Sun Coral?

Anyone ever had these? If so any tips? I've read they like low light... I'd say I have 300 par at my sand bed, will I have to shade them? I'm really excited about these guys. They were one of the corals I picked out as a had to have before I got started.



Oh... many places say they do better in systems without a skimmer.

ritter knows all about em..nice looking good luck

I had two big colonies for a long time. They do great on the bottom of the tank and can even be put in a cave. The worst part is feeding them all the time. You have to spot feed them and either fight the fish off or put a basket over them while feeding. They are beautiful.... Just not worth the hassle for me.

I'll have to create an easy feeding plan. I'm excited about having these guys! Here's a pic of the actual colony I'm getting... not extended in this pic obviously.

Daniel1381 wrote:ritter knows all about em..nice looking good luck

Me? I killed a nice piece once. That was a while back though. I'd like to try another and see if I can keep it this time. I even had baby ones pop up on my rocks but they didn't make it very long either. I would put it in the darkest spot of the tank and spot feed it often. Turkey baster to squirt food into the open mouths works good. I tried to feed mine every other day but it wasn't enough or something with my water params killed it. Awesome corals though. Any heads that aren't connected with tissue will have to be individually fed. A fully healthy one should be completely covered in tissue.
This was mine,


Under actinics,

I might try one in my new tank but won't be getting a sailfin tang

Matt, I looked at those as well. Everything you're seeing posted it what I have read in the last hour or so about them. Spot feeding, lower light, and lower current.

Too high maintenance for me (working 12 hour days until April 15th) after reading all that, but definitely like the look of them.

Daniel1381 wrote:I might try one in my new tank but won't be getting a sailfin tang

Lol

So what were signs that they weren't doing well in yours gabe? Obviously spreading would be a sign that they are doing well, so at one point they were doing pretty good. The guy I'm getting them from said he feeds his once a week and they've grown quite a bit. Maybe he's feeding a lot one time a week when it may be best to feed smaller more often.

matt_longview wrote:So what were signs that they weren't doing well in yours gabe? Obviously spreading would be a sign that they are doing well, so at one point they were doing pretty good. The guy I'm getting them from said he feeds his once a week and they've grown quite a bit. Maybe he's feeding a lot one time a week when it may be best to feed smaller more often.

Mine started receding between the polyps. It always ate well. I ended up giving it away before it was totally gone. I'm not sure how often you are supposed to feed them but I would recommend more than just once a week. It should get some food from feeding your fish everyday but I would try to target feed it at least every other day. I hoped I could get away feeding about 3 times a week but it went south anyway. If you notice any recession I would step up the feedings. Here's what mine looked like when it started dying.

So do you think I need to get a pic of it extended before buying? I notice it's got gaps in between it's polyps in the pic. Is that just because they're so far away ya think?

matt_longview wrote:So do you think I need to get a pic of it extended before buying? I notice it's got gaps in between it's polyps in the pic. Is that just because they're so far away ya think?

It should be easy to get it to extend. They can be trained to open up in the daytime. Mine would open up anytime food was present and if it's open, it's hungry. If there are dead heads between it I would say it's not in good shape but not lost either. If it's just rock between the polyps then it's probably healthy, just collected that way. I say if you want that coral and the price is good then go for it.

Yeap. That's what I had to do Siberman. Stupid Sailfin Tang is a pig! Always stealing everyone elses dinner!

I need to do that!

I find it easier to get rid of anything that needs to be spot fed!

BigBlue wrote:I find it easier to get rid of anything that needs to be spot fed!

very true!

That coral is non photosynthic. Doesnt matter where you put it in your tank. Usually feeds at night but you can train it to open in the day by feeding them during the daytime.