Help! Suncoral Not lookin too hot...

[Holokai]

Well, I have a problem... I bought a sun coral from the LFS a ways back, and it wasn't doing too hot. Because I had to feed it, the trigger eventually figured out he could pick between the polyps for bits of food. well, that damn near killed the coral, so I gave it to my buddy, who, as it turns out, has chocolate chip starfish... I didn't know he had them, and he didn't know they ate corals. So, crap. Any how, it's back in my posession, but it's lookin bad. Here's a pic.

http://people.msoe.edu/~veithc/Images/RC%20pics/stuff/IMG_0284.jpg

it's in one of those breeder things, so it doesn't get picked on. I just set up a ten gallon, soon as that's ready to go, it will be going in there away from the trigger. For now, though... I need help getting it back to healthy.

I am going to attempt to feed brine, mysis, and bloodworms. I dose calcium, Iodine, and strontium. Anythign else I can do for this poor guy?

Thanks

- Chris

[LOTUS50GOD]

you have a trigger in your reef??? Sun corals are high maintenance. You may want to make your a feeder hat for it (out of a 2 liter soda bottle)

[Holokai]

Yeah, It has a hat already, from when I last had it. Yes, I have a niger trigger in it, and he leaves everything else alone. He wasn't eating the sun coral, he was snagging food from between teh polyps, and bothering it.

[Alaskan Reefer]

I have one that looks similar. Fried it with PC lights some 16" above it. It's been recovering for over a year, but it's an extremely slow process. I don't think it will ever repopulate the receded "heads." As far as how to help, put it in a completely dark area, under a shelf or similar, and target feed at least twice a week. Mine has about doubled the tissue that was left after the roasting in a year by doing so.

[Holokai]

I was under the impression lighting didn't affect these guys either way. non photosynthetic and all.

I target feed daily, after lights out.

[Alaskan Reefer]

Lighting won't feed them, but it can easily burn them. I didn't acclimate mine to the lighting slowly enough. IME, putting them in a shaded area causes them to extend polyps often during the day, which I assume leads to more constant eating...

[Holokai]

I guess that makes sense, I'll have to see if I can rig a different set up than what I have right now.

[CJ]

Feed it DAILY and chunky food, they love that. If you can add Golden Pearls and Cyclop-eeze, it would help. Just feed it heavily so that there is enough for it and the trigger.

By the way, you have to feed each head because each is a separate animal and just feeding the colony won't do it.

You could use a feeding tube. It works really well

[atzak]

I have one under a 250 watt halide with no problems as far as burning. Maybe if you could feed it when the lights are off and the fish is resting.

[Holokai]

CJ, yeah, I am using a 5ml dropper for target feeding each head, and it's currently in that breeder contraption, safe from the trigger. Chunky foods, such as mysis? or chopped silversides?


aztac, I try to feed after lights out, glad to hear yours does well under 250's, as I just installed two of them.

- Chris

[CJ]

Chris:

Yes, mine love mysis, they really will eat anything, chopped silversides would be great although I haven't fed them. Mine would probably eat my finger if I left it in the tank long enough, just kidding.

I have a yellow and a black. The black one which is supposed to be harder to keep is doing great, has almost doubled in a year and a half. The yellow one is doing very well but isn't growing as fast. I make my own food which I enrich with Selcon, Garlic extract, Vitamins, flake food, Seaweed select, etc.....

You can actually train them to open whenever you want with patience. My black one is often open during the day. You can tease them to open with a little juice from your thawing food cubes (I use ice cube trays, the small cocktail size for freezing my food)

By the way mine are the centerpiece of my tankon the sand in front of the rock work in the center of the tank. I have two DE HQI 150W MH and 2 actinic VHOs. They could not care less about the light as long as they get their food LOL

[Holokai]

CJ, that sounds awesome, I've seen blacks once or twice before. Have any pics?

[CJ]

Yes I have some pics. Haven't had the time to figure out how to post them in the gallery. I'll have to work on it.

I have a really nice one of my copperband and yellow tang that I really want to post.

[NicoleC]

I have a black one I am nursing back to health. Regular feeding seems to be the key:

When I first rescued him (1/13/04):

http://www.polinggenealogy.org/misc/black1.JPG

And improvement so far (1/30/04). During the day, so he's not fully extended -- he looks better at night:

http://www.polinggenealogy.org/misc/black2.JPG

[Holokai]

Awesome, Nicole. I assume the whiteish areas are skeleton, and the coral needs to regrow over that?

Here's a question for you guys. With the angles that the polyps are at, I can't get food to sit on them, even after I turn the pumps off. any tips/tricks?

[CJ]

The polyps must not be very sticky, usually they will catch and hold on to the prey. Try teasing them with juice and wait to feed them until they have their tentacles fully extended.

If they don't have the strength to hold on to the food it will be hard to bring them back to health. Try to fill them up with Golden Pearls and Cyclop-eeze, that's very small food and they're bound to catch some of that, then give them the chunks.

You should stop all pumps while you're feeding them, they're not strong enough to fight the current. Even mine would have a hard time if I didn't stop the flow. Oops , sorry you did say you trun the pumps off.

[Holokai]

No one around here has or has even heard of cyclopeeze or golden pearls. I'll have to order some.

[NicoleC]

Originally posted by Holokai
Awesome, Nicole. I assume the whiteish areas are skeleton, and the coral needs to regrow over that?

I don't know if it will regrow over the skeleton or not -- I hope so. Or it may just start growing in new places. I am currently operating under the assumption that because there is no external tissue, it may not be able to share nutrients. So I'm feeding ALL of the polyps.

Here's a question for you guys. With the angles that the polyps are at, I can't get food to sit on them, even after I turn the pumps off. any tips/tricks?

That's bad. The tentacles don't grab the food? I had a hard time getting the knack of hand feeding it -- or maybe it had to get used to me feeding it -- and since it had almost no tentacles at first I had to be very patient at first and help it along. I would try CJ's suggestion of teasing it, and also try holding the food with a pair of tweezers on the tentacles until it can manage to grab it. Feed it every evening at the same time.

Mine eats anything and is very greedy, but sometimes it takes a while to finish whatever it snags. It does hold on to the piece until it's done, which is a big improvement. It's grabbed big pieces of ulva out of the water, has been fed salmon, Formula food, cyclopeeze, sweetwater zooplankton (daphinia), and even ate a piece of frogspawn that broke off my frog and was floating through the water. That polyp doesn't look so good now!

[Holokai]

Wow, I've never heard of a coral eating another coral.

I think you guys are under the impression that the polyps are open and extended when I feed... they most definitely aren't. They're closed up tight, but it has only been in my tank for 2 days, so maybe tongiht I'll have better luck. I am fairly certain that one polyp grabbed a piece of bloodworm last night though. I'll tease them tonight, as well as attempt teh tweezer trick.

Nicole, From everything I've read about sun corals, I'd have to say you're right and you do need to feed each individual. some people even think that when the tissue is connected you still need to.

Thanks for the help all


- Chris

[scrappy125]

tagging along, having similar problems with my sun coral.

[NicoleC]

Originally posted by Holokai
Nicole, From everything I've read about sun corals, I'd have to say you're right and you do need to feed each individual. some people even think that when the tissue is connected you still need to.

So I've read, but Eric Borneman said that this coral was one that better sharing than most. Either way, I play it on the safe side.

Do you have a moonlight? You could try feeding late at night when you see it's open, and gradually move to an early time?

[Holokai]

My light cycle right now is 1pm to 12am, when I go to bed. I think I will shift it forward one hour, so I have an hour to play around after ligths off.

I don't have moonlights yet, but I have the cold cathode lights I was intending on installing, I just haven't yet.

I'd listen to Eric more than I'd listen to anyone else, obviously. But you're right, err on the safe side.

- Chris

[Holokai]

Woo hoo!!

Thanks guys... I think I'm out of the woods for now. The trick that seemed to work the most was "teasing" the polyps with water from mixing the food. After that the polyps come out, and I can feed. Now, only a week later, They come out and stay out almost an hour and a half waiting for food.

I think they're gonna make it. Now I just have to figure out how I can get it out of the breeder container and into the main tank, that thing is an eyesore...

Any ideas how long I can expect to wait until tissue starts expanding?

Again, thanks alot guys... Coral is looking 10 times better

- Chris

[Holokai]

Oh, just to add - I was up later tonight that usual and checked the tank - the sun corals polyps were STRETCHED straight up, I've never seen this before. I hope that's good...

[CJ]

They're on their way. Good for you, and them :thumbsup:

[Holokai]

:D