candy cane how to

stevelkaneval · #1 12/15/2007, 05:14 PM

I just recently aquiered a candy cane coral from a guy in our reef club, and he said that he hasnt gotten it to eat for like 9 monthes since he got it. my question is when do they feed i never see the feeder tenticals out during day cycle, but at night there are really tiny feeding tenticals comeing out. i only have 2x65watt cf , and i have him in a moderate to high flow area and towards the middle top. i always feed him with a turky baster but never see him really eat .

stevelkaneval · #2 12/15/2007, 05:14 PM

oops double post

Agu · #3 12/15/2007, 07:37 PM

I don't directly feed my candy cane corals.

Do they look unhealthy or are they going into a decline ?

Lotus99 · #4 12/15/2007, 08:39 PM

They'll eat fine foods when the tentacles are out. It might be that yours is in too high flow, I think they prefer a more sheltered position. You could also try turning the powerheads off before feeding.

stevelkaneval · #5 12/15/2007, 09:06 PM

i do turn all the flow off when i feed. and i moved it to more of a sheltered spot, where it only gets moderate indirect current. here is a pic of it.

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Lotus99 · #6 12/16/2007, 12:57 AM

It doesn't look to me like its polyps are fully expanded. I know mine took a while to fully settle into the tank, and some moving around to find a good spot for it. Mine seems to like a lower light area, too.

gholtmeyer · #7 12/16/2007, 09:53 AM

I have never spot fed my neon green candy cane. Two years ago I started with four small heads. Today, I have solid ball the size of a soft ball or larger of them. And I have fragged at least8 heads offand there has to be at least 50 heads on the mother colony. I have them at the top of my rock under two 250w mh, and two 110 VHO with moderate flow.

kookerson · #8 12/16/2007, 01:33 PM

FWIW, the only time I have ever seen my Candy Canes tentacles out is late at night.....about 2 hours after lights out. And the tentacles are a decent size, it would be hard to miss them......HTH : )

kingfisher62 · #9 12/22/2007, 08:31 PM

Mine are doing fine without target feeding also. If you want to feed them take kookerson's advice.Check them ot in the middle of the night!

amutti · #10 12/23/2007, 09:46 AM

At night, sometimes, their tentacles will come out, this is when you can feed them. They are very passive eaters and other things in the tank will steal food from them with ease. Some folks say they only eat small pieces of food, but I've given mine small shrimp and they've eaten them by extending their flesh over the food (it takes 5-10 minutes). To fed them large bits you need to wait till the tentacles are out, then GENTLY place the piece of meat (1/4 salad shrimp fortified) in the center of the head and hold it there until it doesn't float away. In low flow they can sometimes catch mysid too . . .

With that said I rarely feed mine. The cleaner shrimp in the tank make it a pain since they keep stealing food. They have 2 year old syndrome (no matter what they have for food, they think what the coral has is better and drop their food and steal food from the coral, over abd over again).

When I did feed regularly (twice a week) they grew faster . . .

jadeguppy · #11 12/23/2007, 10:55 AM

I find mine out in the morning. My larger tank shows before the lights go on. However, I have multiple colonies and not all of them put out tenticals. I am still working on finding them a favorite spot. My nano tank has two frags that have tenticals out early in the day when the lights are on. I have seen a difference when I target feed and when I don't in regards to growth. I use a turkey baster for brine shrimp or mysis. With that said, target feeding is not a must, it only helps speed up growth. Give them time to adjust to the tank and they should start putting out their tenticals. It may be necessary to feed the fish on the other side of the tank to keep them from stealing the food. That or put a lot of food on them so that they have some left after the theives get there.

MMM33732 · #12 12/23/2007, 01:36 PM

As everyone said, you usually don't need to feed them. Mine's tentacles come out during the day and then again sometimes at night. Ive been feeding it lately since I just got it about 2 weeks ago. I feed it during the day since its tentacles are out and I have to feed the fish anyways. I've also fed it at night though. Pretty much any time you see the tentacles out you can feed. I just turn off all pumps and filters and drop some brine all over it with a syringe. Works great. Its now completely expanded so all polyps touch each other and form a softball sized solid looking ball. I think feeding helps a lot personally, but usually isn't necessary. I noticed the polyps that get fed every time for sure are a lot larger than those that don't. If I were you, I would feed just to make sure it gets healthed back to good condition and size. Next time you see the tentacles out at all, drop some brine on it and wait a few min to see if more come out. The continue feeding as necessary so most if not all polyps get some.