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08-03-2002, 10:04 PM
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#1
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Plankton
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: manhatten
Posts: 46
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sun polyps
hey all. i have some sun polyps in my tank and i'm just curious if anyone has any suggestions on where in the tank is the best place to keep them and anything special i should be doing to keep them healthy. i heard that sun polyps are supposed to be kept somewhere shady, but i'm concerned that they arent getting enough light or water flow under the overhang where i keep them in my tank (they also haven't really spread on the rock, but this is more likely because of my high nitrates). also, is there a preferable place to keep mushrooms in a tank? thanks.
dan
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08-03-2002, 10:18 PM
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#2
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Portland,Or
Posts: 427
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Sun polyps are not photosynthetic..they require no light at all; however, they do require lots of food. I feed mine a full cube of frozen mysis or krill every other day.Mine also seems to like a medium to strong current. |
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08-03-2002, 11:34 PM
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#3
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Plankton
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: manhatten
Posts: 46
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do u know if i have to keep them under rocks or would they be ok more towards the top of the reef? also, do u just put the food in a syringe of some sort and shoot it towards the opening or what is the best way to get them the food? is this what i should do with my other polyps too ( button polyps and also with mushrooms?)? i'd appreciate any suggestions you have. thanks. |
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08-03-2002, 11:41 PM
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#4
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: AZ
Posts: 389
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WOW! Those are awesome polyps!
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08-04-2002, 01:34 AM
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#5
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Portland,Or
Posts: 427
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It's my opinion that the light level is not important at all. My sun coral comes out anytime that food hits the water...no matter what time of day. After the polyps emerge, I use a turkey baster and try to assure that all or most of the polyps get food. In the wild, I'm sure these corals can't compete with the photosynthetic corals,and thus, do best where photosynthetic corals don't do so well...in the dark. In our tanks, though, I don't think it matters. The trick is to get the polyps to emerge and then feed...feed.. feed.
As for the mushrooms, they are probably photosynthetic, and don't require much more than what already gets put in the tank ( ie fish food, DT's etc.). |
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08-04-2002, 07:27 AM
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#6
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Nothing to See Here
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Montana
Posts: 5,815
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My wife has sun polyps in her 20 gallon mini-reef tank and has 55ww of PC lighting and they do fine. The place where we got the sun polyps, the owner had cut the top off a 2 litre coke bottle and put it over the sun polys during feeding and shot food in with a turkey blaster. I have heard and read of hobbyists targeting each individual polyp for food. Johnny  |
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08-04-2002, 10:00 AM
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#7
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Little fish in a big pond
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Canton, GA USA
Posts: 5,898
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Wow those are gorgeous!
We've had 2 colonies in the store since June 3. Sold ONE yesterday to a hobbyist willing to manually feed them. The soda bottle idea is AWESOME -- I think I'll try that!
I have mine in the front of the display, they are under 175 w mh but not directly.
I use a turkey baster to squirt foodstuff at the polyps about every other day, I alternate between ChromaPlex, PhytoPlex and MicroVert as well as Cyclop-eeze (every fish and coral goes NUTS over Cyclop-eeze) and they seem to be doing well.
Lots of people have inquired about buying them but usually when I tell them they need to be "hand fed" people balk and say forget it. That's OK -- I'd rather keep them then send them home if people aren't prepared to care for them.
Jenn
http://www.imagine-ocean.com/images/tubastrea.jpg
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Member of the "J" Crowd & the BRW Crowd!
LFS Owner: Imagine Ocean
Just keep skimming, just keep skimming, just keep skimming, skimming skimming! What do we do? We skim, skim, skim!
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08-04-2002, 10:28 AM
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#8
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Plankton
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: manhatten
Posts: 46
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ok well, from all ur suggestions, i think i'm going to move them from where i have them in the tank, since they are hard to see there and even harder to feed. i like the soda bottle thing too and i'm going to go try it now. btw, both of ur polyps are beautiful. i appreciate all the suggestions and help. thnx.
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08-04-2002, 10:52 AM
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#9
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filter feeder
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 662
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here is a link to a very nice soda bottle feeder made with the sun corals in mind ...(wish I'd thought of it)!
http://www.thesea.org/asp/tubfeed.asp
bob
__________________
Keeper of the Cash AND the Reins for Dipstick (a.k.a. Drew)
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08-04-2002, 05:42 PM
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#10
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: AZ
Posts: 389
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Are they recommended for the advanced aquariust or the beginner like myself? I know I can feed them everyday. They are awesome.
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08-04-2002, 06:29 PM
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#11
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Nothing to See Here
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Montana
Posts: 5,815
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Here is a pic of my wife's sun coral in a 20 gallon mini-reef:
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08-04-2002, 06:52 PM
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#12
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In the desert
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Laveen, Az
Posts: 207
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Bob...that was a great idea, espcially the stones on the side.....
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"Waking up at 6PM, Thats so rock and roll".......
Kirk Hammett within minutes of meeting James Hetfield of Metallica
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08-05-2002, 01:19 AM
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#13
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Plankton
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: manhatten
Posts: 46
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freckles, i am about as newbie as reeftankers get and mine seem to be doing ok, although not thriving. besides feeding, the only other thing i've heard is that they require very low nitrates to do well, which i'm guessing most tanks (other than my own) have. i don't think they are a particularly difficult coral though.
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