump gets bigger, giving room for more heads. If they keep eating like this, you'll have a great big happy sun coral colony.

[n00b mariner]

Heres some pics.......
He`s still v. hungry but to me polyps dont seem to be getting much bigger does he look good to you guys???

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d100/gperitig111/18062007005.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d100/gperitig111/18062007004.jpg

[sufunk]

Very nice. Looks really good but the polyps should open a little bigger. They look nice and fat but is that all they open?

I fed mine as much as it would eat when i 1st got it and it seemed to love it so i wouldnt worry about overfeeding. I make a mix of shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and squidd chopped real fine with some frozen cyclopeeze. Its [pretty cheap and lasts a long time. Might wanna try that.

[Qckwzrd]

How's the flow in the tank? May want to increase flow. Make sure you keep your nitrates in check with all the food.

[John Zillmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10122600#post10122600 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by n00b mariner
I got a sun coral two weeks ago.....at first it was tough to feed but now goes through a half block of mysis a day and polyps jus keep getting bigger!!! Is this healthy, how much should they eat ?and i believe they dont grow new colonies heads just spawn babies so what is going to happen to them if they keep eating like this?

Does 'half a block' mean half of a cube? If so, you ain't seen nothin' yet -- my sun coral can take out 3 or four cubes of frozen in one sitting! Watch your water quality sink like a stone!

[cichlid nutz]

I take my sun coral out of the tank to feed. A mid size plastic tub and a 1 liter soda bottle with the bottom cut out works wonders. Scoop water from the tank and put coral in with bottle surrounding to hold in food. Try DT's or rotifers for feeding. I use about 3-4 ml and then dump excess back into main tank (100 gallon) so that the other corals get a bite. Tubastrea gets very happy and helps keep water quality up :)

[John Zillmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10170030#post10170030 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cichlid nutz
I take my sun coral out of the tank to feed. A mid size plastic tub and a 1 liter soda bottle with the bottom cut out works wonders. Scoop water from the tank and put coral in with bottle surrounding to hold in food. Try DT's or rotifers for feeding. I use about 3-4 ml and then dump excess back into main tank (100 gallon) so that the other corals get a bite. Tubastrea gets very happy and helps keep water quality up :)

Good technique, although it is widely accepted that Tubastrea do not consume phytoplankton.

[Qckwzrd]

O be sure to rinse off the cubes before using them also.

[cichlid nutz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10170315#post10170315 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by John Zillmer
Good technique, although it is widely accepted that Tubastrea do not consume phytoplankton.

I had heard that but due to lack of knowledge, mine has been kept alive for the past 8 months on mainly Kent Phytoplex and only recently DT's phyto. So that being said, it will eat phyto and mine has been doing wonderful. Fat and happy and "blooming" during daylight hours.

[John Zillmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10171663#post10171663 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cichlid nutz
I had heard that but due to lack of knowledge, mine has been kept alive for the past 8 months on mainly Kent Phytoplex and only recently DT's phyto. So that being said, it will eat phyto and mine has been doing wonderful. Fat and happy and "blooming" during daylight hours.

Yeah, as is often said: 'our captives haven't read the same books we have, so they don't know what they are supposed to eat.'

Do you actually see the polyps ingesting the phyto? I'm just wondering if they go through the same process (capture, insertion of food into the pharynx, then that distinctive look of satiation). Pics of mine doing this are here http://www.msu.edu/~zillmerj/sun.html , in case you need a visual.

[dendro982]

Mine (1.5x bigger) also consumes 2 big or 3 small cubes of mysis and ocean plankton (zooplankton, bigger than mysis), twice a week. Chopped fish and shrimp are accepted as well.

It grows new polyps everywhere:
http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/44/44/8/75/8/2001875080081040121fqqlpA_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2001875080081040121fqqlpA) http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/60/60/1/83/84/2553183840081040121htTrty_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2553183840081040121htTrty) http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/59/459/8/28/8/2353828080081040121LOfXBf_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2353828080081040121LOfXBf)
and later started to fill the tank with spawns, each of which is growing side polyps, creating own colony.
http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/58/58/4/29/17/2358429170081040121HoWIhv_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2358429170081040121HoWIhv)http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/59/759/4/45/44/2531445440081040121XYzooo_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2531445440081040121XYzooo)http://thumb1.webshots.net/t/58/58/0/53/64/2661053640081040121CuObvA_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2661053640081040121CuObvA)
Don't worry, they grow slowly :D