Updated Black Suncoral Pics

[WILDTHING]

here it is new to the tank (first day in):





http://images8.fotki.com/v148/photos/4/416046/2190440/DSC02267-vi.jpg


here it is first time opening and eating:


http://images6.fotki.com/v86/photos/4/416046/2190440/DSC02273-vi.jpg


and here it is today... muahahahaha......worship me you reef scum:

http://images10.fotki.com/v191/photos/4/416046/2190440/DSC02309-vi.jpg

http://images9.fotki.com/v180/photos/4/416046/2190440/DSC02310-vi.jpg

http://images9.fotki.com/v172/photos/4/416046/2190440/DSC02312-vi.jpg

http://images9.fotki.com/v182/photos/4/416046/2190440/DSC02314-vi.jpg

http://images10.fotki.com/v191/photos/4/416046/2190440/DSC02316-vi.jpg

[JMBoehling]

Colleen,

Looks awesome! Can't wait till the day your fragging that puppy...

Jim

[vtsureshot]

looking very nice. how often are you feeding them? and with what?

curiuos:)

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by JMBoehling
Colleen,

Looks awesome! Can't wait till the day your fragging that puppy...

Jim

thanks, kinda scared to frag it, but someday maybe i will.
if it has babies i will let you know.

Colleen

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by vtsureshot
looking very nice. how often are you feeding them? and with what?

curiuos:)

thanks, i feed it every day with a mixture of my coral mush (variation on eric's formula) mixed with cyclopeeze in a feeding dome.

Colleen

[JMBoehling]

Showing my "Green" thumb :)... Of course you don't frag it..

[xxtriggermanxx]

was at perfect pet on broad st today . they have one in their 59 dollar sale tank (about 6-7 inches) just letting everybody know!

[xxtriggermanxx]

i was wondering what it looked like when open.. now i know! realy pretty piece colleen.

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by xxtriggermanxx
i was wondering what it looked like when open.. now i know! realy pretty piece colleen.

Thank you, I'm really kinda blown away by it myself, I was hoping it would be an interesting addition but never expected it to so nice. I'd never seen a branching one before.

colleen

[phlipper84]

hmm..makes me think about putting either type in my tank! both the black and orange are awesome. The reef gods must be smiling on your tank

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by phlipper84
hmm..makes me think about putting either type in my tank! both the black and orange are awesome. The reef gods must be smiling on your tank

I just hope they keep on smiling:D

If you decide to go for it remember that they need to eat alot. It can put a strain on your tanks ability to process the extra nutrients.

colleen

[Charlie Davidson]

Collen, Stop doing that!!! :) (posting Pics) They are so nice they hurt us that don't have.. Naaaw, keep posting.

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by Charlie Davidson
Collen, Stop doing that!!! :) (posting Pics) They are so nice they hurt us that don't have.. Naaaw, keep posting.

now you're just encouraging my insanity Charlie!!:lol:

Actually last night I was thinking how nice it would look if I went bare bottom with suns covering the bottom of the tank. They seem to spread even without releasing babies, more mouths just appear in-between older/big mouths and under them so that the original piece I had not only is wider now but taller too. I had to mount the original piece onto another rock to make room for the new mouths so they would be out of the sand. I think they may spread onto the glass bottom of the tank. What do you think?

colleen

[ranceego]

the polyp shots a great,:D

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by ranceego
the polyp shots a great,:D

Thank you, wish I could say I got better real fast but in truth my husband (pro) took them for me.

colleen

[prop-frags]

Originally posted by WILDTHING
and here it is today... muahahahaha......worship me you reef scum: [/B] That is the coolest thing I've seen in a while! Very nice piece! :thumbsup:

[Charlie Davidson]

Colleen, I went bare bottom once, the suns cover- did me no good!! Sorry---- Had too!!! :lol:

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by Charlie Davidson
Colleen, I went bare bottom once, the suns cover- did me no good!! Sorry---- Had too!!! :lol:

Charlie!!! was that little blond boy you in the Coppertone commercials?:lol: :lol: :lol:

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by prop-frags
That is the coolest thing I've seen in a while! Very nice piece! :thumbsup:

Thanks! its a color you don't see everyday in a reef. At least I haven't.

colleen

[Fish World]

You see many more orange ones that black or yellow.
What else are you putting in your tank besides the food you are feeding them. like what supplements and all?

Do you use reverse lighting at night over refug.?

jan

[WILDTHING]

Originally posted by zoo
You see many more orange ones that black or yellow.
What else are you putting in your tank besides the food you are feeding them. like what supplements and all?

Do you use reverse lighting at night over refug.?

jan

Hey Zoo, I'm not using any supplements, I've tested for mag and Iodine and things are around where they need to be. I do a 25g weekly water change so I think that helps reset anything that starts to be depleted. I add calcium and alk as needed,as a matter of fact I seem to need a lot of calcium for a tank that has mostly softies and a couple of frags of sps but I think the baby suns may be sucking it up as they grow to make their skeleton.

BTW the black sun is turning the most amazing emerald green, I have been watching it VERY closely because I thought it might be algae but my Tang and the snails are not even looking at it as they cruise by and it isn't like cryno and doesn't seem to be any algae I've seen. If anything its even prettier now. I'm keeping fingers and toes crossed that it is a color change and not algae.

I pulled the macro from my fuge a couple of months ago and just have a DSB and rubble to grow pods for my Mandarin. The tank was staying so stable and I didn't/don't have any algae issues it was easier to just have it as a pod farm and get the benefits of the DSB. But now I'm looking at pulling some rubble to make room for some cheato again because I am slowly adding more food to feed the new black sun and all the babies. Not to mention I see more (yellow) suns in my future.:p

[Fish World]

Colleen,
If I see you, could you bring the negatives ? I'm not sure what kind of camera you are using. Just need something I can use to blow it up. I don't know about the green, I kind of liked it the way it was.
Anyway, maybe we can do an experiment with the branchy two tone orange piece I told you about. Will see if you can get some fast growth on it.
Your the sun goddess not wildthing.

see ya,
jan

[WILDTHING]

Jan, using a digital so no negs. Boris is off on business so I can't ask whats the best way to get an image to you. When he comes back I'll ask. I'm hoping to be moving in 6 weeks or so, so my tank will be in chaos for a bit. When I set up the tank in the new place I'm going BB in the main but will still keep a DSB in the fuge. I'm hoping that the suns will eventually encrust the starboard on the bottom.

colleen

[LadyHawke]

That is a very cool looking coral.

Dawn

[WILDTHING]

thanks Dawn

colleen

[Charlie Davidson]

You do have the "touch" girl!!! sweet looking piece!!! Coleen, I have one or 2 places on bottom of tank, kinda cave looking- W/ very good flow. I have seen a nice piece of black, like yours-- What do you think?? ( high end care?) I was afraid of yellow/ orange-- due too the care they need.

[WILDTHING]

Charlie, as far as I can figure the only thing that these corals need/want is food and loads of it. They do need some good flow but they don't care otherwise if they are in light or shade. I think that the black branching is supposed to be harder to keep than the orange. (while doing a search I saw it mentioned by Eric B when he was still posting here in the coral forum) But my Black is doing great so far and is trained already to come out and beg if it senses my hand in the water or any food. It took my orange several weeks to learn the food routine.

Since your tank is sps dominated I'd worry about all the food you will need to feed these guys and being able to keep the water relatively nutrient poor. If they are something you would really like to keep and some extra work wouldn't seem a big deal to you, you could attach your coral to a flat piece of rock (so you could pick it up without actually handling the coral) and everyother day submerge a bowl into the tank and slide the coral into it then feed it in the bowl. then discard the bowl of tank water. This would keep the coral fat and happy and your tank water clean. This would be easier to do with one of the ball shaped suns.

colleen